Nationally, multilingual learners make up 30% of children ages 0–5 and 10% of the K–12 population. These numbers are significant, and research is clear that embedding their home language and culture into learning promotes English acquisition, academic achievement, and well-being. But what do you do when you don’t speak their language? This session explores practical, research-supported strategies for honoring and embedding students’ home languages in your classroom environment and instruction, even without fluency in their languages. If you want to better support the multilingual learners you serve but aren’t sure where to start, this session is for you.
By the end of this session, you will be able to:
- Describe current strength-focused research on how multilingual learners develop language
- Explain how a translanguaging approach creates a learning environment that supports multilingual learners’ achievement and well-being
- Identify at least two strategies for embedding students’ home language into classroom instruction and environment without fluency in that language
Facilitator: Xigrid Soto-Boykin
