EDU 564 Linguistics for ESL Educators

Educating English language learners (ELLs) is complex, and having a further understanding of linguistics will help teacher educators to enhance their lesson planning and delivery in instructing ELLs of various backgrounds. Educational professionals will most likely encounter situations where having familiarity with aspects of linguistics will better enable one to practice one’s profession. This course presents the conceptual foundations of linguistics, examines structural/functional properties of language, and discusses the rules and principles which govern natural language (e.g., morphology, phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics). Other aspects of linguistics, such as language change, language processing (psycholinguistics) and elements of linguistics which impact language acquisition will also be explored. Further, the concept of Academic Language (AL) is discussed and the implications of AL on teaching practices is explored in relation to ELLs across the core content areas. Overall, this course will explore the core areas of linguistics, help educators “do linguistics” and make linguistics applicable to a language learning classroom via activities, exercises, and projects. Students will be able to apply this new linguistic knowledge to their teaching practices, particularly when working with ELLs.

Credits

3

Offered

Every year