Building literacy through language: A both/and approach for multilingual early learners
By Jenni Torres and Hetal Ascher
Multilingual early learners bring valuable linguistic knowledge, cultural experiences and ways of making meaning to the classroom. Effective literacy instruction builds on these strengths while supporting the development of foundational skills, vocabulary, oral language and comprehension. Rather than choosing between these components of literacy development, educators can help young learners thrive through a both/and approach to literacy development.
As a parent of a multilingual learner, I recognized this pattern in my own son. He was provided reading interventions that supported the development of his phonics skills, but he was not given enough support and practice around comprehension and vocabulary. The result was a child who could decode text accurately in English and perform well on phonics assessments yet needed additional opportunities to develop content-specific vocabulary, build background knowledge, and strengthen their use of language for learning.
Multilingual learners bring rich linguistic resources and lived experiences into the classroom. Effective literacy instruction builds upon their assets while supporting the development of foundational reading skills, oral language, vocabulary and comprehension.
Building on learners' linguistic assets
For multilingual early learners, the question is not whether to teach foundational skills, such as phonological awareness and phonics, but rather how to situate the development of these skills within content-rich learning experiences that foster curiosity, build knowledge, encourage student talk and connect to students' home and community literacy experiences.
Multilingual learners bring literacy experiences from their homes and communities and language practices that can support academic literacy development. Building upon these practices and resources can make learning more fun and effective. When their home language does not match the language of instruction in PreK-3 classrooms, learners need not only explicit instruction in phonological awareness and phonics but also plenty of scaffolded opportunities to engage in activities that further their vocabulary, oral language understanding, and meaning making in the language of the classroom. Multilingual children are navigating the complex challenge of building their word knowledge across their languages. Making connections between languages can support this process as children learn how and when to use language to express meaning for different purposes and audiences.
Learning builds on what children already know. They use all of their linguistic resources to make meaning, recognize patterns, and connect learning across contexts and languages. At the same time, words provide an opportunity to build bridges across languages and between word families. When learning is taking place in multiple languages, it is helpful to support students with opportunities to practice creating pathways between their languages. Games that practice hearing and dividing sounds can be played in any language, and silly rhymes and nonsense words are fun ways to build the sound discrimination and recognition that early learners need. While engaging in these activities, it is important to recognize that multilingual learners may be simultaneously developing awareness of English speech sounds and learning the foundational skills connected to those sounds.
Three practices that support multilingual early learners
- Create opportunities for cross-linguistic connections: Many young learners are simultaneously developing skills in two or more languages. They need opportunities to explore the interconnectedness of these languages – both the similarities and differences. Teachers can provide cross-linguistic awareness when practicing foundational skills. Teachers can help students identify what transfers across languages and recognize when pronunciation differences reflect language learning rather than decoding difficulties. These cross-references can also provide fun ways for the entire class to begin to understand that there are many languages in the world and to appreciate the multilingual assets of their classmates. Teachers can encourage families to support their children by talking about connections at home and reading together in their home language.
- Integrate foundational skills, vocabulary and comprehension: Ensure that lessons provide learners with explicit instruction in foundational skills partnered alongside vocabulary and comprehension. This means that learners begin to recognize sounds, connect those sounds to letters, then blend the letters to form a word and use the word in a meaningful context. Learners practice recognizing, reading and using the word to communicate meaning. Using visuals to support comprehension, not as a cue to reading the word, can support multilingual learners in a classroom. Skilled teachers build literacy routines that include all these essential components in their word practice lessons. Routines may include engaging in shared reading experiences that start with building background knowledge and introducing key vocabulary words. Inviting students to think about their own lives and make connections with the text builds understanding and gives learners an opportunity to practice speaking and sharing about their experiences.
- Distinguish language development from reading difficulty: As educators, we must distinguish between language development and reading difficulty. English language proficiency and reading ability are related but distinct constructs. Developing English proficiency should not be interpreted as evidence of a reading disability or reading difficulty. A lower score on a literacy screener may not indicate reading difficulty for a child who does not yet have enough English language development to accurately assess their literacy in English. A student with beginning English language proficiency levels may also have higher literacy levels in their home language. For speakers of other languages, it is crucial to consider the language of the literacy assessment. We need to be thoughtful about the data points that we use to determine the level of intervention. For the example of my son, it would have been more effective to add additional language development support to expand his comprehension in English alongside continuing to practice his decoding and grade-level skills. To understand a multilingual learner's literacy development, educators should gather information about reading skills, language development, and literacy experiences across the languages the child uses.
What educational leaders can do
Educational leaders play a critical role in creating literacy systems that recognize the full linguistic repertoire of multilingual learners. This requires instructional models, assessments and intervention practices that value both foundational skills and language development. Leaders can also support collaboration among content-area teachers, literacy specialists and multilingual learner educators to ensure literacy instruction addresses both language and reading development. When schools examine literacy through this broader lens, multilingual learners are more likely to experience the rich, meaningful learning opportunities they deserve.
Additional resources
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