Identify the language a demanding task requires.
Science: “Evaluate the reliability of the investigation” needs the meaning of evaluate, language of repeated measurements and a judgement supported by evidence.
Choose a real task and identify its language demands alongside its conceptual demands.
Underline technical terms and general academic verbs.
Mark phrases that express relationships or qualify claims.
Identify the response structure the task requires.
Select a small, purposeful scaffold for the most significant barrier.
Remove the annotation when learners can identify task demands themselves.
Keep the subject challenge. Offer one model, visual or language prompt where needed, then check a fresh independent response.
Choose a real task and identify its language demands alongside its conceptual demands.
Underline technical terms and general academic verbs. Mark phrases that express relationships or qualify claims.
Ask learners to explain what the task requires before they attempt the full answer.
Remove the annotation when learners can identify task demands themselves.
Ask learners to explain what the task requires before they attempt the full answer.
Adapt these prompts to the task and your learners.
Our purpose is: Identify the language a demanding task requires.
Which detail supports your explanation? Show me how you know.
Try the new case on your own. Show the detail or reasoning that supports your answer.
Which support do you still need, and which part can you now do independently?
Maths: distinguish calculate from justify.
Humanities: identify the language of comparison and source evaluation.
Use a small word bank, visuals and partner rehearsal when needed. Extend with precise explanations and qualifications. Judge the support from the response to this task.
Keep the strategy. Change the subject.
Highlight the demands in “Evaluate the reliability of the investigation”.
I need evidence about repeated measurements and a judgement about consistency, rather than only a description of the method.
Check that the response meets the command word, uses relevant evidence and communicates the intended reasoning.
Highlight “compare” and “evaluate” in a source task.
I must identify similarities and differences, then judge usefulness for the question with evidence and limits.
Check that the response meets the command word, uses relevant evidence and communicates the intended reasoning.
Highlight “explain the effect” in a language-analysis question.
I must connect the specific word choice to a possible meaning or reader response.
Check that the response meets the command word, uses relevant evidence and communicates the intended reasoning.
Contrast “calculate” with “justify” in two questions.
Calculate asks for a value; justify asks for the reasoning that supports a claim or method.
Check that the response meets the command word, uses relevant evidence and communicates the intended reasoning.