Metalanguage

Coding checklist:

1. No metalanguage. The lesson proceeds without the teacher or students stopping to comment on the language being used.

2 Low metalanguage. During the lesson terminology is explained or either the teacher or students stop to make value judgements or comment on language. There is, however, no clarification or assistance provided regarding the language.

3 Some use of metalanguage. At the beginning of the lesson, or at some key juncture, the teacher or students stop and explain or conduct a “mini-lesson” on some aspect of language, e.g. genre, vocabulary, signs or symbols.

4 Periodic use of metalanguage. The teacher or students provide commentary on aspects of language at several points during the lesson.

5 High use of metalanguage. The lesson proceeds with frequent commentary on language use.

Example:

Feedback identifying the thinking used:

"You have used your prior knowledge and what you already know to really build on what is going on in the photographs."

What is metalanguage?

Metalanguage – is the vocabulary used to discuss language conventions and use (Australian Curriculum). It refers to the naming and analysis of subject-specific language; providing frequent commentary on language use and the various contexts of differing language uses (adapted from Quality Teaching in NSW – Discussion Paper, DET Professional Support and Curriculum Directorate, 2003).

Lessons high in metalanguage have high levels of talk about language and about how texts work. Teachers or students frequently take the opportunity to draw attention to particular aspects of texts (e.g. words, images, symbols) either at a key point in the lesson, or when students are obviously having difficulties in interpretation. Such discussion will often focus on pointing out how differing sentences, types of texts, discourses and other symbolic representations actually work; comparing and contrasting different texts; and showing how language and symbols can be used to construct texts, knowledge and power. (Quality Teaching in NSW Public Schools – A Classroom Practice Guide, 2003).

Metalanguage should extend beyond explicitly addressing topic-specific vocabulary to explicitly identify and address language/vocabulary specific to the types of thinking required and/or evident

“so that we can name, notice and highlight thinking when it occurs in class

… until students can name a process they cannot control it” (Ritchart, Church & Morrison, 2011 p.29)

Metalanguage in the classroom

As teachers we need to:

be clear in our minds about what thinking is – allowing us to make thinking visible by knowing and naming it as is occurs
identify the language or symbolic features that are essential for developing deep understanding of key concepts
use and unpack the specialist language of the subject, building on students’ known language and appropriately pacing the introduction of new language and usage
frequently take the opportunity to draw attention to particular aspects of texts either at key points of the lesson or when students experience difficulty in interpretation
explicitly teach about language, including various forms of literacy such as visual and digital literacy and how it works in texts for a variety of purposes and audiences across learning areas
create opportunities that require students to analyse how language works to clarify meaning

Intellectual Rigour

Metalanguage