Upcoming Courses

“When people hear WIDA and SFL, Dr Ruslana Westerlund comes to their minds.”

- Leah Montano, Teacher, CIA FIRST International School, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Facilitated Online Learning

Spring 2027 Author-Led Book Study

Missed the first cohort of our global book study? We’re bringing it back!

Join co-authors Sally Humphrey and Ruslana Westerlund in Spring 2027 for a second offering of our popular guided book study. Grounded in our Routledge book, Building a Language Toolkit for Teachers, this experience is specifically designed to help educators deepen instructional strategies using the power of a functional language lens. Offered across multiple global time zones to fit your schedule.

  • Spring 2027. Dates announced soon. Registration opens mid-late Fall.

  • 7 Sessions | 10.5 Hours | Online Course | Certificate of Completion

  • $300 per participant (course book purchased separately)

“Be ready to stretch your thinking, open your mind to new ideas and ways to look at language. This is different from how we were taught in school and in teacher prep, for that matter. If you want to grow and develop as an effective teacher, this is it. While the Phonics side of the reading rope is foundational, this is the rest of it... this is the language comprehension part that helps people understand the how and why of language. ” - Gwyneth, Regional Educational Services Collaborative, Summer 2026 Book Study Participant

2 young girls working on a writing assignment

Summer 2026 Author-Led Book Study | June 23-August

Update: Thank you for your interest! All cohorts are full and registration is now closed.

Join us for a guided book study designed to help educators develop their pedagogical language knowledge through a functional approach — based on our new book “Building a Language Toolkit for Teachers” from Routledge. Led by authors Sally Humphrey and Ruslana Westerlund, this book study is offered across multiple global time zones.

  • Cohort Schedules: 3 groups to choose from. REGISTRATION CLOSED.

  • Course Syllabus (PDF)

  • 7 Sessions | 10.5 Hours | Online Course | Certificate of Completion

  • $300 per participant, not including book

Here are examples of other workshops and courses we offer.

They can be tailored for local professional learning upon request.

There’s Always More to Learn

  • Writing Across Disciplines

  • Analyzing Student Data Using WIDA and CA ELD Proficiency Level Descriptors

  • Supporting Multilingual Learners: Providing Access to Complex Texts

  • Disciplinary Literacy in Grades 3-12

  • Cohesive Devices for Comprehension and Flow

  • The Teaching and Learning Cycle for Disciplinary Genres

  • Lesson Planning with the WIDA ELD Standards or CA ELD Standards

A Look Inside: Building Your Visible Language Pedagogy Toolkit

Science texts can be dense and difficult to understand. Teachers can help students see language patterns — “discourse features” — instead of a wall of text. They learn to unpack and digest complex texts rather than skim them.

That’s just one example.

Picture of a "Discourse Features in Science Texts" tool from a workshop

Here are other Visible Language Pedagogy practices that use systemic functional linguistics to empower students.

    • UNIT LEVEL
      Chaining of Lessons and Learning Experiences: Engineer success through careful sequencing of lessons through macro- and micro- pedagogical scaffolding.


    • LESSON LEVEL
      Analyze Language Demands: Teach the unique language features of disciplinary genres: scientific explanations, historical arguments, and literary analysis essays.


    • CLASSROOM LEVEL
      Teaching and Learning Cycle: Use an apprenticeship pedagogy that moves students from deconstructing mentor texts to independent mastery

    • Sense-Making Through Talk: Design talk-centered learning classrooms where students talk about concepts, ideas, and language in the context of text

    • The Mode Continuum: Strategically shift students from spoken-like hands-on learning and “everyday” language to authoritative expert-like writing.

    • Text Unpacking: Empower students by taking the mystery out of dense academic texts by identifying expanded noun groups, clause relationships, and implicit causality.

    • Deconstruction and Joint Construction: After students have built their conceptual knowledge, teacher apprentices students to the language of the genre.

    • Metalinguistic Reflection: Students learn that language is THEIR resource for accomplishing THEIR purposes in and outside of school.

    • Explicit modeling and deconstruction of language of the genre, so students understand how texts work and can take increasing ownership of meaning-making

    • Structured opportunities for joint and independent construction, gradually releasing responsibility from teacher to student

    • Clear success criteria and reflection, enabling students to monitor, revise, and strengthen their own language and thinking