Artifact 6

This is a video of Dr. Jim Cummins where he talks about the difference between conversational understanding of a new language and academic language. He explains that an ELL needs to understand both of these types of language in order to have long term understanding of the new language. The video explains how important it is for teachers to understand the difference between these two types of language understanding so we can best help our students. I chose this video because this was a new concept for me. While I did understand that there would be challenges in certain subjects when unfamiliar or non-conversational English words were used, I didn't realize the impact it would have on an ELL when they weren't accessing this type of language. This video is useful for anyone teaching ELLs because we need to analyze the language we're using in our classes and lessons so we can determine if we're making assumptions about student's understanding. When we reflect on our lessons, we may realize that our language may not be accessible for all our students.