Exploring teacher and student knowledge of sentence‐level language features

Abstract

Proficiency with sentence‐level features of language is essential for reading comprehension of academic texts, especially for early adolescents who face increasingly complex, discipline‐specific texts as they enter upper elementary and middle school. However, little research has been done to explore instruction in sentence‐level features. This qualitative case study explores how a sixth‐grade social studies teacher developed knowledge of sentence‐level features and implemented sentence‐level instruction through a professional learning inquiry, as well as how 3 sixth‐grade students responded to challenging sentences as a result of this instruction. Findings from thematic analyses of both teacher and student data sources indicate that increased metalinguistic awareness of sentence‐level features in the teacher participant was essential to effective, discipline‐specific instruction in sentence‐level features. Additionally, explicit instruction in sentence‐level features led to increased metalinguistic awareness in students, which supported their comprehension of challenging sentences.

“You have to start with what they know:” Cultivating genius and joy with multilingual adolescents

“…Gladys' example illustrates how she cultivated ML identity by recognizing their bilingualism. She used their current understanding of language features in any language as a foundation from which to teach new forms of language, supporting existing research on how building knowledge of sentence-level features with adolescent learners fosters metalinguistic awareness and meaning making (Knecht et al, 2023). Her instruction developed students' writing skills, setting them up to use language strategically for the purpose of informational writing.…”