Module Two: Transcript
Table of Contents
Screencast 1: Guiding Questions and Objectives
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Screencast 2: Task Analysis Overview
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Screencast 3: Examining Language Demands through Functions and Forms
Slide 1
Slide 2 – Language Demands = Focus of the Course
Slide 3, 4 & 5 – Task Analysis Process
Slide 6 – Language Demands = Focus of the Module
Slide 7 – Types of Language Demands
Slide 8 – Accessing Previous Knowledge
Slide 9 – Language Functions
Slide 10 – Functions: How Students Use Language
Slide 11 – Language Functions ~ Analytical Skills
Slide 12 – DOKs to Identify Language Functions
Slide 13 – CCSS Relationships & Convergences
Slide 14 – ELPA21 Standards
Slide 15 –Language Forms
Slide 16 – More Definitions
Slide 17 – Language Demands
Slide 18 –ELPA21 Standards
Slide 19-20 – Task Analysis Process
Slide 21 – Reflection Questions
Screencast 4: Task Analysis Process
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Slides 8 & 9
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Screencast 5: Task Analysis Tool
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Screencast 6: Teacher Analysis (K-2)
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Task Slide
Introduction to the classroom video
Classroom video
Introducing the Washington Teachers
Task Analysis Tool Slide
Teacher Analysis
Screencast 7: Teacher Analysis (3-5)
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Task Slide 1
Task Slide 2
Task Slide 3
Teacher Analysis
Screencast 8: Teacher Analysis (6-8)
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Task Slide 1
Task Slide 2
Task Slide 3
Task Slide 4
Teacher Analysis
Screencast 9: Teacher Analysis (9-12)
Title Page Slide
Task Slide 1
Teaching Channel Video
Task Slide 2
Task Slide 3
Teacher Analysis
Screencast 10: Apply — Introduction
Screencast 11: Sample Task (K-2)
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Screencast 12: Sample Task (3-5)
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Screencast 12: Sample Task (6-8)
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Screencast 13: Sample Task (9-12)
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Screencast 15: End of Module Review
Slide 1
Slide 2 – Guiding Questions
Slide 3 – Objectives
Slide 4 - Task Analysis Process
Screencast 1: Guiding Questions and Objectives
Slide 1
In module two of this series, we will focus on a process called task analysis. This is a structured process by which educators unpack an academic task to identify the knowledge and skills students will be required to demonstrate in order to perform the task successfully. The task analysis process can be a powerful tool for identifying where students might need additional scaffolds to meet the rigor of standards-aligned tasks. Task analysis can also help us better understand which of the English Language Proficiency Standards are relevant to certain tasks.
Slide 2
There are two guiding questions to consider as you work through this module. First, how can educators analyze instructional tasks to better understand the content knowledge, analytical skills, and language students are expected to demonstrate? Second, what does task analysis reveal about the demands of student tasks in relation to college- and career-ready standards and language use?
Slide 3
Also, there are two objectives for users of this module:
- First, educators will be able to understand the value of the task analysis process for examining what students need to know and do with regard to content knowledge, analytical skills, and language.
- And second, educators will be able to analyze and reflect on instructional tasks from various grade levels and subject areas using the task analysis process.
Screencast 2: Task Analysis Overview
Slide 1
In this section, we will introduce you to the task analysis process, including its purpose, benefits, and an overview of the steps it will entail.
Slide 2
For this module, we describe task analysis as a process of looking carefully at an instructional task or activity to determine what it requires students to know or do with regard to content knowledge, analytical skills, and language.
Slide 3
More specifically, the purpose of task analysis in this module is to examine what an instructional task is asking students to know and do with regard to the three lenses.
- The first lens is content knowledge, or discrete content-specific knowledge or skills. In other words, when we are identifying task demands that related to content knowledge, we are asking what skills or knowledge are students expected to demonstrate when they produce their understanding of the content being taught?
- The second lens is analytical skills or practices that cut across content areas. For this lens, you’ll be asked to think about what analytical or “thinking” skills are most relevant to the task, and what specific analytical skills students are expected to demonstrate.
- Finally, the third lens is language. For this lens you’ll ask the following questions of the task: What language demands are relevant to the task? What language functions and forms are students required to understand and use as they complete the task?
Analyzing a task through these three lenses of content knowledge, analytical skills, and language helps us to hone in on all of the various cognitive demands placed on a student as she tackles an assessment question, a performance task, or unit project.
Slide 4
The benefits of doing this, then, are to help us think more deeply about the structure and demands of a task—especially one that we did not create ourselves—in order to:
- determine whether we are pushing our students to produce the most rigorous, grade-appropriate language and thinking possible
- identify roadblocks to students’ demonstrating their understanding
- plan for scaffolding and supports to better meet our students’ needs
The ultimate goal of task analysis is to ensure that our students have the necessary supports to demonstrate the thinking, knowledge, and language use required to be successful on grade-level appropriate, standards-aligned activities.
Slide 5
The task analysis process we will follow in these modules has four main steps. We will lay out the general structure of the steps here, and then go into more detail about each step in the Engage section of the module.
Step 1 of the task analysis process is to examine and identify an appropriate instructional task. This step asks you to select an instructional task for analysis and use a set of criteria to think about whether it is a fitting task to analyze.
Once you have chosen an appropriate task, step 2 will ask you to identify the demands associated with the task, especially with respect to those three buckets of content knowledge, analytical skills, and language. Part of step 2 will also ask you to use a set of resources to deepen your exploration of the task demands within those three domains.
We will focus on steps 1 and 2 of the task analysis process in this module. The next two steps of the task analysis process are to identify the disciplinary practices and the English Language Proficiency standards that go along with the task, but we will not be discussing steps 3 and 4 until the next module. The work we do in this module will provide a valuable foundation for the exploration of the ELP standards in module three.
Slide 6
Now that you have heard a little bit about the task analysis process, please take a moment to reflect on the following questions:
• How have you analyzed tasks in your classroom in the past? What elements of the task, such as content or language did you pay attention to then?
• How might this process of task analysis allow you to examine tasks differently?
• And, what questions do you still have about the task analysis process?
You may reflect and answer these questions on your own of course. But, if at all possible, we encourage you to explore them with colleagues, preferably within the context of a professional learning opportunity or as part of a professional learning community.
Screencast 3: Examining Language Demands through Functions and Forms
Slide 1
Now that you understand the purpose, benefits and structure of the Task Analysis Process, we want to take a few minutes to examine and discuss the concept of “Language Demands” through the lenses of “language functions” and “language forms.” While this section of the module will be extremely helpful to educators who have not had exposure to these concepts, it’s also a good review for everyone – even those educators who know a lot about language demands, functions and forms.
Slide 2 – Language Demands = Focus of the Course
Starting off, it’s helpful to know what phrase “language demands” refers to in this module. While there are surely several ways to define “language demands”, but in this module, the phrase refers to the “language that students are required to understand and use during a particular task or activity.”
Slide 3, 4 & 5 – Task Analysis Process
So in other words, language demands are a type of task demands, which you will identify as part of the task analysis process. Language is, in fact, one of the three lenses through which you will examine instructional task demands.
Slide 6 – Language Demands = Focus of the Module
So, language demands are task demands that identify and break down the language students are required to understand and use during a particular task or activity.
And importantly, language demands are comprised of language functions and/or language forms. That’s why in this section of the module we focus on language demands through the lenses of “language functions” and “language forms.”
It’s also important to note that as this module is focused on task analysis and the language demands included in tasks, it does NOT focus on language development or students’ so called “language levels.” Those issues will be addressed in Modules 4 and 5.
Slide 7 – Types of Language Demands
Before we get into the specifics of language functions and language forms, it’s important to clarify that there are three basic types of language demands –receptive language demands, productive language demands, and interactive language demands.
Receptive language demands are those demands that refer to the language students must understand in order to complete a task or activity. For example, during almost all tasks students are asked to read a task or listen to an explanation or directions given by the teacher. And any portion of the task that includes listening or reading involves receptive language demands.
In contrast, productive language demands are demands that refer to language students must use to complete task. So these are the demands that ask students to speak or write, not just listen or read.
Additionally, interactive language demands, which are a subset of productive language demands, are those demands involve two-way interactive communication and negotiation of meaning. So, for example, if an instructional task asks students to discuss their solutions with a partner, then that request is an interactional demand.
And, please remember, although there are different types of language functions, all three types of language demands are comprised of language functions and/or forms.
Slide 8 – Accessing Previous Knowledge
So it’s clear that they are important, but what are language functions and language forms? Well, let’s tap into your previous knowledge and see what you already know about functions and forms.
What do these the terms “language functions” and “language forms” mean?
Here’s a hint: language functions and language forms are types of language practices or components of language that make up the ways that students understand and use language.
And as was said previously, language demands consists of language functions and/or forms. So take a couple of minutes to pause the video and write down a possible definition for both terms.
Slide 9 – Language Functions
Okay, so here is the definition that our ELPA21 team landed on:
- Language functions describe what students DO with language to accomplish academic tasks across varying content areas. In other words, language functions are linguistic actions that students accomplish while completing academic tasks.
- Borrowing from Pauline Gibbons, language functions also refer to the purposes for which language is used in the classroom.
- And finally, identifying, using, and referring to academic language functions in the classroom offers educators a practical way to ensure that content and language are integrated.
- How does this description line up with your definition? Take a minute to note any similarities or differences.
Slide 10 – Functions: How Students Use Language
Here are some of the main language functions used in the classroom – across various content areas and grade levels:
• Analyzing text
• Classifying
• Comparing
• Describing
• Evaluating
• Explaining
• Expressing Position/making a claim
• Hypothesizing
• Planning/Predicting
• Questioning
• Reporting
• Sequencing
• Supporting a claim
And there are many, many more – these are just some of the most common functions, particularly in this era of college- and career-ready standards.
Slide 11 – Language Functions ~ Analytical Skills
Looking at that list of language functions, you may have noticed that there is lots of overlap between language functions and what are often referred to as analytical skills or analytical practices. This is a good thing to keep in mind as you work through the module, identifying both analytical skills and language functions.
This overlap illustrates just how integrated content and language really are; language and cognition are often so incredibly intertwined.
Said differently, analytical skills are often accomplished through language (although they don’t always have to be) and it is through the expression and production of language that we are often able to make analytical accomplishments.
Slide 12 – DOKs to Identify Language Functions
Norman Webb’s Depth of Knowledge or DOK chart, for example, can be used to both identify language functions in a task as well as analytical skills. Although the suggested DOK “levels” (level 1, 2, 3, 4)– may or may not be useful when seeking to identify or include language functions in a task.
Some important questions you may ask yourself when using a DOK chart to identify language functions include:
How will/could student use language to accomplish this function? Will they, for example, orally compare two solutions? Summarize in writing? Discuss their logical argument with a partner?
There are also many language functions that are NOT included in the DOK chart. And it is important to note that the DOK chart tends to focus on language functions required by productive rather than receptive language demands. It’s good to keep that in mind as you use the DOK chart to identify language functions.
Slide 13 – CCSS Relationships & Convergences
The importance of students being able to perform language functions in the age of these new standards, however, cannot be overstated. Nearly all of the high-leverage Common Core practices, for example, involve complex linguistic functions.
Analyze texts, construct arguments, support arguments with evidence, critique other’s arguments – all of these require students to use language – whether oral or written - to display their learning
Slide 14 – ELPA21 Standards
The ELPA21 standards also emphasize the importance of students performing complex linguistic functions, as the first 7 standards – displayed here in black – all address language functions, rather than language forms.
This is a distinct and significant departure from English Language Development Standards in the past, which tended to focus more on language forms.
Slide 15 –Language Forms
But what does the term “language forms” mean?
Well, language forms include anything that can be considered a “language structure” and cross-curricular academic vocabulary.
How does this line up with your initial definition that you jotted down?
Slide 16 – More Definitions
But what, you may be asking, are language structures? And what do you mean by cross-curricular academic vocabulary? In this case, language structures refer to words, segments of words, and punctuation that hold our language together at the word, phrase or sentence level. So anything that can be considered part of grammar, syntax, morphology, etc. is a language structure.
But language forms also include vocabulary, specifically cross-curricular academic vocabulary. Cross-curricular academic vocabulary is a category that refers to certain words or phrases that are frequently used across different academic content-areas. And these words or phrases often describe or are related to academic processes and may include verbs, nouns, conjunctive adverbs, complex prepositions or other language structures.
Discipline-specific or content vocabulary is also a kind of language forms, but we usually include this in the “content knowledge” lens during task analysis. Discipline-specific vocabulary consists of words or phrases that are specific and essential to a content area, like “greater than, metamorphosis and revolution.”
So language forms are what folks typically referred to in the past when they talked about “language in school” – back before we understood that language is action and language functions are the essential building blocks of language demands. So in other words, language forms are the grammar, the conventions, the vocabulary.
Slide 17 – Language Demands
And for a long time, language forms were what was emphasized in English Language Development or Proficiency Standards, in content classrooms and even in ESL classes.
But that is no longer the case. Language forms are certainly not ignored – as they are essential pieces of language. But they are increasingly treated as what they are – pieces of language that act in the service of language functions. While language functions are what students DO with language, language forms are the language structures and vocabulary OF those functions.
Slide 18 –ELPA21 Standards
The last three ELPA21 standards, for example, printed in red, address language forms. These three standards are listed after the functional standards to stress that while Standards 8, 9 and 10 are important and their demonstration ever-present, they are done in service of the functional standards, standards 1 through 7.