Complex Ideas Using Everyday Language
Conversations between the teacher and a small group of students engenders student expression of complex ideas using students’ everyday language resources (e.g., dialects, vernaculars, creoles, homelanguages) through modeling, elicitation, and affirmation.
Classroom Examples
Note: Scores not included
3a: Teacher Models Expression
Teacher uses lots of questioning, extending, and clarifying
Teacher uses terms such as “main idea”
Teacher consistently restates what students say and elaborates on their expression
Teacher uses rephrasing after students share in order to model her own thinking to help students with their idea expression
Teacher incorporates students’ everyday language into conversation and encourages use of students’ language of choice
3b: Teacher Elicits Complex Expression
Teacher positions self as learner and aims to expand on students’ thinking and expression by speaking as if she does not understand how to make the sandwich
Teacher prompts students to explain their steps in more detailed, specific ways and to provide clearer instructions for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
3c: Teacher Affirms and Extends Verbal and Nonverbal Expression
Teacher rephases for clarification and to extend students’ contributions with additional detail
Teacher acknowledges students’ language of choice and applies the way they speak to the activity
Students are allowed to use Pidgin (Hawaiʻi-creole English) when creating their own sentence about making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Teacher transcribes students’ sentences which use their everyday language
Example: “I like to put jelly, guava kine.”
3d: Students Author Ideas with Everyday Language
All students use their own everyday language when expressing ideas, in this case Pidgin
Students respond to teacher questioning using everyday language
Students participate in creating sentences for their collaborative story using their everyday language
Students operate as “knowers” and teach the teacher how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich by describing the sequencing steps
Topic of making sandwiches is familiar to students and encourages student expression and participation
Overlapping speech is a natural speech pattern for Hawaiʻi students. It is viewed as a positive and valuable aspect of this conversation raising the engagement of students and indicating that students are comfortable with the topic and learning environment