What are Language Maker Routines?
Aug 08, 2025
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- Language Maker routines help students develop the language to engage in evidence-based reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
- Language Makers set the standard for high-quality ELD instruction, creating a consistent, impactful English development experience for students. Once students, teachers, and coaches are familiar with the routines, they can transfer them across contexts and disciplines to deepen student engagement and academic English development in all subject areas.
- Language Makers reflect the 3 Cs (components) and 3 Ps (processes) of English language development (Wong Fillmore, 1991; Gibbons 1998), and embody our beliefs that all multilingual learners deserve a rich and challenging curriculum and that language development should be integrated with content and skills development:
- 3 Components of English Language Development
- Settings that allow multilingual learners to access English: Multilingual learners are active participants (Michaels and O’Connor, 2012).
- Example Language Maker: Conversation Cues: Students are given time for listening and use sentence starters for facilitating equitable and productive conversations.
- Speakers who are eager to talk with multilingual learners: English speakers and multilingual learners have opportunities to interact and negotiate meaning (Swain, 1993; Wong Fillmore & Fillmore, 2012, Gibbons, 1998; Hatch, 1978).
- Example Language Maker: Write Together: Students propose ideas and sentences together to create a coherent paragraph or essay.
- Multilingual learners who are positively disposed to learn English: Multilingual learners have opportunities to produce English and observe reactions (Swain, 1993; Gibbons, 1998; Michaels & O’Connor, 2012).
- Example Language Maker Routine: Rehearse for Writing: Students share their essay sentences with one another and respond to and borrow from each others’ sentences.
- Settings that allow multilingual learners to access English: Multilingual learners are active participants (Michaels and O’Connor, 2012).
- 3 Processes of English Language Development
- Linguistic and Cognitive.
- Are the sounds of English similar or different from my home language? Multilingual learners have opportunities to actively listen and compare.
- Example Language Maker: Explore Languages: Students learn bits of the sounds of additional languages in connection with the module topics, texts, tasks, and standards.
- Are English words similar or different from my home language? New and disciplinary words are provided in context for students to use.
- Example Language Maker: Build Background Language: Students share their knowledge about a topic and learn and use new target academic words and phrases they will need for the unit.
- What about the structure of the language? Multilingual Learners need opportunities to discover the structure of English (Fillmore & Fillmore 2012; Cucchiara, 2019).
- Example Language Maker: Collect Language: Students hunt for and collect multiple examples of a target structure, or phrase, in their grade-level complex texts, analyze how authors use the structures, and “try out” the structures themselves.
- Social
- What is appropriate or inappropriate? Students need examples and practice in appropriate language, both orally and in writing.
- Example Language Maker: Paragraph Language Dives: Students deconstruct, reconstruct, and practice. They have space to wrestle with norms for constructing sentences and paragraphs—to analyze how and why authors form sentences and paragraphs, and to “try out” these norms.
- Linguistic and Cognitive.
- 3 Components of English Language Development
- Refer to Language Maker routines for a description of the purpose and steps of each routine.
