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Thursday, 4 JanuarySymposiumContinuing To Build Linguistic Knowledge for Teachers:Collaborating with NCTE's Commission on LanguageCalifornia C4:00 – 5:30 PMOrganizer:Sponsor:Participants:Kristin Denham (Western Washington University)Committee on Language in the School CurriculumLauri Katz (Ohio State University)Dolores Straker (Raymond Walters College, University of Cincinnati)Jerrie Cobb Scott (University of Memphis)Collaboration between linguists and educators continues to emerge on a national scale, producing work that aims to identify, first,what aspects of linguistic knowledge are most useful for teachers to know, and second, what kinds of activities and projects are mosteffective in introducing those aspects of linguistic knowledge to students. The importance of raising language awareness in theschools is reflected in the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)'s 1994 Position Statement on Language Study:Resolved, that the National Council of Teachers of English appoint a committee or task force to explore effective ways of integratinglanguage awareness into classroom instruction and teacher preparation programs, review current practices and materials related tolanguage awareness, and prepare new materials for possible publication by NCTE. Language awareness includes examining howlanguage varies in a range of social and cultural settings; examining how people's attitudes vary towards language across culture,class, gender, and generation; examining how oral and written language affects listeners and readers; examining how ‘correctness’in language reflects social-political-economic values; examining how the structure of language works from a descriptive perspective;and examining how first and second languages are acquired.A similar commitment is reflected by the work of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) Committee on Language in the SchoolCurriculum, which explores ways to foster collaboration between linguists and K-12 educators through various projects that targetlanguage education. The NCTE's and LSA's mutual interest in raising language awareness in the schools is resulting in importantcollaborative efforts between these professional organizations. Members of the LSA were invited to attend the 2003 annual NCTEconvention, where they presented a well-attended panel on linguistics and education. The NCTE invited LSA members again in 2005and 2006 to present at the NCTE convention. At a meeting of linguists, teachers, teacher educators, and the Center for AppliedLinguistics held at the NCTE in 2005, several NCTE members expressed interest in working more directly with the LSA, resulting injoint ownership of some of the projects and a sense of mutuality and reciprocity. This collaboration will lead to better ways forlinguists' efforts in the integration of linguistic knowledge into preK-12 education to be anchored in the K-12 classroom. In thissymposium, NCTE/LSA members offer insight into how best to direct our work with NCTE in order to effect change in the ways thatlinguistics is integrated into preK-12 classrooms by focusing on ways that linguists can better prepare teachers, as well as suggestwhat role linguists might play in making and changing educational policy.Laurie Katz (Ohio State University)Discourse analysis & teachers' knowledge of variations in narrativesI discuss how linguists and teacher educators can work together to support teachers of children from preschool to second grade tointegrate children's language variations into the curriculum while at the same time addressing the curriculum standards. I discussexamples through one of the Ohio English Language Arts Standards which has shared characteristics with the NCTE/IRA EnglishLanguage Arts Standards. Examples include developing curriculum for pre- and in-service teachers with a focus on (1) helping themto identify narrative structures, styles, and content within the children's oral discourse and (2) interpreting the standards in a manner tosupport children's home language while teaching them a standardized format.75