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Share your Goals and Celebrate Successes with your Community!

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Share your Goals and Celebrate Successes with your Community!

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Engaging in Reflective Practice and Continuous Improvement

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Engaging in Reflective Practice and Continuous Improvement

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Fostering Global Citizenship and Intercultural Understanding

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Fostering Global Citizenship and Intercultural Understanding

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Integrating Language and Content Across the Curriculum

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Integrating Language and Content Across the Curriculum

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Harnessing Technology for Language Learning

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Harnessing Technology for Language Learning

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The Power of Language: Identity, Culture and Learning

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The Power of Language: Identity, Culture and Learning

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Literacy Consultants & Consulting Services | Erin Kent Consulting

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Literacy Consultants & Consulting Services | Erin Kent Consulting

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EKC provides literacy consultants, consulting services, and literacy professional learning for schools.

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Aligning School Policies to Support Multilingualism

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Aligning School Policies to Support Multilingualism

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Read

WIDA Guiding Language Principles 🔗

Questions about Immersion 🔗

6 Principles for Effective ELL Instruction 🔗

Two Way Immersion Glossary 🔗

What is Content Integrated Learning? 🔗

Key Principles for ELL Instruction 🔗

The Costs of English  Only Education 🔗

Why UDL for ELL Learners 🔗

UDL Guidelines 🔗

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Language Immersion 🔗

Universal Design for Learning 🔗

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Read

How Bilingual Brains Switch Between Languages (3 min)  🔗

How Languages Shape the Brain (5 min) 🔗

What’s Going On in the Brain of a Bilingual Child (7 min)  🔗

The Languages We Speak Changes the Colors We See (3 min)  🔗

From Monolingual Mindsets to the Multilingual Turn: Paradigm Shifts for EAL 🔗

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A Bilingual Brain Solves Problems Faster (2 min)  🔗

How Bilingual Brains Perceive Time (3 min)  🔗

How the Languages We Speak Shape the Way We Think  (11 min)  🔗

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Read:

Forgetting My First Language (11 min) 🔗

Honoring Students Stories: Identity Texts to Write and Diverse Texts to Read 🔗

Affirming Identity in Multilingual Classrooms 🔗

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Sustaining a Critical Stance on Language and Identity with Bilingual and Multilingual Students 6-12 (1 hour) 🔗

Jim Cummins and Language Identity 🔗

Funds of Knowledge 🔗 (2min)

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Language Acquisition: An Overview  (9min) 🔗

Second Language Acquisition Theories and What It Means for Teacher Instruction 🔗

Key Concepts for Language Development (4min) 🔗

Simultaneous and Sequential Bilingualism 🔗

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Krashen’s Theory of Second Language Acquisition (7 min) 🔗

Second Language Acquisition 🔗

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Growing Language and Literacy (15min)  🔗

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Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

The CCBC is a unique and vital gathering place for books, ideas, and expertise in the field of children's and young adult literature. The CCBC is a noncirculating examination, study, and research library for Wisconsin school and public librarians, teachers, early childhood care providers, university students, and others interested in children's and young adult literature. The CCBC is part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education, and receives additional support from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. More about the CCBC.

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The Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) is a unique and vital gathering place for books, ideas, and expertise in the field of children's and young adult literature.

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Article with lenses for planning for translanguaging

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EKC

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-How am I already fostering flexible use of languages?
-What ideas am I interested in trying?

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Centre for Educators of Bilingual and Multilingual Learners

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Centre for Educators of Bilingual and Multilingual Learners

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Excellent blog with ideas for honoring all languages.

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A UK-based social enterprise that focuses on equipping international schools with multilingualism and bilingualism best practices. Read Blog

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When you return to your classrooms and teams and try something new, be sure to snap a picture and share with us.

Tell the story of your learning and help other educators around the world! We love to see what's transferring to the classroom!

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What are the 6 Key Principles for Effective ELL Instruction? 🔗

What might that look like in our cotaught lessons?

Principle 1: Literacy Across the Curriculum

Infusing Authentic Communication 🔗

Teaching Reading Across Gradual Release of Responsibility  🔗

Beth's Favorite Academic Vocabulary Strategies 🔗

Principle 2: Translanguaging

What is Translanguaging? 🔗

The Transformative Power of Translanguaging 🔗

The Home Language: An English Language Learners' Most Valuable Resource 🔗

Nurturing a Rich First Language-the Key To Success in School 🔗

Translanguaging During Vocabulary 🔗

Principle 4: Differentiation:

A Starter Kit for Differentiation 🔗

Instructional Playlists

3 Ways to Differentiate In Any Class 🔗

Differentiation Roundup 🔗

Differentiation for English Language Learners 🔗

Differentiation: What is it? What is it not? 🔗

Culturally Responsive Differentiation Strategies 🔗

18 Teacher Tested Strategies for Differentiated Instruction 🔗

Differentiation Central: Institute of Academic Diversity 🔗

Guided Reading with Jenna 🔗

Guided Reading: Small Group Instruction 🔗

Principle 5: Scaffolding

What is Scaffolding and How Does It Help? 🔗

Scaffolding Instruction for English Learners 🔗

Kagan Cooperative Learning Strategies 🔗

Harvard Project Zero Thinking Routines 🔗

Scaffolding Success 🔗

4 Strategies for Scaffolding for ELs 🔗

6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use with Your Students 🔗

Scaffolding for CCS 🔗

Instructional Scaffolding with Graphic Organizers 🔗

Principle 6: Formative Assessment

7 Keys to Effective Feedback 🔗

How to Reduce Racial Bias in Grading 🔗

Formative Assessment, Common Core and ELLs 🔗

Assessment for ELLs 🔗

Using Informal Assessment for English Learners 🔗

7 Smart Fast Ways to Do Formative Assessment 🔗

WestEd: Focusing Formative Assessment on the Needs of English Language Learners 🔗

Formative Assessment for ELLs 🔗

Supporting English Language Learners with Formative Assessment Strategies 🔗

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10 Ways Schools Can Partner with Multilingual Families Around Literacy

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10 Ways Schools Can Partner with Multilingual Families Around Literacy

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The article "10 Ways Schools Can Partner with Multilingual Families Around Literacy" by Lydia Breiseth offers strategies for schools to collaborate effectively with multilingual families to support literacy. Key suggestions include building strong relationships with families, providing information in home languages, encouraging the use of home languages for literacy, and involving families in literacy activities like sharing stories or creating bilingual books. It emphasizes the importance of cultural understanding, regular communication, and access to multilingual resources to create inclusive partnerships that benefit students' literacy development.

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Multilingual families are essential partners when it comes to supporting English language learners' (ELLs) literacy development. However, those partnerships may look different than what educators and schools are used to. Try some new ideas to see what works best with your families!

Building relationships with families

Get to know your families

Building relationships with families is one of the most important steps you can take in support of students. Getting to know families' languages, cultures, and interests can help build trust, strengthen school-family partnerships, and allow educators to make important connections as part of instruction and family engagement. The better you know your families, the more effective your family outreach will be! See more ideas in the following:

Make sure families have information in their home languages

All families are legally entitled to information from their child's school in their home languages. In addition to sharing information about literacy instruction and students' progress, ensure families have information about any literacy activities, resources, or supports in their home languages. Also keep in mind that personal interaction and engagement make it easier for families to access and understand information from the school. Include any family liaisons or interpreters in your outreach to maximize chances of success.

Learn more about families' home languages

The more you know about families' home languages, the more you can tap into this valuable resource and the easier it will be to identify multilingual resources. You can start by learning which languages families speak. Keep in mind that some families may speak multiple languages. And in some cases, this question may not be as straightforward as it seems.

For example, many Indigenous families from Latin America speak Indigenous languages as their primary languages and Spanish as a second or third language. Indigenous families may also hesitate to share information about their Indigenous language, identity, or culture due to stigma and discrimination. Getting to know more about families' cultures and consistently welcoming them in the school community can help create a stronger partnership.

In addition, you can share ideas with staff on how to tap into students' home languages as part of students' literacy instruction, even if bilingual instruction is not currently offered in your school setting.

Encourage families to maintain their home languages

Many families have questions about whether they should speak and/or read in their home languages at home with their children. It's important for schools and families alike to understand that home languages are an important resource, both in terms of students' literacy instruction and students' connections with their family, community, and identity. Schools can share this message early and often by encouraging families to keep speaking their languages at home, answering families' questions about language, and providing resources in families' languages, such as bilingual books and the resources below.

Family Literacy Tips: Reading to Your Children in Your Home Language

Early literacy expert Bernadette Pilar Zermeño encourages families to share books together in their home language. This video is also available in Spanish.

Henry Sales, Mam Educator: Indigenous Families' Rights to Translated Information from Schools

Henry Sales, a Mam educator who was born in Guatemala, explains that all families, including those who speak Indigenous languages, have a right to information in their home languages from their child's school.

Reading SOS: I am still learning English myself. How can I help my child learn to read in English?

One of the most important things parents can do is provide lots of language and literacy experiences at home. Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan suggests that you share family stories with your child, use descriptive vocabulary in everyday conversations, and try to read aloud for at least 20 minutes each day to model fluent reading and comprehension skills. This video is also available in Spanish.

Rosita: Spanish Is My Superpower

When Rosita doesn't want to play Veo Veo (I Spy), her friend Sophía asks why. Rosita shares it's because she had a scary encounter at a grocery store where people told her to not speak Spanish and treated her unfairly. Rosita's Mami explains that in situations like this where you feel unsafe, the best thing to do is walk away and find a grown-up to help you. Rosita realizes she is proud to speak Spanish, it's like having a super power!

Literacy activities

Invite families to share songs, stories, and folk tales

Invite families to share the songs, stories, rhymes, games, and folk tales they know from their culture. This can be done in the classroom or as part of family outreach activities. If families are still learning English, invite interpreters or bilingual parent volunteers to help translate.

Being Bilingual Is a Superpower!: Tips to Support Language and Literacy at Home

Learn how you can help your child learn to read by celebrating your language, culture, and special time together at home. This video is also available in 7 other languages and an outreach guide offers activities that can accompany the video.

Lucía Gonzalez's favorite section in the library

Librarian and storyteller Lucía Gonzalez describes how family stories led to an important discovery in her career.

Make bilingual books available

It's important to make sure students and families have books available in their languages, whether in classroom libraries, school libraries, or outreach events. You can use our booklists to find titles in different languages and also look for other options on multilingual books or translations. Ask bilingual colleagues, local community organizations, and local universities for help identifying books. If your school is a First Book school, you can also find out what books they have available in your top languages.

In addition, it's important to share books that reflect families' cultures and experiences. For example, the books pictured here were included as a part of a First Book event in Dearborn, MI, which is home to many Arabic-speaking families. The books featured stories about families from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Syria. To find relevant titles, see our booklists.

Maya Christina Gonzalez: Seeing Ourselves in Books

Author and illustrator Maya Christina Gonzalez talks about why it is so important for all children to see themselves in books through diverse books and also shares her story "My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo" with young readers.

Do a book-making activity

Another way to increase the number of multilingual books in your school is through inviting students and families to creating their own bilingual books in their home languages and in English. This can be a wonderful activity or classroom unit that highlights family stories, folk tales, special traditions or recipes, and unique experiences. If it is possible to produce more than one copy of a book, you can leave a copy in the school for other families to read in the future!

Invite librarians to talk with families

Invite your school or public librarians to talk with families as part of back-to-school events, family outreach, or even school conferences. Families may not realize just how many free resources are available to their entire family and that they are eligible for public library cards, especially if they are new to the public library system.

Classroom connections

Ensure families know how their child is doing

Look for ways to provide families with regular updates about their child's reading progress. While conferences and report cards are important ways to share information, ongoing communication and conversations will likely be more fruitful. You may wish to let families know which skills and topics the students are working on, for example, and how families can support their children's literacy at home. Make sure that families know that they can ask questions at any time and how to contact their child's teacher with questions. As noted above, multilingual families may have lots of questions about reading or talking to their children in their home language; be sure to work with colleagues who are experts in ELL or bilingual literacy development to have accurate information available.

In addition, you may wish to share more in-depth information with families about how students learn to read in the Reading 101 Guide for Families, which is also available in Spanish.

Bring families into the process if students are struggling

It's important to communicate early and often with families when students are struggling. Ideally, if you have already established a positive relationship, that may make communication easier as well. For multilingual families, keep in mind that they need information in their home language; it's important to ensure they fully understand the situation you are trying to address; and they need to know that they are able and encouraged to ask questions at any point. For more resources and related videos, see:

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10 Ways Schools Can Partner with Multilingual Families Around Literacy

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Multilingual families are essential partners when it comes to supporting English language learners' (ELLs) literacy development. However, those partnerships may look different than what educators and schools are used to. Try some new ideas to see what works best with your families!

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Read:

Visual Scaffolding Tips for ELLs

Three Types of Scaffolding: There’s a Scaffold for That

Why Are Visual Tools Important for Helping ELL Students Learn English?

Offer ways of customizing the display of information

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Support for talking to parents about bilingualism.

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Bilingual Families: A Practical Language Planning Guide

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Bilingual Families: A Practical Language Planning Guide [Crisfield, Eowyn] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Bilingual Families: A Practical Language Planning Guide

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From Monolingual Mindsets to The Multilingual Turn

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From Monolingual Mindsets to The Multilingual Turn

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In this article, Dr. Virginia Rojas discusses a paradigm shift in language education within international schools. It critiques the traditional "monolingual mindset," which prioritizes the use of a single dominant language (often English), and advocates for the "multilingual turn," which embraces linguistic diversity as an asset. The article highlights the importance of integrating students' home languages into learning, debunks myths about multilingualism causing confusion, and promotes inclusive practices like translanguaging. It calls for rethinking outdated policies, moving away from deficit perspectives, and fostering equitable, multilingual learning environments.

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The term monolingual often refers to a person who speaks only one language, while multilingual refers to one using three or more languages. For the purpose of this discussion, we'll view these terms through a different lens. Specifically, a monolingual mindset represents a notion that communication happens through and by only one language at a time, even in environments where it is clear that linguistic diversity is the norm and not the exception. The multilingual turn refers to developments gaining momentum in language-in-education research and represents a paradigm shift regarding three key phenomena in international schools, particularly those with changing demographics: languages, learners, and language learning (Conteh and Meier, 2014; May, 2014). The research calls for those of us involved in language education in international schools to broaden our perspectives about these three phenomena, since the monolingual mindset might be especially concerning given certain realities. Despite becoming more "multilingual," many international schools seem not to have critically examined their approaches to schooling speakers of languages other than English.

One reason for this is that monolingualism has historically been perceived as the norm in many international schools. Although descriptions detail how many languages are represented in schools, speakers of those languages may go through their day with little to no interaction with one another, and one language might be considered the dominant language with all other languages yielding in deference to it. The multilingual turn challenges the English-monolingual ways of seeing multilingualism, conceiving of languages as associated with status and power; of learners as highly-capable language users; and of learning as a part of a complex multilingual ecosystem (Meier, 2017). Multilingualism then is best seen as an umbrella term covering a wide variety of linguistic issues. It is the purpose of this discussion to address a few of the most salient issues, especially as they impact policies and practices misaligned with current research. A discussion of this nature means taking on the sometimes undiscussable elephant in the room, the implicit and/or explicit predominance of English within international schools, with an eye on moving forward through continued dialogue and learning.
Language
Historically, languages have been perceived as discrete systems, independent of one another and of the people who use them. As a result, myths about language abound (Meier, 2017), especially with regard to multilingual individuals. Many schools place multilingual learners into extra English sessions instead of another language class, even if the language is their home language, because of the belief that too many languages might be confusing or slow down the mastery of English. Despite the undeniable body of research on multilingualism as a desirable goal and as a normal condition, the monolingual mindset of discrete languages being studied one at a time sometimes triumphs over the multilingual turn lens of the unitary and complex linguistic repertoire of all of a multilingual learner's languages (Sembiante, 2016).

A related shift in linguistics moves languages away from the study of discrete parts, separate from content, towards understanding languages as resources to perform and negotiate meaning in and across subjects. International schools champion the mantra that all teachers are language teachers; yet few seemingly understand the centrality of languages in the curriculum. How many content or language teachers are provided with opportunities to ensure successful collaboration for building a content and language integrated learning environment so that students of all language backgrounds have access to the academic language of the curriculum? How many schools have moved away from a program model where the English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher holds primary responsibility for emerging English learners' language development to one in which the EAL specialist is the embedded language coach of subject-area teachers? How many EAL specialists are hired by school leaders with this intent? Such questions are especially relevant in schools with majority multilingual populations or for emergent bilinguals who represent historically marginalized populations (Conteh and Meier, 2014; Sembiante, 2016).
Learners
When it comes to language learners, there is a tendency for the monolingual mindset to espouse "native speakerism," meaning that the goal for language learners is to attain the proficiency of an English native speaker. Historically, this has been a reality in situations where immigrants are expected to acquire the language of their newly adopted countries in place of their home language. Conversely, multilingual learners in international schools add English to their home languages. Rather than focusing on whether language learners have perfect grammar or accents, the multilingual turn focuses on learners strategically choosing features of their total linguistic repertoires in ways that reflect their multilingual identities. Proponents of the multilingual turn suggest that the native-speaker goal should be revised and replaced by a goal of plurilingual competencies (Conteh and Meier, 2014; May, 2014).

Positioning multilingual learners' English proficiency in comparison to native speakers or determining their success based on native English mastery has also led to the deficit thinking paradigm. There, the focus is on what multilingual learners can't do in English rather than what they can do when recognized for the funds of linguistic and cultural knowledge and skills they already possess. Nowhere is this more evident than in some pedagogical practices that reflect a monolingual bias: simplified materials, modified expectations, and assessments that disadvantage multilingual learners who may be penalized for reasons of language proficiency rather than content knowledge. The call to move away from such deficit perspectives by advocating for learners in a multilingual ecosystem, where instruction and assessment practices recognize and value the assets that multilingual learners bring to classrooms, is another important feature of the multilingual turn (Huckle, 2021; Meier, 2017).
Language Learning
The multilingual turn's shift to use all of a student's resources for learning is beginning to make its way into international school classrooms, many of which are opening up translanguaging spaceswhereby multilingual learners' languages are strategically used for learning instead of narrowly focusing on the use of English only. For example, rather than simplifying English reading materials, librarians and teachers find texts in home languages for students to read as a precursor to then reading a text in English. Another example could be students unpacking and processing math word problems in their shared language before offering the solutions to peers and teachers in English. Teachers using translanguaging strategies are recognizing that rigorous learning environments or inquiry-based learning can be organized in ways that respect multilingual learners' agency as to which linguistic resource to use and when (Huckle, 2021).
Conclusion
While well established in language-in-education research, the multilingual turn faces challenges impeding its implementation into policies and practices, mostly in schools and classrooms where English is the language being learned. The attitudinal challenges derive from the perpetuation of popularly believed monolingual myths and norms that endure in the international school network, while the pedagogical challenges may simply come down to school leaders and teachers not yet being aware of these new understandings in linguistics (Meier, 2017). The monolingual mindset persists in many schools, though it is apparent that schools adhering to the International Baccalaureate vision are closer to understanding multilingualism in education, especially in relation to equality, social justice, and the empowerment of multilingual students and teachers (Huckle, 2021; Meier, 2017; Conteh & Meier, 2014; May, 2014). Perhaps these schools will serve as models for what language education might look like if we choose to no longer remain multilingually unturned.
References
Conteh, J. & Meier, G. (2014). (Eds.). The Multilingual Turn in Languages Education: Opportunities and Challenges, Multilingual Matters.

Huckle, J. (2021). Multilingualism and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP): An Analysis of Language Learning in the IBDP in Light of the 'Multilingual Turn,'Journal of Research in International Education, 20:3, 263-280.

May, S. (2014). (Ed.). The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL, and Bilingual Education, Routledge Publishing.

Meier, G. S. (2017). The multilingual turn as a critical movement in education: assumptions, challenges and a need for reflection, Applied Linguistics Review, 8:1, 131-161.

Sembiante, S. (2016) Translanguaging and the multilingual turn: epistemological reconceptualization in the fields of language and implications for reframing language in curriculum studies, Curriculum Inquiry, 46:1, 45-61.

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Dr. Rojas currently teaches the EAL certification program in partnership with the Principal's Training Center (https://www.theptc.org/eal-training-center). Before semi-retiring, Dr. Rojas was a faculty member for the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) and a language education consultant for over 350 international schools. She was inducted into the AAIE Hall of Fame in 2016.

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From Monolingual Mindsets to The Multilingual Turn | The International Educator (TIE Online)

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The term monolingual often refers to a person who speaks only one language, while multilingual refers to one using three or more languages. For the purpose of this discussion, we'll view these terms through a different lens.

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The Current Trends in Language Policies for Multilingualism

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The Current Trends in Language Policies for Multilingualism

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The article "The Current Trends in Language Policies for Multilingualism" by Prof. Piet Van Avermaet from Ghent University, explores the evolving approaches to multilingual education in Western Europe amidst increasing linguistic diversity caused by immigration and globalization. It contrasts monolingual education, which focuses on submersion in the majority language, with bilingual/multilingual models that incorporate students' home languages. The article highlights the benefits of leveraging students' full linguistic repertoires, such as improved learning outcomes, self-confidence, and motivation. It advocates moving beyond binary debates of monolingual versus bilingual education, proposing translanguaging and functional multilingual learning as inclusive strategies to embrace linguistic diversity and promote equal opportunities in schools.

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The Current Trends in Language Policies for Multilingualism

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In the flowing article, prof. Piet Van Avermaet from the University of Ghent describes current trends in language policies for multilingualism.

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Monolingual Policies in Multilingual Schools:  Tensions, Ambivalence, and Thinking Teachers

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Monolingual Policies in Multilingual Schools:  Tensions, Ambivalence, and Thinking Teachers

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Two teacher types populate the socio- and applied linguistic research on language-in-education: the critical 'agent of change,' who challenges monolingual policies by encouraging pupils to use non-curricular languages in class; and the conservative 'servant of the state,' who acts out a monolingual ideology. Both of these types are useful for advocating multilingual education policies, but they leave much ordinary behavior unaccounted for. The interest in critical and conservative teachers encourages us to praise or blame teachers, moreover, while it invites incompatible explanations: critical teachers have somehow escaped an ideology that their conservative colleagues are completely deceived by. In Monolingual Policies in Multilingual Schools , Jürgen Jaspers shows how a more complex understanding of teacher behavior is crucial to explain how teachers navigate the competing concerns of the authorities who pay their salaries, the pupils whose opportunities they wish to support, and the scholars who share their knowledge with them.

Drawing on seven years of research in Dutch-medium schools in Belgium, Jaspers investigates how teachers at monolingual schools deal with the fact that they teach linguistically diverse groups of pupils. He demonstrates that this results in variable, ambivalent, and often contradictory practices and opinions, as teachers continuously juggle competing social and linguistic values with what works in a given classroom. Recognizing that inconsistency and contradiction in teacher behavior is a result of adjusting to variable circumstances means understanding that a single approach may not work, and that a convincing and critical sociolinguistics can generate potential change when it insists on a variety of opinions about language and on the prospect of informed deliberation and debate. Jaspers argues that this capacity is crucial for attending to the multiple, competing goals that classroom interaction presents; that it typically invites inconsistent, albeit rational, behavior; and that if this inconsistency is common and chronic, researchers on language-in-education need to improve their radar and develop a different kind of dialogue with teachers.

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Monolingual Policies in Multilingual Schools: Tensions, Ambivalence, and Thinking Teachers (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics)

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Two teacher types populate the socio- and applied linguistic research on language-in-education: the critical 'agent of change,' who challenges monolingual policies by encouraging pupils to use non-curricular languages in class; and the conservative 'servant of the state,' who acts out a monolingu...

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The article "Nurturing Global Citizens Through Multilingualism" highlights how The International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) fosters global citizenship by celebrating multilingualism. Through diverse language programs, cultural events, and initiatives like translational projects and multilingual storytelling, ISKL empowers students to embrace linguistic diversity, build cross-cultural connections, and develop critical communication skills for a globalized world.

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Nurturing Global Citizens Through Multilingualism | Editorial | Relocate magazine

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What does it mean to be a global citizen in today’s world?

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The Role of Learning Languages in the making of Global Citizens 

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The Role of Learning Languages in the making of Global Citizens 

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The article "The Role of Learning Languages in the Making of Global Citizens" emphasizes how international education fosters global citizenship by promoting cultural diversity, empathy, and a global perspective. It highlights the critical role of language learning in bridging cultural gaps, enabling effective communication, and providing immersive cultural experiences. Proficiency in multiple languages empowers students to collaborate globally, appreciate diverse cultures, and address global challenges collectively.

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The Role of Learning Languages in the making of Global Citizens - G.D. Goenka International School Rohtak

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Globalization has changed how we live and interact, leading to the rise of global citizenship. This concept goes beyond national borders and involves feeling which is connected to the wider […]

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How Multilingual Ability Advances Global Citizenship & Understanding

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How Multilingual Ability Advances Global Citizenship & Understanding

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The article "How Multilingual Ability Advances Global Citizenship and Understanding" by Biswajita Parida explores how multilingualism fosters global citizenship by promoting cultural understanding, empathy, and collaboration. It highlights the cognitive, social, and economic benefits of learning multiple languages, such as bridging cultural gaps, enhancing communication, supporting global business, and creating educational and professional opportunities. Multilingualism is presented as a tool for building a more inclusive, interconnected, and harmonious global community.

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How multilingual ability advances global citizenship and understanding

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As many languages, those many cultures; when languages die, cultures die. Language is not a mode of communication but means of human existence.

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Multilingualism and Global Citizenship | United Nations Publication

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Multilingualism and Global Citizenship | United Nations Publication

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The article "Multilingualism and Global Citizenship" by Gugulethu Jemaine Nyathi highlights how multilingualism fosters global unity by bridging cultural divides and promoting respect for diversity. It emphasizes that learning new languages broadens perspectives, challenges stereotypes, and deepens cultural understanding. Multilingualism is presented as a powerful tool for effective communication, collaboration, and fostering global citizenship in an interconnected world.

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Why Home Language Maintenance is so Important in International and Bilingual Schools

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Why Home Language Maintenance is so Important in International and Bilingual Schools

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The blog highlights the importance of maintaining home languages for cultural identity, cognitive benefits, easier learning of new languages, and future opportunities. Schools can support this through inclusive policies, events, and language programs like the IB. Families can encourage home language use through daily speaking, listening, reading, and writing activities.

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Maintaining and developing students' home language(s) is important for many reasons such as culture and identity, cognitive benefits and learning other languages.

Andie Warner - Head of Languages Faculty and English Language and English Literature Teacher at ICS London - explores the topic of maintaining home language.

WHAT IS A HOME LANGUAGE?
A home language is the language, or languages, that families use for most interactions at home. Many students speak multiple languages at home (especially as a large number of them identify as Third Culture Kids) and may use different languages to communicate with a variety of family members and friends.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN HOME LANGUAGE(S)?
Maintaining and developing students' home language(s) is important for so many reasons. Here are just a few:

Culture and identity - Just as food, traditions, and landmarks tell us about the culture of a group of people, so does language. We can see many examples of this evident in the languages of our school community - from the levels of formality in French and Spanish which tell us about the importance of respect, to the multitude of idioms about family in Mandarin, from which we can see the value of familial ties - when students maintain their home language, they also maintain a connection to the values of their home country or countries.

Cognitive benefits - The Head Start Foundation has conducted a review of studies about bilingual learners and found that students who speak multiple languages are more able to solve word and maths problems with ease (Zelasko and Antunez, 2000) and make decisions, focus their attention, and remember important information (Bialystok, 2001) - all key aspects of being an IB student!

Learning other languages - Having a strong foundation in one language has been shown to make the attainment of a second (or third, or fourth) much easier ( Jessner, 2008).

Future opportunities - If a student maintains a working understanding of their home language, it allows them to communicate with many more people! Though more than one billion people around the world speak English as a home or additional language, by maintaining their proficiency in Arabic or Hindi, a student would be able to communicate with a further 300+ million people. Multilingualism is already valued by many employers, but is certain to become even more of an asset in the future.

Part of the vision statement of the IB revolves around developing world citizens, and as part of that, we strongly encourage students to maintain and develop their skills in their home language. We believe that all language acquisition should be additive rather than subtractive, meaning that we never want to develop one language in detriment to another, but rather add new knowledge on top of what the students already have.

As part of the IB, students are required to study an additional language at school throughout their education, meaning that students will have the choice of at least two languages to study. Schools can open up options to Diploma Programme students even further by helping students to find tutors to support them in Student Support Self Taught (SSST) of Language A in their home language.

In the spirit of inclusivity, teachers must make sure that in their classes students speak English or the target language. However, while at break or at lunch, students can be encouraged to speak their home language with their peers who may share it (so long as they are not excluding anyone who does not speak the same language).

You can also hold events throughout the year in which students have the opportunity to take on leadership roles and teach their peers about their language and culture, such as International Day, Languages Day, and International Mother Language Day.

HOW CAN YOU DO IT AT HOME?
There are many ways you can encourage your children to not only maintain but develop their knowledge of their home language(s). When doing so, it is important to consider the development of all four language skills - speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

Speaking and listening are likely the easiest and most thought of components when it comes to home language maintenance. Encourage your children to speak to you, their siblings, and other family members and friends in their home language. Once they get in the habit of it, it becomes part of their routine.

You can also encourage your children's listening skills by watching or listening to music, television shows, or movies in your home language. Not only is this a nice way to spend time together, but also to maintain a strong connection to cultural elements of the language.

I recommend that students read one book in their home language for every two or three that they read in English outside of lessons.

I know that receiving a letter or email from a loved one is often the highlight of my week! By encouraging children to write to friends and family members in their home language, they are not only developing their language skills but also maintaining important relationships.

As a language teacher and a social justice educator, I'm so excited each year to pour over class lists and see the names of dozens of countries represented - Italy, Lebanon, America, Turkey, Japan, Sweden, just to name a few.

As an English language and literature teacher, I have had the privilege of watching many of my students develop their English language skills immensely in our time together - and have been lucky to have had many heartfelt conversations with students over my career that would not have been possible just a few short months previously without the dedication of our language teachers and our students alike.

Though English is the language of communication in my school and so many others, it is essential to be aware that it is not the language of communication in many families' homes. I think it is one of the things that makes the IB a special, globally-minded community, but, like all things in education, it requires a degree of intentionality.
To visit ICS London, our premium IB international school in the heart of the city, close to Regent´s Park, click here.

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Why Home Language Maintenance is so Important in International and Bilingual Schools

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A home language is the language, or languages, that families use for most interactions at home. Many students speak multiple languages at home and may use different languages to communicate with a variety of family members and friends. Maintaining and developing students' home language(s) is important for so many reasons.

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Watch this informative video to help you set your SMART goals.

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Click to make a copy. Complete personal rating.
-What are your current strengths?
-Where might you want to focus more attention?

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-How am I already fostering flexible use of languages?
-What ideas am I interested in trying?

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When reflecting on your learning, use the Connect, Extend, Challenge exercise to guide your thinking.