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 Every year, new teachers walk into a classroom for the first time. If that's you this year, thank you for entering one of the world's most important professions. As educators, we have the honor of serving young minds, and you'll quickly find that the students in your care are wonderfully diverse. One group you're likely to encounter is multilingual learners (MLs). Multilingual learners are students who speak or hear a language other than English at home. You may also hear them referred to as English language learners, English learners, or emergent bilinguals. I like to think of them as future global leaders. Nationally, MLs make up about 11% of all public school students, making them one of the fastest-growing student populations in the country. In some states, the numbers are far higher: Texas (20%), California (19%), and New Mexico (19%) all enroll MLs at close to double the national rate. It's very likely you already have a multilingual learner in your classroom, or soon will.
Here's what you need to know, and how you can start supporting multilingual learners for success in your classroom and beyond. 1. Your mindset makes a difference. Start by believing multilingualism is an asset. An assets-based mindset matters. Think about how bilingual and multilingual adults are perceived: they often earn higher pay and are admired for their ability to communicate with more people. When we embrace multilingualism as a gift rather than a deficit, students feel affirmed and valued for who they are. 2. Build relationships. Get to know your MLs and their families as fully as you can. Go beyond the permanent record folder: learn about their family life, hobbies, culture, and goals. Avoid assumptions. Instead, reach out, ask, and listen. Also, find out each student's proficiency in English and in their home language: can they read and write in both? 3. Welcome and value all languages. Research shows that a student's first language supports the acquisition of a second one. Invite and encourage students to use it. Some students don't recognize the value of bilingualism until later in life, and many, especially in middle school, feel embarrassed about their home language. A classroom and campus culture that invites, validates, and celebrates all languages helps students see language as an asset. Saying you value all languages is one thing; showing it is another. A few ways to demonstrate it:
4. Hold high expectations but provide scaffolds when needed. Multilingual learners often need linguistic support to comprehend instruction, but that support should help them meet grade-level standards, not water down the curriculum or hand them menial tasks. Making instruction comprehensible is the top priority. When MLs don't understand a lesson, they're unlikely to do well on the subsequent assessment and are more likely to feel lost, frustrated, and undervalued. Over time, those feelings can turn into misbehavior, and the risk of creating long-term English learners grows: a serious problem that can put students in danger of falling behind or not graduating with their peers. 5. Design lessons that integrate language and content; neither should take a back seat to the other. Every student, regardless of English proficiency, needs access to grade-level standards. As you plan instruction, build in deliberate opportunities for students to listen, speak, read, and write across every content area. MLs are learning content and acquiring English simultaneously, so the content needs to be both available and accessible. Multilingual learners can achieve just as much as their peers. There is nothing wrong with their language that needs fixing. As their educators, our responsibility is to provide them with equitable access to grade-level curriculum, to help them acquire and develop another language while valuing and honoring the linguistic resources they already possess. It never ceases to amaze me how incredible it is to know more than one language. I just hope we pass that message along to our students while they are young. If you want to learn more about teaching MLs, Welcome to Teaching Multilingual Learners is an excellent companion. We hope you enjoy it and have a great year! Comments are closed.
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