Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Question #9: How do I support a student’s first language when I don’t speak the language?


Key ideas from the chapter:
  • Establish a classroom community that values and celebrates all languages and dialects - Create a bulletin board using realia with students' native languages (i.e. Spanish newspapers, Cantonese cereal boxes, German magazines). Buy or check out multilingual books for your classroom library.
  • Encourage parents to develop and maintain primary language at home - Many parents of ELLs are tempted to speak English-only with their students at home. Encourage parents to speak their native language at home; learning from the first language will transfer to the second language.
  • Offer primary language support through bilingual parent and community volunteers, cross-age tutors, and extended day programs - Invite parents to an open house and use bilingual interpreters from the community. Invite bilingual college students to volunteer in your classroom and read with children.
  • Learn and use some second language yourself with students - You don't have to learn an entire new language. Ask student to teach you a few words and phrases from their native language!
  • Understand the differences between supporting and developing the primary language - You don't have to know Russian to teach a Russian ELL English! You can help your student by implementing the previous suggestions in your classroom.

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