New descriptions of metalanguage for supporting English Language Learners’ writing in the early years of science: A discourse perspective

Abstract

TESOL educators working alongside content area teachers have demonstrated the efficacy of metalanguage informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) for supporting English Language Learners' (ELL) disciplinary literacies. Using science as an example, this chapter reports on new descriptions of SFL systems “beyond the clause,” which have provided valuable ways of talking about knowledge building. We report on the application of this metalanguage in analysis of texts composed by young multilingual learners for text-based science investigation in the early years of schooling, including how this analysis revealed the literacy needs of ELLs. We further report on how the teacher of these young learners drew on a principled recontextualized “bridging” metalanguage to facilitate productive discussion of scientific writing.