Introduction

A preschool or kindergarten classroom is full of language.

A child says, “It’s bigger.”
Another child asks, “Why did it fall?”
A teacher says, “First put the blocks in the basket, then choose a book.”
A small group looks at a picture and one child explains, “The plant needs water because it is dry.”

These are not only ordinary classroom moments. They are also the beginning of academic English.

In this book, academic English means the English children use to participate in learning. It is not a separate language from everyday English, and it is not a collection of hard words for older students only. For young children, academic English begins with the language of observing, comparing, explaining, asking questions, predicting, retelling, and working with others. Scholars often describe academic language as the language used to build and communicate knowledge in school settings, including specialized vocabulary, sentence patterns, and ways of explaining ideas clearly (Snow & Uccelli, 2009; Schleppegrell, 2004).

For a young child, this can sound very simple:

• “The red cup is taller than the blue cup.”
• “I think it will roll because it is round.”
• “First the caterpillar was tiny. Then it grew.”
• “Maybe the ice melted because it got warm.”
• “These two animals are the same because they both have wings.”

These sentences are not advanced in an adult sense, but they are powerful. They help children name what they notice, connect ideas, listen to others, and make their thinking visible.

Why academic English matters early

Early childhood is a time when children are building language rapidly through conversation, play, stories, songs, routines, and relationships. Oral language—language that children understand and speak—is closely connected to later literacy learning, including vocabulary, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008). This does not mean preschool should become a worksheet version of elementary school. It means that everyday classroom life can be used wisely so that children hear and practice the language they need for learning.

A child who can say “more” has an important word. A child who can say “I need more blocks because my tower is not finished” has a stronger tool for thinking, planning, and explaining. A child who can point to two leaves and say “same” is beginning to compare. A child who can say “They are the same because they are both green, but this one is longer” is using language to make a careful distinction.

This is the heart of the book: academic English grows through meaningful use.

Children do not learn this kind of language best by memorizing isolated word lists. They learn it when words are connected to real experiences: touching a rough shell, pouring water through a funnel, listening to a story, building a bridge, sorting buttons, acting out a restaurant, or explaining why a tower fell. Research on early language and literacy emphasizes the importance of rich talk, shared book reading, and meaningful interaction in children’s language growth (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001; National Early Literacy Panel, 2008).

What this book means by “teaching”

In this book, teaching does not mean talking all day while children sit silently. Good early childhood teaching is interactive. It includes listening, noticing, responding, modeling, and giving children many chances to try language for themselves.

To model language means to show children a useful way to say something. For example, if a child says, “It go down,” the teacher might respond, “Yes, the ball rolled down the ramp.” The teacher is not scolding the child. The teacher is gently giving a clearer sentence.

To expand language means to add a little more to what a child says. If a child says, “Big leaf,” the teacher might say, “Yes, this is a big, wide leaf.” The teacher keeps the child’s idea and adds useful language.

To prompt means to invite the child to think or say more. If a child says, “It broke,” the teacher might ask, “What do you think made it break?” or “How could we fix it?” A prompt should feel like support, not a test.

These small teacher moves matter because they happen many times a day. A short conversation at the block center, a question during snack, or a retelling after a read-aloud can become a language lesson without interrupting the natural life of the classroom.

Academic English is for every child

Academic English is not only for children who already speak fluently. It is also not only for children who are learning English as an additional language. Every child benefits from learning how to explain, compare, ask, justify, retell, and listen carefully.

For multilingual learners, this work must be done with respect. A child’s home language is not a problem to remove. It is part of the child’s knowledge, identity, and family life. Research on children learning English emphasizes that supporting English development should go together with valuing children’s home languages and cultural knowledge (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017). In practice, this may mean inviting families to share important words, allowing children to use their home language during play, using visuals and gestures, and recognizing that a child may understand more than they can yet say in English.

For example, a child may know exactly how to sort animals by size but may not yet have the English words “large,” “small,” “bigger,” or “smaller.” The teacher’s task is not to assume the child lacks the concept. The task is to help the child connect the concept to English words and sentences.

What you will learn to do

This book follows a practical path.

First, you will learn what academic English means for preschool and kindergarten children. Then you will study how young children learn language through interaction, listening, imitation, play, repetition, and meaningful context. After that, the book moves into classroom practice: how to create a language-rich environment, how to teach through talk, how to build vocabulary, and how to use read-alouds.

Later chapters connect academic English to listening, reasoning, math, science, social studies, emergent literacy, multilingual learning, play, conversation scaffolds, assessment, lesson planning, and family partnership. The goal is not to add a heavy program on top of your day. The goal is to help you see the language opportunities already present in your classroom and use them more intentionally.

The word intentional is important. An intentional teacher has a purpose. For example, during a sink-or-float activity, one teacher might simply let children drop objects into water. Another teacher might do the same activity while also planning to teach words and sentence patterns such as:

• “I predict it will sink.”
• “It floats because it is light.”
• “This one is heavier than that one.”
• “Let’s observe what happens.”

The activity is still playful and concrete, but the language goal is clearer.

A gentle promise

Teaching academic English in early childhood does not require perfect speeches or long lessons. It requires attention to small moments.

When a child points, you can help the child name.
When a child names, you can help the child describe.
When a child describes, you can help the child compare.
When a child compares, you can help the child explain.
When a child explains, you can help the child join the shared work of learning.

This book will keep returning to one simple idea: young children learn academic English best when language is meaningful, repeated, social, and connected to real classroom experiences.

The next chapter begins by defining academic English more carefully at the preschool and kindergarten level. Before we can teach it well, we need to know what it is—and what it is not.

References

Dickinson, D. K., & Tabors, P. O. (Eds.). (2001). Beginning literacy with language: Young children learning at home and school. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Promoting the educational success of children and youth learning English: Promising futures. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24677

National Early Literacy Panel. (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. National Institute for Literacy.

Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The language of schooling: A functional linguistics perspective. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Snow, C. E., & Uccelli, P. (2009). The challenge of academic language. In D. R. Olson & N. Torrance (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of literacy (pp. 112–133). Cambridge University Press.