Academic Language Mastery: Grammar and Syntax in Context

By now it’s a given: if we’re to help our ELLs and SELs access the rigorous demands of today’s content standards, we must cultivate the "code" that drives school success: academic language. Look no further for assistance than this much-anticipated series from Ivannia Soto, in which she invites field authorities Jeff Zwiers, David and Yvonne Freeman, Margarita Calderon, and Noma LeMoine to share every teacher’s need-to-know strategies on the four essential components of academic language.

The subject of this volume is grammar and syntax. Here, David and Yvonne Freeman shatter the myth that academic language is all about vocabulary, revealing how grammar and syntax inform our students’ grasp of challenging text. With this book as your roadmap, you’ll learn how to:

• Teach grammar in the context of students’ speech and writing
• Use strategies such as sentence frames, passives, combining simple sentences into more complex sentences, and nominalization to create more complex noun phrases
• Assess academic language development through a four-step process

Look inside and discover the tools you need to help students master more sophisticated and complex grammatical and syntactical structures right away. Better yet, read all four volumes in the series and put in place a start-to-finish instructional plan for closing the achievement gap.

Dr. Yvonne Freeman and Dr. David Freeman are professors emeriti at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Both are interested in effective education for emergent bilinguals. They present regularly at international, national, and state conferences. They have worked extensively in schools in the U.S. They have also worked with educators in Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Lithuania, Mallorca, and Sweden.      

The Freemans have authored books, articles and book chapters jointly and separately on the topics of second language teaching, biliteracy, bilingual education, linguistics, and second language acquisition. They are authors of Grammar and Syntax in Context published by Corwin. Their books, published by Heinemann, include Dual Language Essentials for Teachers and Administrators 2nd edition, ESL Teaching: Principles for Success 2^nd edition, Essential Linguistics: What Teachers Need to Know to Teach ESL, Reading, Spelling, and Grammar, 2nd edition, Between Worlds: Access to Second Language Acquisition, 3^rd edition, Academic Language for English Language Learners and Struggling Readers La enseñanza de la lectura y la escritura en español y en inglés en clases bilingües y de doble inmersión, 2^nd edition, Teaching Reading and Writing in Spanish and English in Bilingual and Dual Language Classrooms 2^nd edition, Closing the Achievement Gap: How to Reach Limited Formal Schooling and Long-Term English Learners, and Teaching Reading in Multilingual Classrooms.

In addition they have edited three books: Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals, Research On Preparing Preservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals and Diverse Learners in the Mainstream Classroom: Strategies for Supporting All Students Across Content Areas.

Dr. Yvonne Freeman and Dr. David Freeman are professors emeriti at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Both are interested in effective education for emergent bilinguals. They present regularly at international, national, and state conferences. They have worked extensively in schools in the U.S. They have also worked with educators in Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Lithuania, Mallorca, and Sweden.      

The Freemans have authored books, articles and book chapters jointly and separately on the topics of second language teaching, biliteracy, bilingual education, linguistics, and second language acquisition. They are authors of Grammar and Syntax in Context published by Corwin. Their books, published by Heinemann, include Dual Language Essentials for Teachers and Administrators 2nd edition, ESL Teaching: Principles for Success 2^nd edition, Essential Linguistics: What Teachers Need to Know to Teach ESL, Reading, Spelling, and Grammar, 2nd edition, Between Worlds: Access to Second Language Acquisition, 3^rd edition, Academic Language for English Language Learners and Struggling Readers La enseñanza de la lectura y la escritura en español y en inglés en clases bilingües y de doble inmersión, 2^nd edition, Teaching Reading and Writing in Spanish and English in Bilingual and Dual Language Classrooms 2^nd edition, Closing the Achievement Gap: How to Reach Limited Formal Schooling and Long-Term English Learners, and Teaching Reading in Multilingual Classrooms.

In addition they have edited three books: Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals, Research On Preparing Preservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals and Diverse Learners in the Mainstream Classroom: Strategies for Supporting All Students Across Content Areas.

Ivannia Soto, PhD , is a professor of education and the director of graduate programs at Whittier College, where she specializes in language acquisition, systemic reform for English language learners (ELLs), and urban education. She began her career in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), where she taught English and English language development to a population of 99.9% Latinos, who either were or had been multilingual learners. Before becoming a professor, Soto also served LAUSD as a literacy coach as well as district office and county office administrator. She has presented on literacy and language topics at various conferences, including the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), the California Association for Bilingual Association (CABE), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the National Council of Urban Education Associations. As a consultant, Soto has worked with Stanford University’s School Redesign Network (SRN), WestEd, and CABE, as well as a variety of districts and county offices in California, providing technical assistance for systemic reform for ELLs and Title III. Recently, Soto also directed a CABE bilingual teacher and administrator program across California.
Soto has authored and coauthored 12 books, including The Literacy Gaps: Bridge-Building Strategies for English Language Learners and Standard English Learners; ELL Shadowing as a Catalyst for Change, a best seller that was recognized by Education Trust–West as a promising practice for ELLs in 2018; Moving From Spoken to Written Language With ELLs; the Academic English Mastery four-book series; the Common Core Companion four-book series for English language development; Breaking Down the Wall; and Responsive Schooling for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Together, the books tell a story of how to equitably engage and include multilingual learners by ensuring that they gain voice and an academic identity in the classroom setting. Soto is executive director of the Institute for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching (ICLRT) at Whittier College, whose mission it is to promote relevant research and develop academic resources for ELLs and Standard English learners (SELs) via linguistically and culturally responsive teaching practices/