Making Language Visible

by Dr. Ruslana Westerlund

I get these 3 questions a lot:

Q: Why do you promote SFL and Genre Pedagogy?

A: I promote equity. I chose SFL and Genre Pedagogy because they make the language of schooling visible and teachable. Too often, we expect students to read, write, reason, and communicate in disciplinary ways without explicitly teaching them how language works to accomplish those purposes. Students who already know the unwritten language expectations of school have an advantage; others are left to figure them out on their own. SFL gives us a way to uncover those hidden expectations, and Genre Pedagogy gives us a way to teach them explicitly while maintaining rigorous, grade-level learning. SFL is not the goal. It is a tool for creating more equitable access to learning.

Q: What does it mean to make language visible?

A: It means taking the guessing game out of learning. The expectations for what it means to be successful are made explicit. Instead of asking students to “make your thinking visible,” “use academic language,” or “support your argument” and expecting them to somehow know what that looks like, we show them how successful texts work. We make visible the language choices that build explanations, arguments, narratives, and other disciplinary meanings. When expectations are visible, students don’t have to guess what success looks like; they can learn how to achieve it.

Q: Can you show me some examples?

A. See my blogs below. All of my blogs are dedicated to making language visible. All my blogs are *NOW* free!

Cheering you on,

Ruslana

About the Author

Dr. Ruslana Westerlund is an educational consultant, researcher, and professional learning facilitator specializing in disciplinary literacy, multilingual education, and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). She works with schools, districts, universities, and educational organizations across the United States and internationally to support the implementation of high-quality instruction that integrates language, literacy, and disciplinary learning. Her work focuses on making language visible through the Teaching and Learning Cycle, the WIDA ELD Standards Framework (which she co-authored), and evidence-based approaches that provide multilingual learners with high challenge and high support.

Westerlund Consulting LLC is a certified Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) providing professional learning, curriculum design, instructional coaching, keynote presentations, and strategic consultation in disciplinary literacy, multilingual education, and language-focused instructional design. The company partners with educational organizations to build educator capacity and improve equitable access to rigorous, language-rich learning for all students.