ELL Scaffolds for Art and Music: Supporting English Learners in Visual Arts and Music Education

The arts — visual art, music, theater, dance — are often celebrated as universal languages that transcend verbal communication. And it is true that artistic creation and expression can be powerful avenues for ELL students whose English is still developing. But art and music classes also involve significant language demands: art criticism, musical analysis, discussion of technique and aesthetics, and written artist statements. This page provides scaffolds for the language demands of art and music instruction while honoring the unique expressive potential these classes hold for ELL students.

The Language Demands of Art and Music Classes

Art and music instruction involves multiple language registers — the language of technical instruction, the language of aesthetic description and critique, and the formal language of written artist statements and music analysis.

Specific language demands in the arts:

Technical vocabulary in visual art — perspective, composition, hue, saturation, texture, contour, medium — is specialized and not encountered in other subjects
Art criticism requires descriptive and evaluative language — moving from description to analysis to interpretation to judgment — a structured discourse that must be learned explicitly
Music theory vocabulary — tempo, rhythm, pitch, melody, harmony, dynamics, timbre — is both technical and abstract
Artist statements and music analysis essays require formal academic writing with the same challenges as other content-area writing
Verbal critique of peers' work requires diplomatic language and structured discussion norms that are culturally specific and may be unfamiliar to students from different educational traditions

High-Priority Art and Music Vocabulary

Visual Art Elements and Principles

lineshapeformcolorvaluetexturespacebalancecontrastemphasismovementpatternunityperspectivecomposition

Visual Art Techniques and Media

sketchcontourshadingblendingforegroundbackgroundmediumwatercoloracryliccharcoalprintmakingsculpturecollagedigital art

Music Theory and Performance

temporhythmbeatmeterpitchmelodyharmonychorddynamicsfortepianotimbrephrasecrescendodiminuendo

Art and Music Analysis Language

describeanalyzeinterpretevaluateexpressconveyrepresentsymbolizeevokecontrastinfluencetechniquestyleaestheticcultural context

Sentence Frames for Art and Music Classes

Describing artwork

In this artwork, I see ___.
The artist used ___ (element/technique) to ___.
The colors/lines/shapes in this artwork are ___, which creates a feeling of ___.
The composition is ___ because ___.
In the foreground/background/middle ground, there is ___.

Art criticism and interpretation

I think the artist wanted to show/express ___.
This artwork reminds me of ___ because ___.
The mood of this artwork is ___ because ___.
I think the most effective element is ___ because ___.
If I could change something, I would ___ because ___.

Artist statement and reflection

In this artwork, I wanted to express ___.
I chose ___ (medium/technique/color) because ___.
The most challenging part of this project was ___.
If I made this again, I would ___ because ___.
This artwork is meaningful to me because ___.

Music listening and analysis

I hear ___ (instrument/rhythm/melody) in this piece.
The tempo of this piece is ___ because ___.
The dynamics change when ___, which creates ___.
This music makes me feel ___ because ___.
The style of this piece is ___ because ___.

Peer critique

Something I notice in your artwork/performance is ___.
The strongest element is ___ because ___.
One suggestion would be ___ because ___.
I connect to your work because ___.

Art and Music as Pathways to Language Development

Art and music classes have unique potential for ELL students precisely because they create authentic, meaningful contexts for language use. When a student creates something — a painting, a performance, a composition — they have something to talk about. The work itself motivates language.

Use artwork as a writing and discussion prompt. Showing a painting, photograph, or piece of music as a prompt for discussion or writing gives ELL students a concrete referent for their language production. This is the principle of contextualized language instruction applied to the arts.

Connect art and music to students' home cultures. Invite students to bring in examples of art and music from their home cultures. This validates students' backgrounds, provides cultural learning for the whole class, and gives ELL students the status of expert rather than learner.

Honor diverse aesthetic traditions. Art and music curricula in U.S. schools often center Western European traditions. Explicitly including art and music from students' home cultures communicates that all aesthetic traditions have value and creates entry points for ELL students whose prior arts knowledge is extensive but different.

Provide sentence frames for critique before critique sessions. The discourse of art critique is culturally specific and can feel confrontational to students from cultures with different norms around evaluation and feedback. Providing frames — and modeling their use — creates a structured, respectful critique environment.

How Assist ELD helps

Paste your art or music lesson, critique prompt, or artist statement assignment and Assist ELD generates arts vocabulary, sentence frames for description, analysis, and critique, and supports calibrated to ELP 1–2 and 3–4.

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