ELD FunctionsandForms

LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS and FORMS
The English Language Proficiency Standards are written as pathways to the Oregon English Language Arts standards. The ELP
Standards are designed to supplement the ELA standards to ensure that LEP students develop proficiency in both the English language
and the concepts and skills contained in the ELA standards. They can be found on the web at
www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/standards/elp/files/all.doc.
This section contains language functions and forms that native English speakers acquire mostly before entering school or naturally at
home. These language functions and forms, however, need to be explicitly taught to English language learners (ELLs). They may be
taught to ELLs at all grade levels, and as the need and context arises.
Forms of a language deal with the internal grammatical structure of words. The relationship between boy and boys, for example, and
the relationship (irregular) between man and men would be forms of a language.
A language function refers to the purpose for which speech or writing is being used.
In speech these include:
• giving instructions
• introducing ourselves
• making requests
In academic writing we use a range of specific functions in order to communicate ideas clearly.
These include:
• describing processes
• comparing or contrasting things or ideas, and
• classifying objects or ideas
The contrast between form and function in language can be illustrated through a simple medical analogy. If doctors studied only a
limited portion of the human system, such as anatomical form, they would be unable to adequately address their patient’s needs. To
fully treat their patients, physicians must understand the purposes of the human body and the relationships between organs, cells, and
genes (Pozzi, 2004). Similarly, ELLs need to understand both the form (structure) and the function (purpose) of the English language
in order to reach higher levels of proficiency.
Pozzi, D.C. (2004). Forms and functions in language: Morphology, syntax. Retrieved March 10, 2005, from University of Houston, College of Education
Web site: http://www.viking.coe.uh.edu/grn11.intr/intr.0.1.2.htm
Transformations: Ways to Increase and Expand Language Demand
1. Transform: statement/question
2. Transform: positive & negative
3. Switch person: 1st/2nd/3rd
4. Switch number: singular/plural
5. Change tense
6. Expand using conjunctions
7. Expand by adding phrase/clause
8. Deepen vocabulary: synonyms, antonyms, and affixes
9. Swap nouns for pronouns
10. Add detail with adjectives or adverbs
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Oregon English Language Proficiency Standards: Language Functions and Examples of Forms
Language Function Examples of Language Forms

Expressing needs and likes Indirect/ direct object, subject/ verb agreement,
pronouns
Describing people, places, and things Nouns, pronouns, adjectives
Describing spatial and temporal Prepositional phrases
relations
Describing actions Present progressive, adverbs
Retelling/relating past events Past tense verbs, perfect aspect (present and
past)
Making predictions Verbs: future tense, conditional mode
Asking Informational Questions Verbs and verb phrases in questions
Asking Clarifying Questions Questions with increasing specificity
Expressing and Supporting Opinions Sentence structure, modals (will, can, may,
shall)
Comparing Adjectives and conjunctions, comparatives,
superlatives, adverbs
Contrasting Comparative adjectives
Summarizing Events Increasingly complex sentences with
increasingly specific vocabulary
Persuading Verb forms
Literary Analysis Sentence structure, specific vocabulary
Cause and Effect Verb forms
Drawing Conclusions Comparative adjective
Defining Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives
Explaining Verb forms, declarative sentences, complex
sentences, adverbs of manner
Generalizing Abstract nouns, verb forms, nominalizations
Evaluating Complex sentences; increasing specificity of
nouns, verbs, and adjectives
Interpreting Language of propaganda, complex sentences,
nominalizations
Sequencing Adverbs of time, relative clauses, subordinate
conjunctions
Hypothesizing and speculating Modals (would, could, might), compound
tenses (would have been)
Summarizing Text Modals (would, could, might), compound
tenses (would have been)

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LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS and FORMS

Transformations: Ways to Increase and Expand Language Demand

Language Function Examples of Language Forms

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