84 Global Review 2(2)

Teaching English as a ‘Second ’ In and the : Convergences and Divergences

Zaline M. Roy-Campbell Syracuse

Abstract English is spoken in five countries as the native language and in numerous other countries as an official language and the language of instruction. In countries where English is the native language, it is taught to speakers of other as an additional language to enable them to participate in all domains of life of that country. In many countries where it is an official language and language of instruction, which includes former British colonies in Africa and Asia, students tend to use English in specific domains, particularly school, as most communication outside of school is in the local languages. These are two contrasting contexts for enhancing skills. In both settings there are concerns about students’ difficulties in developing adequate English proficiency to successfully learn content through that language. Focusing on the United States and Kenya, this considers the similarities and differences in the content of English language instruction for secondary schools, in both environments and the types of challenges students encounter in the learning of English. This article broadens the understanding of what it means to teach English language for academic purposes and provides a framework for creating and evaluating teaching and learning materials for speakers of other languages who are learning through the medium of English.

Keywords language of instruction, academic language, English language teaching, , English language learners

Introduction languages, its role differs from that of countries English, one of the dominant world languages, is in the inner circle, as each country has its norms spoken in five countries as the native language of communication (Crystal, 1997). In countries (, , England, and where English is the native language, English is the United States of America), what Kachru taught to speakers of other languages as an (1985) has referred to as the inner circle. It is additional language to enable them to also used as an official language in numerous participate in all domains of life of the target other countries where it is an imported ______language, the outer circle (Kachru, 1985). These Corresponding Author: Zaline M. Roy-Campbell, Syracuse University, School of countries include former British colonies in Education, 200 Huntington Hall., Syracuse, NY 13244 Africa and Asia. Since English is used in the Email; [email protected] outer circle, alongside multiple indigenous

Global Education Review is a publication of The School of Education at Mercy College, New York. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License, permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Citation: Roy-Campbell, Zaline M. (2014). Teaching English as a ‘second language’ in Kenya and the United States: Convergences and divergences. Global Education Review, 2 (2). 84-97 Teaching English in Kenya and the United States 85 country; in many outer circle countries students English Language Teaching in tend to use English in specific domains, Kenya particularly formal education, since most Kenya, which has more than 40 indigenous communication outside of school is in the local languages (termed mother tongues), has two languages (Kioko & Muthwii, 2001). These are official languages, English and Kiswahili. two contrasting contexts for teaching English Official educational policy states that the first language skills. In both settings there are three years of schooling (Class One to Three), concerns about students’ difficulties in should be in the mother tongue, or the developing adequate English proficiency to indigenous language spoken in the respective successfully learn academic content through that catchment areas where the schools are located; medium, particularly at the and that in Class Four, English is used as the level (Calderón, 2007; Short & Fitzsimmons, (Nabea, 2009). Students 2007; Sure and Ogechi, 2009). begin learning English as a second language as a This article considers the similarities and subject at the beginning of primary school, Class differences in the content of English language One, although some schools students begin teaching for secondary schools in both instruction in English from Class One because environments and the challenges faced by they want to give their students a head start with students for whom English is an additional the language (Gathumbi, 2008). Research has language. It focuses on the United States, as an found, however, that most Kenyan students are example of an inner circle country that educates not sufficiently proficient in English at the end large populations of students who are learning of Class Three to effectively learn content in English as an additional language, and Kenya, English in Class Four (Bunyi, 2008; Gathumbi, which exemplifies an outer circle country that 2008). Additionally, Kiswahili (the national uses English as the language of formal language and mother tongue of a small section education. The purpose of this article is to of the population) is also taught as a subject broaden the understanding of what it means to from Class One, so that most students after Class teach English language when it is needed to 3 are learning content through English at the access academic content. It provides a same time that they continue to learn Kiswahili framework for creating and evaluating teaching language as a subject. and learning materials for speakers of other Since all the subjects, with the exception languages who are learning through the medium of Kiswahili, are taught in English, Kenyan of English. Although the focus is on the United students learn English language while using the States (U.S.) and Kenya, countries with which English language to learn the curriculum. the author is familiar, the issues this article Unlike some former British colonies where addresses are pertinent for other countries that English is the language of wider communication, use English as the language of instruction for Kenya has a language of wider communication speakers of languages other than English, as it other than English, since all students learn offers an alternative way of viewing the teaching Kiswahili as a subject throughout primary and of English. secondary school. Many Kenyans, therefore, rarely use English outside of school. Young people communicate with each other in their

86 Global Education Review 2(2) mother tongue, Kiswahili, or Sheng (Kioko & content comprehensible to English language Muthwii, 2001). Sheng, a language form learners (Chamot, 2009; Echevarría, Vogt, & developed by young people in the urban areas of Short, 2013). Kenya, includes words from English and Some schools in the U.S. have transitional Kiswahili, mixed with the mother tongues and programs, where students utilizing Kiswahili morphosyntactic structure are instructed in their native language both in (Mbaabu & Nzuga, 2003). the content areas and in native language arts in the first three years of primary school, with Teaching English as an Additional additional daily ESL instruction. At the end of Language in the United States those three years, they transition from instruction in their native language to full Similar to Kenya, students who enter school in content instruction in English, and native the U.S. from countries that do not speak language instruction is dropped. This is similar English, learn English language while they learn to what occurs in many primary schools in the school curriculum in English. Many schools Kenya. A few schools in the U.S. have dual in the U.S. provide such students, termed language programs, where English language English language learners (ELLs), with English learners and speakers of English as a first language support services offered by specialized language develop literacy in their first language Teachers of English to Speakers of Other and the additional language simultaneously, and Languages (TESOL), referred to as English as a learn content through both languages (Torres- Second Language (ESL) teachers. Students are Guzmάn, 2007). The common factor in both the classified as beginner, intermediate or advanced, Kenyan and U.S. contexts is that students are in terms of English as a Second Language (ESL) taught content subjects while developing English proficiency based on their performance on a language proficiency. placement test, and receive ESL instruction to develop , vocabulary and syntax along with the four language domains: Divergent Experiences of Learning listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Language and Through Language However, they spend most of their school day in The primary difference between English general education classrooms learning content language instruction for students whose native with teachers who typically have not received language is not English in the U.S. and in Kenya any preparation for working with students who is that most pupils in Kenya are introduced to speak languages other than English. English collectively, in their first year of primary In elementary schools, ELLs are typically school, whereas English language learners in the pulled out of their regular general education U.S. come from a wide diversity of educational classrooms in small groups by ESL teachers for backgrounds with varied degrees of exposure to specified periods of time each day. In . When students enter schools upon and high school ELL students receive additional arrival in the U.S., they are typically placed in English language instruction as one of their class grades commensurate with their age, without periods, alongside the academic subjects, regard their educational background. In some mathematics, science, and social studies. Some cases they may had have prior exposure to schools provide sheltered instruction in the English as a subject, or even as a language of content areas, which entails lowering the instruction. At the other extreme are students linguistic demands of the content and providing who have had interrupted prior education in additional language supports to make the Teaching English in Kenya and the United States 87 refugee camps and are not literate in any who do not speak their language. Though they language. They may have had very little, if any, may have oral proficiency in multiple languages, previous exposure to English. they may not be able to read or write any of the In both countries, some students continue languages, as these skills are not a necessary to struggle with English in upper primary school part of their communicative needs within that grades into secondary school. In the U.S., on a community. It is important to recognize that 2013 national assessment of reading language proficiency is not monolithic. A comprehension, only 4 percent of eighth grade student can be proficient using English to ELLs scored at or above the proficient level interact with an English speaker in casual compared with 38 percent of native English conversations but not proficient in using speakers (NCES, 2013). There is a category of appropriate language in the classroom to talk English language learners in the U.S. termed about mathematics or science (Bailey, 2007). long term English learners. These are students Formal instruction is necessary to develop who have been in the U.S. school system for reading, writing and more advanced more than 6 years but who have not yet oral/listening skills, whether in the first or an developed proficiency in English (Menken & additional language. This process can be viewed Kleyn, 2010). Though many may appear fluent as a second language learning-acquisition in spoken English, they struggle with their continuum along which speakers move from the academic subjects which are taught in English pre-production to advanced levels of proficiency, (Calderón & Minaya-Rowe, 2011). Sure and approximating a near educated-native-speaker Ogechi (2009) have found that by Class Eight, in command of the language (Krashen, 1983). Yet, Kenya, some students are unable to not all language learning leads to that advanced communicate effectively in English. Considering level of proficiency. that the language of instruction, English, Cummins (2003) has identified three significantly impacts students’ success in other dimensions of language proficiency which subject areas (Kioko & Muthwii, 2001), these second language learners develop concurrently students enter secondary schools at a at various stages of the continuum: discrete disadvantage (Gathumbi, 2008). This sparks language skills, academic language proficiency questions about what constitutes proficiency in and conversational fluency. Discrete language English. skills include the alphabetic principles (Blachman, Ball, Black, & Tangel, 2000), Identifying English Language language conventions, and syntax, with Proficiency vocabulary development as an essential part of each of these dimensions. Academic language Language acquisition differs from language comprises complex linguistic forms at instruction in that the latter is more formal and increasingly demanding conceptual levels. systematic (Krashen, 1988, 2003). Some people Students can have different proficiency levels in acquire additional languages in their natural each of the four domains: listening, speaking, environment, through interacting with speakers reading, and writing. Their conversational of those languages, similar to acquisition of their fluency may be stronger than their reading skills first language, a process which is typically needs- or the reverse. Proficiency is related to the based. In multilingual countries many people, amount of practice one receives in specific including some who have never gone to school, domains, and can be impacted by instruction speak two or more languages in order to (Elly & Mangubhai, 1983; Fielding & Pearson, communicate with members of their community

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1994). There is a strong correlation between all aspects of life (Halliday, McIntosh & reading proficiency and the amount of reading a Strevens, 1964). In order for language teaching student does (Krashen, 2003; Postlewaite & to be successful, it must be related to the Ross, 1992), as through extensive reading purpose for which one is learning the language. students develop strategies for constructing Within the context of schooling, what it means meaning from texts they have not previously to teach English is determined by the learning encountered (Cummins, 2003). standards or syllabi that have been endorsed by Another dimension of English language the educational hierarchy of the country. acquisition relates to the variety of the language In the U.S., the professional organization English speakers acquire. McArthur (1998) has for Teachers of English to speakers of other outlined a circle of English which includes eight languages (TESOL) has established English broad varieties: American, British, Canadian, language development (ELD) standards which Australian/New Zealand, African, East Asian, programs across the country draw upon in South Asian, and Caribbean. Within each planning the teaching of English language variety there are localized dialects spoken in learners (ELLs) (TESOL, 2006). Some states, different countries, e.g., Kenyan English, such as California, (CDE, 2012) and New York English, , Jamaican (NYSED, 2004), have their own set of ELD English, and . These standards, while other states use standards indigenized forms of English incorporate developed by a consortium of states, called the functions which differ from those in native World-Wide Instructional Design and English speaking contexts (Chisanga & Assessment (WIDA, 2012). English language Kamwangamalu, 1997; Mutonya, 2008) as they learners are also expected to meet the English accommodate the communicative needs of the language arts standards developed for the respective societies (Kachru, 1997). Kioko and general school population. Currently in the U.S., Muthwii (2001) have highlighted the there is a common set of standards (adopted by discrepancy between the formal 45 states), the Common Core State Standards that has remained the targeted language of (CCSS), that determine what counts as teaching instruction in Kenya since the colonial era, and English from Grades 1 through 12 (Common the sociolinguistic reality in Kenya, where the Core State Standards Initiative, 2010). These “nativised Kenyan educated variety of English” are a set of anchor standards with specificities incorporates aspects of the local languages into developed along a progression for each grade the way English is used in the society (p. 208). level, where each standard is taught at increasingly complex levels as students move Implications for Teaching School- through the school system from to Based English Literacy the end of high school (grade 12). Countries in the outer circle that use Since second language learning is directly English as the language of instruction, such as related to language teaching, a crucial question Kenya, have English language syllabi that list the which arises is, “What does it mean to teach a specific components of the language to be second language?” Language teaching is an taught. In Kenya, there are separate syllabi for organized activity involving choices of what to primary and secondary school. Table 1 provides include (limitations and grading), since it is an overview of the English language standards unrealistic to consider teaching the whole of the or syllabi in the U.S. and Kenya. language—all of the vocabulary, syntax, usage, in

Teaching English in Kenya and the United States 89

Table 1. Overview of Standards for Teaching English as a Second Language in the U.S. and Kenya

Content of English Teaching in the U.S. Content of English Teaching in Kenya

English Language Development: (TESOL) ELLs communicate for:  Language Patterns  social, cultural and instructional purposes :: relevant sentence structures  information, ideas, and concepts necessary  Vocabulary for academic success in:  Listening :: English Language Arts; Science; :: and respond appropriately to information Social Studies; Mathematics  Speaking Common Core English Language Arts anchor :: use correct pronunciation, stress, intonation to standards: be understood, to convey information  Reading for Information  Reading  Reading Literature :: understand instructions, to access information  Foundational Skills: Grades 1-4 and to read widely for pleasure :: vocabulary, syntax  Writing  Writing :: express own ideas meaningfully and legibly  Listening and Speaking  Language Skills

Note. Extracted from the Common Core State Standards Initiative (2010); TESOL (2006), Kenyan Primary and Secondary School Syllabi (KIE, 2002a,b).

English Language Teaching in the United vocabulary and syntax of English. They must States receive ear training to aurally discriminate English language instruction for speakers of sounds which may not exist in their first English as a first language in the U.S. typically language, and instruction in the proper begins with formal instruction in the alphabet. articulation of sounds, words, intonation and Since children have been using English from the stress (initial oral skills), as well as vocabulary time they began to speak, many native speakers development to attach meaning to new words of English come to school as fluent speakers of they encounter. These are skills which all the language but have not learned how to read or newcomers to English in the U.S. must learn, write it. The first two years are focused on whether they enter school in first grade or ninth helping students to recognize words in print grade. (decode) and to write words (encode) which they The ELD standards focus on language for can aurally recognize and pronounce. This is everyday communication and language of the one factor that distinguishes early English major subject areas: science, social studies, literacy development for native speakers of mathematics and literature (TESOL, 2006). English from that of ELLs. Students learning They are scaffolded along proficiency levels, English as a new language, whatever the age, will from beginner, or early emergent users of need to learn the alphabet (depending on their English, to advanced, or proficient users of first language) as well as to develop . The WIDA standards specify five levels

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of increasing proficiency—beginning, emerging, school are spent practicing these skills, developing, expanding, bridging—with the incrementally, along with vocabulary proficiency level referred to as “reaching” development. By the third year, Kenyan (WIDA, 2012). students are expected to use the skills they In the context of schools, proficiency is gained the previous two years to respond to determined by performance on standardized simple stories read to them, read simple stories, language proficiency, such as the New York State and to write answers to simple questions about English Language Assessment Test the stories they hear and read (KIE, 2002a). By (NYSESLAT), and ACCESS (developed by the end of the third year they are expected to be WIDA). Each student can score at the beginner, ready to learn the school curriculum in English. intermediate, advanced or proficient levels. The Kenyan secondary school English When newcomers to the U.S. enroll in schools, syllabus adopts an integrated approach to they are typically given a placement test to teaching English, merging the teaching of determine their initial English proficiency level. literature with the teaching of language skills. It They are tested each year to determine their also focuses on the four domains. For listening progress until they test at the proficient level. In and speaking there is an emphasis on the case of the NYSESLAT, the four language pronunciation drills and listening domains are tested, but the results are paired by comprehension exercises, as well as oral listening-speaking and reading-writing strands. literature, with role play, debates and Reviewing results of the NYSESLAT in an urban presentation of oral reports and drama. For school district, I noted that some students tested syntax, the focus is on helping students to at the beginner level in reading and writing but understand how language works and is used in at the advanced level in speaking and listening, different contexts. Literary texts provide the as well as the reverse. This is not an anomaly as focus for reading while writing is related to students may be fluent in spoken English, but helping students develop their ideas clearly and not have sufficient resources for reading and effectively, using the grammar they learn (KIE, writing academic registers (Cummins, 1980). To 2002b). be considered proficient, students must score at While the Kenyan secondary school the proficient level on both the listening- English language syllabus focuses on providing speaking and reading-writing strands. students with English language skills, one area that is not explicitly addressed is academic English Language Teaching in Kenya literacy, or literacy in the subject areas in which In Kenya, students begin English language students use English as the medium of learning with ear training to identify English instruction, an area that is highlighted in the sounds (initial listening skills) and instruction in TESOL English development standards used in the proper articulation of sounds, words, the U.S. This omission in the Kenyan syllabus intonation and stress (initial oral skills). They implies that developing the skills and are also taught to decode through identification dispositions delineated in the Kenyan syllabus of phonemes and words (initial reading skills) will automatically equip students with the and scripting the alphabet, word formation, necessary skills for understanding the language sentences (initial writing skills). These basic needs in the respective content areas. However, skills are pre-requisites for communication in Lyster, (2007) pointed out that English language the language, and the first two years of primary development should include instruction in the Teaching English in Kenya and the United States 91

types of academic language students encounter language of the different subjects. Highlighting in their content classes. the three types of language—prescriptive, descriptive, and productive—Halliday (2007a) Identifying Language Needs across emphasizes productive language as the most the Curriculum important for language teaching, but recognizes the importance of descriptive and prescriptive Cummins (1980, 1984) has distinguished language as essential knowledge for the teacher between two types of language proficiency: to draw upon in developing their and Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills selectively explaining to students where helpful. (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Macken-Horaik, (2002) has drawn upon Proficiency (CALP). BICS refers to those skills Halliday’s proposed connection between social necessary for communicative competence, i.e. context and text meaning in her employment of vocabulary, grammar and rules for appropriate the constructs of genre, field, tenor and mode to use of language in daily communication. In the contextualize interpretation and production of context of learning English as an additional text in formal school learning. She uses genre to language in a country where English is the native refer to the social purpose of a text and field to language, it usually takes 3 to 5 years for identify the subject matter of the written students to become as fluent as their native language. In her description of how a secondary English speaker peers (Collier, 1995; Wong- school teacher applied the model in focusing on Fillmore, 1991). Because many students in the language features in scientific text, she noted Kenya do not typically interact with native the teacher’s crucial role in organizing learning English speakers, it may take some of them even experiences for the students to initiate them into longer than five years to develop BICS in the linguistic demands of the genre. English. CALP refers to higher order language This case provides an illustration of skills necessary for academic success. This Halliday’s construct of descriptive language as typically takes 5 to 10 years to develop (Collier, the students were engaged in the use of meta- 1995). Bearing in mind Sure and Ogechi’s language to guide their understanding. Assisting (2009) observation that by Class Eight some students in developing awareness of specific students are unable to communicate effectively language needed to engage in the academic in English, it is reasonable to assume that they functions required by the different content areas would encounter challenges in coping with the is an important aspect of the linguistic and academic English demands of secondary school, academic proficiency necessary for academic particularly since these skills must be explicitly success (Dutro & Moran, 2003). In learning the taught to ELL students (Carrasquillo & language needs associated with specific content Rodríguez, 1996; Cummins & Yee-Fun, 2007). areas, teachers can identify the vocabulary and Halliday’s (2007b) conception of culture sentence patterns necessary for communicating and context is helpful in understanding the specific content. As Hernández (2003) pointed language demands of the academic content out, this can provide English language learners areas. He draws on Christie’s description of with purposeful content for language use. When school as a cultural context in which “curriculum language is used as the medium for accessing genres” emerge from the language systems of the knowledge, the language embodied in the various registers of education (p. 288). Part of content is implicit. In focusing on the content the English teacher’s responsibility, he contends, area as an object of instruction in the English is to help students understand and produce

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classroom, teachers can make this language the different disciplines. In the U.S., there is explicit (Hernández, 2003). some focus on the academic language of the Employing Halliday’s systemic functional school subjects, with emphasis on literacy across linguistic theory Schleppegrell (2004) draws a the curriculum. For ELLs, the WIDA framework distinction between school-based texts and has expanded upon the TESOL standards to everyday language. She contends, illustrate how they could be implemented in schools (WIDA, 2012). Aside from identifying Academic texts make meanings in ways five levels of English proficiency, the WIDA that that are informationally dense and framework distinguishes three levels of authoritatively presented. At the same academic language: word/phrase (vocabulary time these texts embed ideologies and usage), sentence (language forms and position readers in ways that can seem conventions), and discourse (linguistic natural and unchallengeable (p 44). complexity). For each language domain, the In this respect, school-based texts require WIDA framework provides an example of how a different set of linguistic resources than each of the three levels of academic language everyday language, and this becomes could be addressed at the various language increasingly complex as students move from proficiencies for each grade and for each of the primary school to secondary school and into major academic subjects (WIDA, 2012). . Schleppegrell purported that The Kenyan syllabus does not make this does not come naturally as a part of reference to academic language needs, other language development; students need to be than the language of literature, as part of the taught these registers. Students have differential integrated syllabus. Recognition that success in access to this form of language depending on school, particularly at the post-primary school their language background or prior experiences. level, where the language of textbooks tends to Focusing on academic language in school be dense and abstract, is related to proficiency in provides this access to all students. academic language, provides insightful implications for the English language curriculum Learning Language and Learning in Kenya (Francis, Rivera, Lesaux, Kieffer, & through Language: Implications Rivera, 2006). This is particularly significant for ELT when one considers that in Kenya, student academic performance across the curriculum on Although learning subject matter through the secondary school standardized tests has English implicitly involves learning the English tended to be below 50% in all subjects. Kenyan language, this is not always made explicit in the students’ mean scores in 2010 were: English, context of school. The English language 39.77; History, 45.84; Geography, 46.15, for standards and syllabi outlined above for the U.S. Mathematics, Biology and Chemistry in the 20s and Kenya, emphasize language learning—the (KNEC, 2011). The other factor in Kenya is that four domains, plus grammar and vocabulary—to English is not widely used outside the classroom enable communication through the language. (Kioko & Muthwii, 2001). Taking this into These skills and competencies facilitate learning consideration, highlighting academic language is through English as the language of instruction; one means of focusing on English language however, they do not automatically address the instruction in the classroom and the variety of varied needs of language use across the ways in which it can be used to enhance the curriculum and understanding the registers of Teaching English in Kenya and the United States 93

teaching of content subjects. Just as the current students if they are not aware of the multiple integrated syllabus in Kenya uses literary works uses of the words. as the content for English language instruction, Students also need to understand the selected texts from other subject areas could also demands of function words as they are used be used as instructional texts to practice English across the curriculum, e.g., explain, describe, language skills and competencies. enumerate, justify, analyze, contrast, evaluate, and illustrate (Chamot, 2009). They will Identifying Academic English encounter these words on formal standardized Though all teachers should be teachers of tests and should have prior exposure to them literacy, since they are using language as their and practice in using them in assignments. medium and require students to be literate in Understanding how words relate to each other their respective areas, this does not always and can be morphed into different words occur. Even in the U.S. many content teachers through manipulation of word parts (roots, do not feel equipped to teach literacy, as they suffixes, prefixes) can assist them in building separate knowledge of their discipline from the their vocabulary and working out the meaning of language skills used to represent it. This taken- new words (word families), e.g., act, action, for-granted knowledge, i.e., implicit knowledge, active, activity, activate. needs to be made explicit. Students need Additionally, students encounter complex sophisticated vocabulary skills to successfully syntactic features in academic texts, in particular negotiate content-area classrooms. One grammatical metaphor, including common feature in English vocabulary which nominalizations (Nagy & Townsend, 2012) and may cause confusion for some students is embedded clauses, frequent use of passive voice, polysemy. Within the various subject areas, and use of conditionals (if. . .then) in science and some words that are used often in everyday math. Students need to have opportunities to language have very specialized meanings which see how varied linguistic features occur in texts may differ across content areas. For example, and use them in writing (Xu, 2010). Proficiency the word cell has multiple meanings in different in academic language includes knowledge of domains: common and less commonly used vocabulary as  a microscopic structural unit of an students are required to interpret and produce organism (Biology), increasingly complex language. Since it is not  a single unit for conversion of energy feasible to expect students, especially those (Science) learning English as an additional language, to  a small unit within a political know all the words they encounter in academic organization (Social Studies), texts, providing varied ways of categorizing  a unit of a spread sheet words can be a helpful way of organizing words (Mathematics), for them to learn, and increasing their  a portion of the atmosphere that vocabulary. behaves as a unit (Geography) It is not the intent of this article to identify all the aspects of academic language, but rather,  a small room, e. g. prison (everyday to underscore and signal the importance of language) teachers possessing this knowledge: Teachers There are many such words that students can identify the features as they appear in texts encounter in different contexts, e.g., plot, power, which their students use. Teachers need to have and right, which can cause confusion for some

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this deeper knowledge of language in order to help their students understand concepts in the Conclusion content areas. Kenyan researchers have This article has considered an alternative focus indicated that teachers have difficulty for the teaching of English both in the explicating scientific and mathematical concepts preparation of teachers in simply and clearly due to their insufficient programs and in secondary schools, in outer lexical resources (Sure & Ogechi, 2009). This circle countries where English is the language of should not be surprising since these teachers are education, to encompass the varying needs of themselves also learners of English as an students learning English as an additional additional language. language. It is grounded in the recognition that because secondary school students continue to Integrating Language and Content as an struggle with English as the language of Approach to Teaching English instruction, it could be taught more effectively. Integrated content and language, an Comparing the English language needs in Kenya, instructional approach where the focus is on an outer circle country, and the U.S., an inner meaning in context rather than on form, can circle country that struggles with educating large assist in developing fluency and accuracy in all numbers of English language learners, provides four language modalities of listening, speaking, a rationale for the alternative focus. Most reading, and writing. It utilizes content-relevant Kenyan students, and comparable students in tasks to enable the students to build mastery of other outer circle countries, continue to be content knowledge (Gibbons, 2003) and English language learners in secondary school, facilitate second language acquisition. Using despite eight or more years of studying English excerpts from science, mathematics, and social and learning content through English. studies textbooks as reading comprehension The WIDA standards framework used in passages would enable students to identify and the U.S. provides a model for integrating become familiar with different features of academic content and language, with attention academic texts and this could assist them in to the varying English proficiency levels of their content classes. students. In considering what Kenya and other Highlighting academic language in the countries that use English as the language of different subject areas would also be a feasible instruction could take from this model, it is approach to addressing teachers’ inadequate important to acknowledge that despite some proficiency in English while preparing them to universals, each country has its own teach English. In teacher education programs, distinctiveness with respect to language. The teachers could learn how to categorize English framework outlined in this article could be vocabulary in meaningful ways which they could utilized by classroom teachers, teacher teach their students. Teacher education faculty educators, and curriculum developers in the and curriculum developers would need to field of English, to construct and evaluate partner with secondary school teachers to materials for teaching English at the secondary develop teaching resources to implement this school level in their specific contexts. approach and best practices. An initial stage in Although this article focuses on Kenya this process would be to identify the academic and the U.S., its premise that students should be language demands in the different academic taught academic language is applicable to other disciplines. countries that use English as the medium of Teaching English in Kenya and the United States 95

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