Today multilingualism is the norm in most European countries. As a result of immigration and internal EU mobility, more and more students grow up with other first languages than the majority language. Data from school effectiveness research show that European school systems are far from providing equal opportunities for students with an immigration background. In this context, the linguistic register of academic language (or “Bildungssprache” – a term recently used in the German scientific discourse, Morek & Heller 2012) plays an important role for success in school. Academic language is needed to express complex and abstract contents isolated from the initial context (Gogolin 2009). Gibbons (2002) and Schleppegrell (2004) call this the “language of schooling”. Without being supported in acquiring this particular register students from diverse linguistic as well as socio-cultural backgrounds run the risk of lagging behind or even failing at school. The question of how to improve language teaching is one of the important issues discussed in German as well as in European education policy and research.

This paper presents one aspect of the German research project “Bildungssprachförderliches Lehrerhandeln. Eine videobasierte Unterrichtsstudie in migrationsbedingt mehrsprachigen Schulklassen”, a video based classroom study on academic language teaching in high-migrant percentage classes. The project is being carried out at the University of Muenster and funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) from 2012 through 2014. It analyses successful and innovative language teaching and focuses on teacher activities.

The aspect that this paper presents is the analysis of how teachers use elements of classroom management in order to promote the academic language proficiency of their students. As the results of international school assessment tests show, effective classroom management is strongly linked to student achievements and the progress of learning (Walberg & Paik 2000, Brophy 2006). German research approaches concerning classroom management have, until now, primarily focussed on reactive disciplinary measures such as order, sanctions and admonition (Keller 2008, Grüner & Hilt 2005). Recent trends in this field, however, follow the international view which emphasises preventive aspects such as a learning-friendly atmosphere, teacher organization, and constructing learning environments (Haag & Streber 2012, Helmke 2012). The definition which this paper is based on follows this perspective: classroom management includes all kinds of activities that help to build a structured framework for effective teaching and learning (Borich 2006, Muijs & Reynolds 2005, Helmke 2012). Research on this field has included various aspects such as classroom discipline, time management or lesson preparation. However, its potential to support academic language teaching and learning has not been taken into account yet.

The purpose of this paper is to show different teaching practices of effective classroom management which support academic language proficiency. The video material makes it possible to analyse more closely elements such as rituals, procedures and special classroom settings (e.g. self-regulated learning). The research questions presented here are: How do successful teachers use classroom management for supporting their students in acquiring elements of academic language? How do they use language to construct a framework for teaching and learning?

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