Foolproof Strategies to Teach an Academic Language Online

What is the purpose of joining a school? You are not just aiming to help your child socialize, the real purpose behind sending your child to school is because you want them to learn academic language. 

Your child has wonderful ideas in their head, but they cannot explain it vividly without knowing academic language. 

When a child goes to school, they learn how to express their thoughts verbally, through actions, and in writing. Although you can teach him many things at home, a teacher has the ability to do this in a more efficient manner. 

Now let’s shift our focus on academic language teachers. Are you aspiring to teach? Then its best to know the basics of academic language. 

Here’s an article that sheds light on ‘foolproof strategies to teach language online.’ But first let’s skim through what it means. 

Defining Academic Language 

Academic language is the type of language used in academic institutions like a school. This language helps the students to convey their thoughts or the understanding of the new-found knowledge. 

Let’s take the example of a young school boy named Eric. He goes to school and is excited about the language class. Eric is thrilled because he will get to learn something new! Once he returns from school,  you ask him about his day. Most parents want to know the answer to the following question – What did you learn at school today? 

If Eric does not know academic language, he will not be able to explain how his day went. Thus, learning academic language is a necessity. It’s the base that every child must know to converse with people around him. 

The Components 

Academic language has three different components and these include: 

1. Language Function – What is the objective of learning any language? In the Language function, you will learn about compare and contrast, cause and effect, describe, and ask questions. These are the purposes of learning academic language. 
2. Grammatical Structure – Consider grammatical structure as nuts and bolts of a sentence. If you are not able to construct a sentence properly, the meaning will get lost. Nouns, adverbs, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs hold a sentence together. Without these, you cannot form a proper sentence. 
3. Vocabulary – In vocabulary, there are Tier 1 to Tier 1 words. Tier 1 consists of everyday words, Tier 2 words help you to apply the academic vocabulary to a range of topics, and Tier 3 consists of words that are subject-specific. 

Now that you are aware of the components, it will help you teach the academic language efficiently. 

Knowing the components of academic language is necessary, especially for a teacher who aims to teach this to their students. 

Quick & Effective Strategies to Teach Academic Language

Here is a quick sneak peek into the tips we gathered for you. If you want to teach academic language to students on an online platform, consider the following pointers:

• Translating from academic to basic social language – Teach them how to paraphrase a complex academic text into something conversational. 
• Introducing academic vocabulary – Start teaching five academic vocabulary words to your students. Do not bombard them with hard vocabulary. 
• Give them something to read – you can start with books that use Tier 1 words. As the student progresses, you can give them books that utilize Tier 2 and Tier 3 words. 
• Understand the student’s pace – Not every student is a fast learner. You must ask your student time and again whether they are comfortable with the teaching methodology. 
• One topic at a time – If you are teaching adverbs, stick with it for a day before jumping to another topic. In case your student has any doubts, ask whether they need any help. 

Summing up 

You can become an online English language teacher and start earning big bucks. But you must know the basics of academic language. 

There is a chance you will get to teach students of all age groups. If they are young, they will look up to you for teaching them academic language. 

So, get the basics right and utilize the above-mentioned strategies.