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Academic Language
Everything we do at WIDA revolves around the significance of academic language and how to empower language learners to reach for success. The following are some of our guiding documents, academic references, and efforts to share this message with the educational community. Please browse the rest of the site to learn more about our specific vision of academic language instruction and assessment.
WIDA's Can Do Philosophy
WIDA embraces inclusion and equity with its Can Do philosophy. We focus our attention on expanding students' academic language by building on the inherent resources of English language learners (ELLs) and accentuating the positive efforts of educators.
WIDA's Guiding Principles of Language Development
Language is a powerful force that helps shape our individual and collective identity. WIDA views language as a resource and ELLs as valued contributors to learning communities. The Principles of Language Development acknowledge the diverse linguistic resources our students draw from and the unique pathways they follow throughout the process of learning English.
The Principles of Language Development were drafted by WIDA staff and enhanced by the WIDA standards expert panel, a group of researchers and practitioners in the field of academic language from across the US. The final results of this work, with references, are posted below.
WIDA believes in and adheres to the following principles in development of all of its products and services:
The Madison Academic Language Working Group
Together with WestEd, WIDA convened a group of national experts on the subject of academic language. This group is the product of a September 2010 summit at which the members of the group committed to elaborating the core components of the academic language construct to support student growth. They will accomplish this by developing various products aimed at teachers and administrators, researchers, policy-makers, and other stakeholders in the field of education.
To learn more, please visit the Madison Academic Language Working Group website.