3 Simple Steps to Translate Academic Speak into Student Confidence
After two long classes about annotated bibliographies, a student gave me the best compliment.
Some context: we just finished Week #6 in the semester, and at the beginning of the semester, this student was very nervous about English class. English is not her first language, and even though she understands and can communicate, sometimes finding the right words takes her a little longer and is more difficult than for native speakers.
She told me this week that her coworkers, who always check in to see how class is going, were surprised that she was doing well in English - that I must be a “nice” grader. Now, I won’t say I’m the harshest grader, but I don’t go around handing out points that haven’t been earned. She was proud of herself for doing well, and she is now much more confident in class. She has even been offering verbal answers in class, which is amazing!
The compliment she gave me was that my actions as her instructor had allowed her to become more confident.
Hearing that my actions have enabled my student to be more confident was a moment of great pride. My teaching philosophy is based heavily in increasing student confidence, so to hear that it’s working (at least for some students) is incredibly gratifying!
Most of us are very aware of our actions in the classroom, and we do a heck of a lot of planning for class. That doesn’t include the longer-term semester planning, or middle-term project planning. (Probably even more for elementary, middle, & high school.) We have a whole list of objectives to achieve with these plans, and by gosh, we want students to get it!
The trouble is, sometimes students don’t understand why we are doing activities or projects. They see the objectives listed on the syllabus and project handouts, but the words don’t mean anything particularly helpful. In fact, when I introduce a project, I don’t even read the objectives, although they are listed. I discuss the project in terms of goals and reasoning - things that students are more familiar with.
There are a few barriers for students in terms of understanding “academic speak”. They are things students need to be aware of, but that, for one reason or another, don’t compute.
Academic Discourse I introduced this idea to my students this week. The short reading I gave them defined academic discourse simply as “how scholars - or academics, as they are sometimes called - speak & write.” For those of us familiar with the university setting, we are pretty good at speaking “academic.”
The vocabulary and concepts are familiar to us because we have learned it, and in English, we teach students how to join the discourse. But, this is often a brand new idea for students, and it is scary! It means a lot of big words instructors and professors know that they don’t. They often don’t feel qualified to join academic discourse, and even worse, sometimes they don’t feel smart enough.
Objectives If you’ve been in the professional world, or in the classroom as a teacher, objectives are a regular part of those worlds. As teachers, we see them and can usually visualize what that means for the semester. It gets easier the more times you’ve seen them, but even during schooling to become a teacher we learn how to translate these ideas into actions.
Our students haven’t developed this auto-translate function for objectives. I know I hadn’t as a student. Students look at objectives and see words - maybe some buzzwords or keywords they’ve seen before - but they don’t necessarily put that together with what projects or class activities they complete for class. While that doesn’t seem like a big deal, it means that students who don’t understand objectives are just doing work because we tell them to. This does not encourage them to produce their best work.
Level of Language Sometimes the problem isn’t what we’re asking students to do, or how we want them to do it, but how we tell them. As academics, we can typically jump in and out of academic discourse with ease. We have learned how to adapt our language to different audiences because different people need different types of communication. We also expect other academics will be familiar with the etiquette of discourse, and so will understand the intricacies of what we’re saying.
In first year composition we work on building audience awareness and using more formal language, but if a student has never thought about audience before, it can be a hard concept. The same goes for academic and formal language. Students are typically okay with having a conversation, but like anyone else learning brand new information, sometimes hesitate when teachers use the new level of language or tell them to use the new level of language to write something.
As a teacher, these barriers can be a big struggle in the classroom!
Sometimes it feels like students don’t understand, no matter what you do or how you explain. We’ve all been there: you’ve explained the concept in as many ways as you can think of, and the student still doesn’t understand. Or, the student says they understand, but then when they explain back to you, their understanding is incorrect.
The good news is that there are some relatively simple ways you can increase understanding of academic speak in the classroom.
Introduce the idea of academic discourse early & help students find their voice. There seems to be a spectrum of students: on one end, a student could be incredibly confident and ready to add their opinion to any conversation. On the other end, a student might feel utterly intimidated by the idea of joining academic conversations with experts.
My students this semester have expressed fear over vocabulary (that they want to use better vocab), so we talked about how everyone has a different voice. Not all academic papers use complicated language with long sentences - even scholars don’t always use eloquent language. Sometimes it’s better (and easier) to have a clear message with simple language.
Helping students find their voice, that they can use with confidence, is critical, because if they don’t find it they won’t ever join the conversation. If you help them early on in the semester, and lead them through the semester with steps on how to join the conversation, it will be less scary when it’s their turn.
Translate objectives into goals & actions. Students don’t do their best work if they don’t know what the end goal is and why we do what we do. They just don’t. Because at that point, they’re just following instructions, not learning something valuable.
One way to avoid this barrier is to break down the class & project objectives into goals and actions you (and the students) will take to achieve the objective. For example, one of the objectives of my Writing Composition class is “Recognize and develop styles appropriate to varied writing situations.” Rather than just telling them this objective when I introduce the research paper, I review what we’ve done so far.
We did a summary response first, which was more personal and analyzed a text. Then, we did an annotated bibliography, which is largely about following instructions and collecting research - much less about reactions and opinions.
They’ve done those two types of writing situations already, and for their paper, we will learn about the researched argument essay style by focusing on things like thesis statements, introductions & conclusions, and supporting ideas with evidence. In class we will practice each part of the style, and at the end when they write a successful paper, they will have achieved the objective. I always connect what we’ve done to what we’re doing, and then to where they might see these things outside of my class.
Conscientiously adjust your language & examples use to meet class needs. This is interesting, because sometimes when we use language and examples in class we think we’re being very clear but then look out to a sea of blank faces. This semester, almost half of my students are English as a second language learners, meaning that some examples and pop culture references I’ve used before completely miss the mark.
As we’ve gone through the semester, I have continuously monitored the words I use to explain concepts, and the outside or recent real-life examples. Sometimes the words I use and think of as common are still unfamiliar, so we take the time to talk about it in another way that is more familiar. One of the beautiful things about teaching is the diversity, especially since every class is different. Sometimes even from day to day!
We have to be alert to what our classes will understand with both words and examples. This is a constant learning experience, even for those who have been teaching for years! You never know what level of understanding your students will bring to the classroom, and you have to be able to use that academic-translate skill to make material accessible.
So what does this have to do with confidence?
When students find their voice and use it successfully, they become more confident to try (or try again) - sometimes taking more risk with a higher reward.
When students know you are actively listening as an advocate, they feel more comfortable taking a risk and trying, even when they are still a little unsure.
When you create transparency, you open the classroom to dialogue and safe conversation. Students respond well because they become a more active part of their learning experience, and they realize they can be successful when they take some ownership.
When students understand the objectives & goals, they are more confident in their ability to complete the tasks/projects successfully.
None of these actions are overnight fixes.
Sometimes students resist or it seems like they are firmly planted in their comfort zones with no plans to leave. Sometimes you try these ideas and they just fall flat.
But, in the long run, these are successful strategies. I use them in my classroom and fine-tune them each semester. Typically, students respond very well, and the strategies work. That’s why, when my student told me she has become more confident, even in the 6 weeks of class we’ve had this semester, I knew I had to write about it.
Everyone, students and teachers, should have the opportunity to feel this good about what we do in class. Making academic speak more accessible to students creates and hones student confidence, which is a game-changer.
What have you experienced with academic objectives and language use in your classrooms? Have you gotten stuck? Had a really great experience? I’d love to hear about it! Send me an email at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com or drop a comment below.