October 2022

$4.50 U.S./$7.50 Canada/6.95 Euros

}

Improving Literacy & Communication

Return Address: Language Magazine, P.O. Box 588, Topanga CA 90290

languagemagazine.com

Shared reading experiences with BIG impact. The Fountas & Pinnell Classroom™ Colección de Lectura compartida is an engaging array of specially adapted books and lessons from the FPC Shared Reading Collection, and includes new books beautifully illustrated and authentically written in collaboration with bilingual literacy experts.

I

COMPAR RA

LECT

LECT

NG I

SH

I

La rana en el agua

A COMPA UR

SH

RE

A

La ranita y sus amigos

E D R E AD

LECT

A COMPA UR

AR

Según versión de Gabriela Moya Ilustrado por Peter Martínez Grosshauser

IDA RT

La rana en el agua

NG

I

Ficción: Fantasía (Humorística)

IDA RT

SH

E D R E AD

LECT

LECT

A COMPA UR

Según versión de Gabriela Moya Ilustrado por Peter Martínez Grosshauser

Una rana está feliz cantando. Lee el libro para ver qué pasa cuando llega cada uno de sus amigos.

E D R E AD

IDA RT

La rana en el agua

AR

Ficción: Fantasía (Humorística)

A COMPA UR

AR

Según versión de Gabriela Moya Ilustrado por Peter Martínez Grosshauser

Una rana está feliz cantando. Lee el libro para ver qué pasa cuando llega cada uno de sus amigos.

Una rana está feliz cantando. Lee el libro para ver qué pasa cuando llega cada uno de sus amigos.

(Humorística) Ficción: Fantasía

La rana en el agua

La ranita y sus amigos

La ranita y sus amigos

cantando. Una rana está feliz ver qué pasa Lee el libro para uno de sus amigos. cuando llega cada

I

NG

La ranita y sus amigos

E D R E AD

Según versión de Gabriela Moya Ilustrado por Peter Martínez Grosshauser

NG

Una rana está feliz cantando. Lee el libro para ver qué pasa cuando llega cada uno de sus amigos.

A COMPA UR

AR

SH

La rana en el agua

NG

E D R E AD

SH

La ranita y sus amigos

IDA RT

AR

Gabriela Moya Según versión de Martínez Grosshauser Ilustrado por Peter

IDA RT

SH

La rana en el agua

A TID

LECT U

Según versión de Gabriela Moya Ilustrado por Peter Martínez Grosshauser

G

E D R E AD

IN

SH

NG

LECT

A COMPA UR

AR

IDA RT

La rana en el agua

D R E AD

I

Según versión de Gabriela Ilustrado por Peter Martínez Moya Grosshauser

La ranita y sus amigos

La ranita y sus amigos

Una rana está feliz cantando. Lee el libro para ver qué pasa cuando llega cada uno de sus amigos.

Una rana está feliz cantando. Lee el libro para ver qué pasa cuando llega cada uno de sus amigos.

Ficción: Fantasía (Humorística) Ficción: Fantasía (Humorística)

Ficción: Fantasía (Humorística)

Ficción: Fantasía (Humorística)

Audiobook access included for each title

fountasandpinnell.com | heinemann.com | 800.225.5800 @FountasPinnell #FPLiteracy

@FountasandPinnell

@FountasPinnell #fountasandpinnell

Big books for whole-group instruction are accompanied by six small copies of each book, as well as audiobook access for readers to revisit during independent reading. Learn more at fp.pub/spanishsr

To Fully Support Student Success, Get to the Heart of Their Struggles

Understanding that students come to you with whole life stories that may impact academic performance or behavior can help you guide them to positive choices and positive outcomes. Our resources on social-emotional learning (SEL) and wellness can help you: ♥ Gain efficient and effective ways to integrate SEL, language, and literacy development into all subjects and grade levels ♥ Empower students to make school a source of meaning, vitality, and community

ORDER TODAY

SolutionTree.com/Support

♥ Learn how to develop trusting and positive relationships with students and their families ♥ Address the academic and SEL needs of your diverse learners

Teachers love our Award Winning PD Approved to use with ESSER Funds

Happy Teachers & Success By The Numbers

Language Development GROWTH RATE %

A U.S. Department of Education Program of Academic Excellence Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA)

Approved Funding Sources: Titles I, II, III, VI, VII, LCAP, LEA, ELL, Dual Language, Equity, ESSER

SCAN ME For more information visit

BEGLADTRAINING.COM

Free t-shirt with every enrollment, use coupon code ‘language’ at checkout.

October 2022 TABLE OF CONTENTS 19

The Case for Acquired Phonics

23

Identifying Equitable Intervention

28

Using Artificial Intelligence to Support Emergent Bilingual Students in the Classroom

Stephen Krashen and Jeff McQuillan propose that the distinction between learning and acquisition applies to phonics

23

Essie Sutton offers a framework to help ensure appropriate supports for struggling multilingual learners

Maya Goodall explains how educators can maximize the benefits of AI for their students

34

All Students Deserve a Bilingual Education

38

Portuguese Focus

42

Pass the Mic Series: Revolutionizing Language Acquisition Programs through Leadership Coaching

Doris Chávez-Linville and Carol Johnson simplify the bilingual argument and suggest what’s needed to make bilingual education more widely available Why learn Portuguese; scholarships and grants to study Portuguese; National Teach Portuguese Week

34

Ayanna Cooper interviews Rachelle Nelson about her role coaching school leaders who serve multilingual learners

46

Winning Home Games

50

Making Learning Fun Matters

53

The Science of the Bilingual Reading Brain and the Great Oracy Debate

Selena Cabral, Gina Garza-Reyna, and Dulce I. Niño introduce five easy games and activities that help raise a bilingual child Randi Economou says the key to inspiring and improving learning is making sure students and teachers are engaged and enjoying what they’re doing

Alexandra Guilamo stresses the importance of purposeful oracy

57

Supporting Our Youngest Dual Language Learners

Nicole Hsu offers takeaways from California’s DLL Pilot Study on culturally and linguistically effective teaching strategies, family engagement strategies, and professional development opportunities

60

Survey Reveals Barriers to Tackling Teacher Shortage Stress, pay, politics, dissatisfaction undermine California educators, especially those of color

42

Vote Against Child Poverty October 2022 Vol. 22, No. 2 Improving Literacy and Communication Publishing Editor Daniel Ward Assistant Editor/ Creative Director Leanna Robinson Pass the Mic Series Editor Ayanna Cooper, Ed.D. Proofreading Stephanie Mitchell Office Manager Ashley George Book Reviews Karen Russikoff Last Writes Richard Lederer The Word Peter Sokolowski News Writer Andrew Warner

A

s we approach the midterm elections in the US, policies and agendas are being debated and scrutinized, but there is one issue on which nearly everyone can agree—the richest nation in the world should have one of the lowest rates of child poverty—and now we know how to achieve that. Child poverty is not only morally wrong in a wealthy country—it’s bad for everyone, not least the children who are unable to break out of the poverty trap because they can’t succeed at school when they’re tired, hungry, unhealthy, or don’t have anywhere to study. A significant percentage of those same children end up in the school-to-prison pipeline, costing taxpayers thousands of dollars every year. Decreasing child poverty has been shown to be the single most effective means of improving educational outcomes in many varied studies. Contributors The good news is that the share of Selena Cabral children in poverty has been decreasing Doris Chávez-Linville steadily for nearly the last 30 years, and now Randi Economou we know how to make it decrease much Gina Garza-Reyna more rapidly. Maya Goodall A new analysis by Child Trends (www. Alexandra Guilamo childtrends.org) shows that child poverty Nicole Hsu fell by 59% between 1993 and 2019, and it Carol Johnson fell across the board, in every state, and by Stephen Krashen about the same degree among children of Jeff McQuillan all demographics—White, Black, Hispanic, Rachelle Nelson Asian, Native American, living with one Dulce I. Niño parent or two, or in immigrant households. Essie Sutton Even the number of the most deprived children, those described as being in “deep Marketing poverty,” fell by over 50%. Emma Sutton The analysis concludes that several Annette Camacho factors are responsible for this decline, Subscriptions 310-455-7193 including lower unemployment rates, National Offices 21361 B. Pacific Coast Hwy increased participation in the labor force Malibu, CA 90265 by single mothers, and increases in state Webmaster Claudio Valenzuela Distributors Delta Systems, Inc.,1400 Miller minimum wages, but strengthening of Parkway, McHenry, IL 60050 1-800-323-8270 the social safety net was by far the most Retail Ingram Periodicals, Inc. 1-800-627-MAGS Language Magazine (ISSN 1537-7350) is an editorially in- significant reason for the decrease. The dependent publication of Language Magazine, LLC. Opin- number of children protected from poverty ions expressed by contributors and/or advertisers in Lanby the social safety net more than tripled, guage Magazine do not necessarily reflect the views of the Publishers nor the Distributor. © 2018 Language Magazine, from two million children in 1993 to 6.5 LLC.Language Magazine (ISSN 1537-7350) is published million children in 2019. monthly for $28.95 per year (US/Canada) and $59.95 (OverGradual progress was being made, and seas) by Language Magazine LLC, 21361 B. Pacific Coast Hwy Malibu, CA 90265 . Application to mail at Periodicals then COVID-19 struck, offering us a makePostage Rates is pending at Los Angeles, CA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to LANGUAGE MAGAZINE, or-break opportunity. Government bailouts 21361 B. Pacific Coast Hwy Malibu, CA 90265 Visit and handouts were accepted as the only languagemagazine.com and click on Resources way to get through the pandemic-related for research references. closures, so it was easy to gain approval

} 6

languagemagazine.com

“Decreasing child poverty has been shown to be the single most effective means of improving educational outcomes in many varied studies." for a one-year increase to the enhanced child tax credit. That resulted in the share of children in poverty falling by nearly half in 2021. Just over 5% of children were in poverty last year, down from nearly 10% the year before, based on the Supplemental Poverty Measure, a broader measure developed by the Census Bureau that came into use in 2009. The supplemental poverty rate for children was the lowest on record since the measure began. Without the enhanced child tax credit, the rate would have only fallen to 9.2%. Some 5.3 million people were lifted out of poverty because of the credit, and the total cost for the year was under $100 billion. That may sound like a lot of money, but remember that the annual US defense budget is well over $700 billion, and this money can be spent on what is now a proven means of protecting the safety and future of millions of children. The one-year upgrade to the enhanced child tax credit was not extended due to Democratic senator Joe Manchin’s insistence that recipients be required to work. However, there is some support for the measure among House Republicans, and new faces in Congress may be eager to add their support to such a winning policy. The reality is that we know how to fight child poverty, we have a moral obligation to do it, and it makes economic sense, so ask your candidates if they support extension of the enhanced child tax credit while they still need your vote. Daniel Ward, Editor

October 2022

Support your students’ journey to Spanish-English biliteracy with assessment and practice solutions from Renaissance. Learn more at www.renaissance.com

Student art contest We asked K–12 students to show us what Hispanic culture and bilingualism mean to them. See all of the winning artwork:

©Copyright 2022 Renaissance Learning, Inc. All rights reserved. 594451.0922

LETTERS

Dear Editor

Brain Acts the Same Whatever the Language (August 2022)

No doubt some readers cheered and others jeered at Malik-Moraleda et al.’s intriguing fMRI work on languages and the brain. The two (or more!) linguistic camps have been battling for decades over how the human mind so seamlessly and reliably acquires different languages. Expanding to a wider scope is long overdue, building on previous studies and growing with other approaches. Some understandable, practical weaknesses of the study are apparent. All participants had proficiency in English (does multilingualism rewire the brain?) and nearly all had only two participants, one male and the other female (are there reliable differences between males and females?). These also are keen battleground topics! Future studies will need more controlled variables and participants to ensure confident conclusions. Nevertheless, dedicated researchers from all walks of life will explore, and we will all be better for it!  David B. Morse Listening for Success Greater Washington, DC

The Science of Reading in Dual Language (July 2021)

Thank you so much. I’m an ELL teacher trying to teach my students how to read. It was and is such a challenge that I decided to continue my education with a master’s in literacy and reading. My studies and textbooks focus on students who speak English and have only small sections on ELL students toward the end of the books. The ironic part about this is that ELL students are the fastest-growing population in US school districts, and I don’t feel like we are preparing our teachers to face the reality that this student doesn’t speak English, can’t read, and yes he is here in fifth grade. Kelly Anthony

Why UDL Matters for English Language Learners (March 2018)

I think the methodology of UDL underlies the goal of teaching strategies as thus far employed, but now gives a structure to and guide for that goal. Many teachers may find that they already employ features of UDL in the classroom. Strategies long in use such as hands-on learning, child-centered learning, and the language experience approach all have aspects of UDL. However, UDL takes it further and gives guidance with the three main principles of providing multiple means of representation, multiple means of action and expression, and multiple means of engagement. John Conceicao

8

SOCIAL MEDIA

@languagemagazine

World Language Teachers

facebook.com/ LanguageMagazine

@langmag

the word

Language Magazine, SEND TO: [email protected] PO Box 588 Topanga, CA 90290 USA SUBJECT LINE: Letter to the Editor

Wait for It!

S

ometimes English synonyms are variations of the same root word. A good example is the pair instant and instantaneous, which overlap with the meaning “happening without delay” or “happening in an instant.” These adjectives do overlap, but they also have very clear differences of emphasis. For things that are experienced or take place very quickly and right before our eyes, instant is the word most often used. This is true of foods: instant noodles, instant coffee, Instant Pot. It’s also true for intangible things that nevertheless are experiences that we can feel or observe: instant gratification, instant replay, instant notification. Instant is also used when we want to indicate that something or someone has a change in status or identity and that this happens very quickly, as in “the movie was an instant hit” or “she became an instant celebrity.” For things that are measured, and especially in scientific contexts, instantaneous is the word most often used: instantaneous velocity, instantaneous bandwidth, instantaneous amplitude. Instantaneous is the word that was used when describing technical processes such as photography (describing the speed of the shutter) and early audio recording (describing the act of the stylus recording sound into a blank record). These words overlap when they are used to mean “immediate” or “happening very quickly” and are both used with the words communication, acceleration, result, and death. Instant is the older word and appears much more frequently in writing. It first entered English as a noun in the 1300s, meaning “a very short period of time” as in “in an instant.” As an adjective, its meaning has shifted over the centuries. Back in the 1500s, it was used to mean “urgent” or “insistent” (a word that resembles instant but is unrelated). Here are some examples of those early uses: instant prayer, instant request, instant desire. Shakespeare used instant to mean both “immediate” (“instant remedy,” “instant death,” “take your instant leave”) and “urgent” (“instant burst of clamor”). There was also an oddball use of instant meaning “of or occurring in the current month.” This sometimes used the French adjective order, coming after the noun, as in “July instant” or “on the 2nd instant.” Instantaneous entered English two centuries after the first use of instant as an adjective. Many words that had been borrowed earlier from French subsequently had synonyms or related words borrowed from Latin in the 1600s and 1700s, creating pairs like governor/gubernatorial and doubt/dubious. The scientific uses of this word make sense, since it came to English directly from Latin, the scientific language used across Europe. And, as with other synonyms in English, sometimes people choose the longer and more Latin-sounding word just because it seems more fancy. Follow Peter Sokolowski, editor-at-large for Merriam-Webster, on Twitter @PeterSokolowski.

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

NEWS

Washington Plans to Offer Dual Language Ed for All by 2040 language education more accessible, the plan is to provide funding to go toward the training of biliterate educators. This will help to increase the number of teachers qualified to work in these programs. Additionally, the plan provides annual stipends to educators already working in these programs. Currently, the state provides 112 different dual language education programs for around 35,000 children, the vast majority of whom learn English and Spanish. There are also programs for Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese, and five different Native American languages that are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest: Kalispel Salish, Lushootseed, Makah, Quileute, and Quilshootseed. These programs are concentrated in just 42 out of the state’s 322 school districts—Reykdal and supporters of his proposal hope that all school districts will one day be home to a dual language education program. “Washington State has an opportunity to be a leader on this front by passing this year’s dual language budget request to ensure all school districts can offer quality dual language instruction by 2040,” said Roxana Norouzi, executive director of OneAmerica, a Washington-based organization advocating for the rights of immigrants and refugees. “Dual language [education] is a long-term investment in students to become bilingual and biliterate.” Andrew Warner

Discover Innovation in Education Call us now: 949-867-4788

W

ashington State superintendent for education Chris Reykdal wants to expand dual language education programs in the state so that all school-aged children have access to them by 2040. In August, Reykdal laid out a plan to increase the accessibility of dual language programs, starting with an investment of $18.9 million over the course of the next three years. This money will be used to increase the number of programs throughout the state while also expanding and supporting the workforce of educators that makes these programs run. “The evidence is clear,” Reykdal said. “When young people become bilingual during the early grades, they have more cognitive flexibility and they perform better in school. As our global economy changes and our world becomes increasingly international, dual language education must become a core opportunity for our students.” During this first phase of Reykdal’s initiative to make dual

October 2022

TEACH ENGLISH AND SHAPE THE FUTURE

EARN YOUR TESOL CERTIFICATE OR MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Hands-on Curriculum Flexible Schedules to Meet Your Needs Worldwide Faculty Real Classroom Practice Discover our online & on-campus TESOL programs and see why Westcliff is your best option!

Accredited by

languagemagazine.com

Senior College and University Commission

westcliff.edu/language-magazine

9

NEWS

Indiana Invests $111M in Science of Reading

I

ndiana’s literacy rate is on the decline. Just a decade ago, students taking the state’s third-grade reading exam, IREAD-3, passed at a rate of 91.4%. This year, the pass rate was just about ten percentage points lower, at 81.6%. As with other areas across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic

10

spurred some of this decline—scores are about 6% lower than they were during the 2018–2019 school year. To combat the state’s shrinking literacy rate, Indiana governor Eric Holcomb announced in August that the state will be investing $111 million as part of an initiative to improve and further develop reading and literacy programs in Indiana schools. “It couldn’t be a more timely response to the last couple years,” Holcomb said in his announcement of the investment. “I am just so exhilarated—quite frankly, excited—to see from kindergarten to fourth grade the impact this is going to have over just the next five years.” With the $111 million investment of state and philanthropic funds, Holcomb has his eyes set on attaining a 95% pass rate on the IREAD-3 by 2027. To do this, the initiative will focus on teaching literacy with a more scientific approach—beginning in the coming school year, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) will launch a pilot program to employ instructional coaches who specialize in the science of reading to support reading teachers at 54 different schools throughout the state. By 2026, Holcomb’s administration hopes to expand the program to cover 60% of the state’s schools. A little more than 20% of the $111 million in funding will go toward the development of higher education programs, to better prepare new reading teachers. To encourage reading teachers who are already working in the state’s education system to incorporate scientific principles into their teaching methods, the IDOE will provide teachers a stipend of $1,200 to undergo training in the science of reading. The state also plans to develop special support systems for students from marginalized backgrounds, who tend to score lower on IREAD-3 than their peers—this includes students of color, students with learning disabilities, and multilingual learners. Andrew Warner

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

Book Banning Intensifies

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK IN SCENIC MONTEREY, CALIFOR NIA, THE LANGUAGE CAPITAL OF THE WOR LD?" How about having a secure full-time paying teaching job, with a 401-K equivalent savings plan, ick leave, annual leave, and paid holiday ? DLIFLC Entry-Level Positions for Foreign Language Educators U.S. Government employer is seeking apP:lications for entry-level teaching positions from qualified candidates with backgrounds in foreign language education on a related field. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), located in Monterey, California, is hiring Foreign Language Teachers for entry-level positions. Specific languages for which faculty members are being recruited, but not limited to, include Russian, Chinese, Korean, Persian Farsi and Indonesian. Contact the DLIFLC Faculty Personnel Office at 831-272-4354 for the most current list of languages being recruited. Responsibilities Working in teams, faculty instruct military students in listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills, as well as relevant geopolitical, economic and social issues, in an immersion/ proficiency-based learning environment. Faculty responsibilities include class preparation, teaching four to six hours a day in a 40-hour work-week, checking homework and grading tests. Additionally, faculty members are expected to stay abreast of current foreign language teaching theories and methods.

Qualifications A minimum of a BA/BS from an accredited institution is required. An academic rank will be determined as well as salary based on Faculty Pay System (FPS) Schedule for DLIFLC and is dependent on education and experience. In addition to the Academic Rank qualifications, applicant must have near native language proficiency in the target language and strong English skills. Language testing will be required for recommended candidates.

L

ast month’s celebration of Banned Books Week was overshadowed by the announcement by the American Library Association that the number of books challenged in 2022 was already approaching last year’s totals, which were the highest in decades. Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. For 40 years, the annual event has brought together the entire book community—librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types—in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” says Deborah CaldwellStone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “It’s both the number of challenges and the kinds of challenges. It used to be a parent had learned about a given book and had an issue with it. Now we see campaigns where organizations are compiling lists of books, without necessarily reading or even looking at them.” The ALA has documented 681 challenges to books through the first eight months of this year, involving 1,651 different titles. In all of 2021, the ALA listed 729 challenges, directed at 1,579 books. Because the ALA relies on media accounts and reports from libraries, the actual number of challenges is likely far higher, the library association believes.

October 2022

About the Institute The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center DLIFLC is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. It is a year-round school specializing in foreign languages, offering 20+ languages to approximately 3,000+ students from the four military services.

How to apply

Applicants must call the below listed telephone number referencing this job announcement and provide your name, target language, and contact information. If selected, you will be notified with a tentative job offer and asked to provide a handwritten essay, proof of U.S. Citizenship or valid U.S. work authorization, official educational transcripts, and other documents to initiate a background investigation. DLIFLC may sponsor a work visa for qualified foreign selectees who do not have I wful permafnt reside e in the U.S. Fo� more informatio_n and a step-by-step • guide on how to build your resume and self-nominate,Call 831-272-4354. DLIFLC is an EEO employer.

languagemagazine.com

11

SOURCE

Funding Opportunities Fulbright US Student Program The Fulbright US Student Program expands perspectives through academic and professional advancement and cross-cultural dialogue. Fulbright creates connections in a complex and changing world. In partnership with more than 140 countries worldwide, the Fulbright US Student Program offers unparalleled opportunities in all academic disciplines to passionate and accomplished graduating college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals from all backgrounds. Program participants pursue graduate study, conduct research, or teach English abroad. Eligibility: Applicants must be citizens or nationals of the US at the time of application; have a conferred bachelor’s degree or equivalent before the start of the grant; meet the language requirements of the award to which they are applying and demonstrate sufficient competency to

complete their project and adjust to life in the host country. Deadline: Oct. 11, 2022 https://us.fulbrightonline.org Research on Emerging Technologies for Teaching and Learning (RETTL) The purpose of the Research on Emerging Technologies for Teaching and Learning (RETTL) program is to fund exploratory and synergistic research in emerging technologies (to include, but not limited to, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and immersive or augmenting technologies) for teaching and learning in the future. The program accepts proposals that focus on learning, teaching, or a combination of both. The scope of the program is broad, with special interest in diverse learner/educator populations, contexts, and content, including teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)

and in foundational areas that enable STEM (e.g., self-regulation, literacy, communication, collaboration, creativity, and socio-emotional skills). Research in this program should be informed by the convergence (synthesis) of multiple disciplines: e.g., learning sciences; discipline-based education research; computer and information science and engineering; design; and cognitive, behavioral, and social sciences. Within this broad scope, the program also encourages projects that investigate teaching and learning related to futuristic and highly technological work environments. Eligibility: Institutions of higher education (IHEs); nonprofit, nonacademic organizations; for-profit organizations; and state and local governments are eligible to apply. Deadline: Oct. 17, 2022 www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20612/ nsf20612.htm

What do four days of TCEA look like?

“It was just amazing– the energy everyone gave off. And I learned SO many neat and amazing things to bring back to my school district. It

Sounds good, right? Make your plans today!

was overall a WONDERFUL experience as a professional.” - Kathryn, educator

San Antonio, TX 12

Jan 30 - Feb 2, 2023

convention.tcea.org

languagemagazine.com

#TCEA October 2022

Savvas.com/tryAutentico Request a free sample or digital demo.

0622.PC.LB.WorPri581u305

Bring authentic experiences to your Spanish language classroom and to digital learning. Savvas Learning Company is honored to support Spanish education with Auténtico, our Spanish language curriculum for Grades 6-12. Auténtico immerses students in the Spanish-speaking world for language learning and cultural understanding.

Images © Shutterstock and Getty

Spanish curriculum filled with authentic language and cultural experiences

WORLD AS WE SPEAK

French Becomes Issue in Québec Election

Q

uébec premier François Legault, who is favored to win this month’s provincial election, has been criticized for saying that it would be “suicidal” for the largely French-speaking province to add immigrants without ensuring they speak French. “We need to stop the decline” of the French language, said Legault, leader of the center-right Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party, adding that if the province added more immigrants without addressing language, “that’s a bit suicidal.” Multiple times during the news conference, Legault called increasing immigration “suicidal” for Québec. Legault became premier in 2018 with an agenda to cut immigration and preserve the

French language in an English-dominated North America. The party is projected to win 98 seats in a 125-member house, ahead of the Liberals, Conservatives, Parti Québécois (PQ), and left-leaning Québec Solidaire. Legault vowed this year to keep annual immigration capped at 50,000 people. His government brought in a bill mandating, among other things, that all new immigrants receive most government services in French after six months’ residence in the province. Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has conceded that a CAQ majority victory was appearing more and more likely. In a seeming admission that he’s unlikely to become premier, he pitched his party as the best choice to present a “strong opposition” to Legault on issues such as

French language protection. St-Pierre Plamondon, whose strong campaign is credited with helping his party rise in the polls, urged would-be Legault voters to consider switching their vote. “To sum it up, I’d say the CAQ doesn’t need your vote, but independence, the defense of French, the defense of our regions, yes,” he said at a campaign stop in the Gaspé region. Legault later rebuked his immigration minister for claiming that 80% of immigrants to the province “don’t work” or speak French. Québec, Canada’s second-most populous province, has been bringing in a declining share of Canada’s new permanent residents annually, relying instead on temporary residents.

Cameroon to Enforce Bilingual Law

C

ameroon’s president has ordered officials to enforce a 2019 law on bilingualism that guarantees rights for English speakers in the majority-French-speaking country. Complaints of discrimination against English speakers helped to spark a separatist conflict in 2017 that has left more than 3,500 people dead. The 2019 law states that English and French have the same value and should be used equally in public offices, while maintaining that Cameroonians should be free to express themselves in either language.

14

However, civilians who fled the fighting in western Cameroon between troops and separatists say they often face discrimination in public offices when speaking English. Jean Marie Bodo, one of the officials dispatched to enforce the bilingualism law, said people abuse public office by refusing to attend to civilians who speak either in English or French. Government spokesperson Jean Marie Bodo said Cameroon president Paul Biya will no longer tolerate French-speaking workers imposing French on English-speaking citizens, and English- speaking workers should also be patient when they receive French speakers in public offices. Bodo said all official documents should be translated into both the English and French languages and English and French speakers should be given equal access to jobs to stop marginalization

languagemagazine.com

that is causing tensions and threatening Cameroon’s unity. Bodo said all signage should be in the two official languages, printed in the same font size to stop giving the impression that one language is superior to the other. The government says after educating citizens on the importance of the two languages co-existing peacefully, it is now ordering people who do not speak the two languages to register in language schools. Signboards written in one language are being pulled down and replaced. Tamandjo Jeanneaux, an official in Douala’s Fifth district, told Voice of America that to encourage living together and stop the dominance of the French language over the English language, his council made it compulsory for French speakers to speak only English every Wednesday, and English speakers are expected to speak only French on Wednesdays. He says many French speakers tell him that council workers are reluctant to speak English. The crisis began in 2016 when English-speaking teachers and lawyers took to the streets to denounce the dominance of French. The government responded with a crackdown and separatists took up weapons, saying they were defending civilians from government troops. Cameroon rights groups say at least 3,500 people have since died in five years of fighting.

October 2022

WORLD AS WE SPEAK

UK Turns to Taiwan for Chinese

A

ccording to a report in the Observer, British members of Parliament are involved in recruiting Taiwanese Chinese language teachers as part of a plan to replace services provided by Confucius Institutes. The move comes about a year after the US turned to Taiwan for Chinese language training (“Taiwan Opens Chinese Centers across US,” LM, September 2021). Despite years of criticism regarding their links to the Chinese government, the 30 Confucius Institutes in the UK have continued to operate as language and culture educators, and in 2014, current prime minister Liz Truss voiced support for them as the then– education secretary. More recently, Truss and her Conservative Party have been taking an increasingly antagonistic attitude to China, with sug-

gestions that she is even preparing to declare China an “acute threat” to the UK’s national security, the same designation as Russia’s. The Observer reports that despite claims that the institutes limit free speech in the classroom and use outdated methodologies, nearly all UK government spending on Mandarin teaching at schools—at least £27 million ($30M) from 2015 to 2024— is spent via university-based Confucius Institutes. In the wake of Brexit and proposals to promote a “global Britain” framework, there has been much discussion about language

capacity and education, especially in government after the revelation that only 14 diplomats were being trained to speak Chinese fluently each year.

Taiwan Launches English TV Channel

T

aiwan has launched its first English-language news, lifestyle, and entertainment television channel to give it a bigger voice internationally. The government-backed TaiwanPlus began operations last year as a mostly online streaming platform and has been strongly supported by President Tsai Ing-wen. Speaking at the launch ceremony, Tsai said the channel has already raised Taiwan’s international profile and would help as the island forges ever closer ties with “countries that share our core values of freedom and democracy.”

“The stories of Taiwan should be shared with the world,” she said. “With more and more people around the world taking an interest in Taiwan, it is more important than ever that we have a platform to bring Taiwan to the international community.” TaiwanPlus will likely serve as a counterbalance to China’s English-language news channel China Global Television Network, or CGTN. Taiwanese culture minister Lee Yung-te explained, “Internationally our voice has not been fully heard. China continually disseminates that Taiwan is part of China,

and lots of people believe that. You tell them that’s not the case, and they ask, why? So in the future we’ll be using Taiwan’s own media to explain to the international community why that’s not so.” Currently, the television channel is only available in Taiwan, but Lee said they were planning to launch in the US in the next six months. Taiwan already has some domestic English-language media, the most prominent of which is the newspaper the Taipei Times, founded in 1999 and published by the mass-circulation Liberty Times.

Egypt Launches Chinese at Middle Schools

E

gypt has launched a pilot program to teach Chinese at twelve public middle schools across three governorates (provinces) in the 2022–23 academic year, according to an announcement made by the deputy minister of education for technical education Mohamed Megahed during a launch ceremony at the Confucius Institute of Cairo University. Zhang Tao, chargé d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, claimed that the initiative will mark a new starting point for Chinese language education in Egyptian schools, especially since the move was coming a year earlier than originally planned.

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

A ten-day teacher orientation program will be held at the institute, after which the teachers will begin work at the twelve selected schools in the Cairo, Giza, and Menoufiya governorates, the statement added. The introduction of Chinese as a foreign language option in Egyptian schools comes after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between both countries in September 2020. Under the MoU, China will support Egypt’s education sector in several areas including establishing solar power plants in schools, workshops for technical education, and updating educational technology in secondary schools across the country.

15

WORLD AS WE SPEAK

Queen’s Prowess in Doric Coincides with Scots Revival

A

fter her death, people in the Scottish village surrounding her Balmoral estate revealed that Queen Elizabeth II often spoke with them in the local Doric language with ease. Doric, sometimes referred to as Mid Northern Scots or Northeast Scots, is a distinctive form of the Scots language spoken by people in the northeast of Scotland. The term Doric was formerly used to refer to all dialects of Lowland Scots, but during the 20th century it became increasingly associated with Mid Northern Scots. The queen was apparently so comfortable switching into Doric that even older residents of the village close to the estate felt comfortable conversing with her. The revelation of the queen’s linguistic

prowess coincides with the launch by the Scottish government of a consultation to ensure the long-term growth of Gaelic and Scots. Views are being sought on the most effective ways to raise the profile of the Scots language, as well as a new strategic approach to Gaelic-medium education (GME). The creation of a designated Gaelic-speaking area, known as a Gàidhealtachd, will also be assessed. It will also ensure the Bòrd na Gàidhlig—the principal public body promoting Gaelic in Scotland— is operating effectively. Scottish education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said the consultation will help build on an already growing community of Gaelic and Scots speakers. According to the 2011 census, more than 1.5 million people identify themselves as Scots speakers, while some 57,375 people in Scotland speak Gaelic and 87,100 have some of the language skills. Somerville said: “The situation for Gaelic

speakers is an improvement on ten years ago, as there are increased numbers in Gaelic-medium education and more initiatives in place to support Gaelic in Scotland. “We now need to build on what is in place, and this consultation will show how we can make our measures more effective, ensuring Gaelic-medium education continues to grow and provides a high-quality education, that Bòrd na Gàidhlig operates effectively in the promotion of Gaelic, and consideration is given to the creation of a Gàidhealtachd. “Scots is spoken throughout Scotland but has never benefited from formal support through legislation, and it may be time to consider this to help promote, strengthen, and raise the profile of the language.” Scots is the collective name for a number of dialects, including Doric, which make up a language considered separate from English. After serving as the prince of Wales for 64 years, King Charles III can speak some Welsh. In preparation for his official investiture, he studied Welsh history and language at the University College of Wales in Aberystwyth for a term during his second year of studies. He has used Welsh in a number of public addresses over the years, but, it having been so long since he studied the language, it’s unlikely he’s fluent. As his son, Prince William takes over the title—he, too, is proud of his Welsh skills. Both he and the princess of Wales reportedly studied the language for some time while living in Wales but are also less than fluent.

Nicaragua Censors CNN en Español

I

n its latest move to suppress media criticism, Nicaragua’s government has suspended CNN’s Spanish-language service from all cable channels in the country, according to the Atlanta-based television station. One of the last remaining mass media outlets critical of President Daniel Ortega broadcasting in Nicaragua, CNN en Español recently interviewed a former Nicaraguan judiciary official exiled in the US. “Today the government of Nicaragua took down our television signal, denying Nicaraguans news and information from our net-

16

work, which they have trusted for more than 25 years,” the network said in a statement. Pedro Vaca of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said on his social networks that censorship in Nicaragua has reached a critical point. According to the Independent Journalists and Communicators of Nicaragua group, no independent media outlets operate in Nicaragua, and multiple religious and community radio stations have been shut down in recent weeks. More than 200 journalists from the country have gone into exile since 2018, reporting

languagemagazine.com

on Nicaragua from Costa Rica, the US, and Europe. For a few months, reporters from La Prensa, the country’s oldest newspaper, reported secretly for the website, after the print newspaper was shut down over a year ago. CNN’s Spanish-language website will continue to operate in the country via CNNEspanol.com. “CNN stands behind our network’s reporting and reaffirms its commitment to truth and transparency,” concluded its statement.

October 2022

INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE

Speaking Sovereignty Summit

L

ast month, the US Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Education, and Health and Human Services announced that the annual Native Languages Summit will be held on October 4 in Oklahoma City. The Speaking Sovereignty Summit—hosted this year by the Bureau of Indian Education—supports Indigenous communities seeking to protect, revitalize, and reclaim Indigenous languages, many of which were erased or critically endangered through assimilationist policies, including federal Indian boarding schools. “The cornerstone of any culture or community is its language—it is how oral histories are passed down, knowledge is shared, and bonds are formed. As part of our commitment to strengthening and supporting Indigenous communities, the Biden–Harris administration is resolute in its efforts to ensure Native languages are preserved and protected,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “The department is proud to help lead this interagency effort to encourage programs and projects to include instruction in and use of Native languages.” Last year, as part of the 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit, the departments launched a new interagency initiative to preserve, protect, and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native languages—including in signing a memorandum of agreement (MoA) to further the Native American Languages Act of 1990. Topics to be discussed at the Native Language Summit include mentoring and developing teachers, amplifying family and community engagement, and honoring Native people for their contributions to Native languages within Indigenous communities. The summit will include a space to collectively share best practices and learned experiences from Native language revitalization in Native communities. On September 28, the Advisory Council

October 2022

on Historic Preservation (ACHP) signed a historic MoA to support the protection and preservation of Indigenous languages spoken by federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes, Native Hawaiians, and other Native American groups in the US.  The MoA includes specific interagency goals, including but not limited to the following:  • Identifying statutory or regulatory barriers that impede federal implementation of Native language activities • Identifying research that explores educational attainment and Native language retention and/or revitalization • Simplifying the process to integrate Native language instruction and language and other cultural activities into educational settings, including libraries, museums, and cultural and historic pres-

languagemagazine.com

•

ervation programs, and into the arts Strengthening Tribal consultations on the issue of Native languages

The MoA reinforces the Native American Languages Act of 1990. The act declares that it is the policy of the US to preserve, protect, and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native American languages.  Oklahoma Boost According to data compiled by the Oklahoma Advisory Council on Indian Education, through the end of the 2021–22 school year, the number of Oklahoma public school students taking an Indigenous language for a world language credit has increased by almost 1,000 pupils over the last two school years.

17

The Science of the Bilingual Reading Brain (Teacher, Interventionist, and Leadership PD) ® In this foundational professional development, participants will build a deep knowledge of how emergent bilinguals and dual language students learn how to read in ways that are fundamentally different than monolingual, English-speaking students – and the decades of research that have confirmed this model. So, what has research revealed about the science of reading for dual language and emergent bilingual students that’s been excluded from the reading wars? Cada educador(a) tiene el derecho de aprender cómo utilizar las evaluaciones y pruebas para empoderar las decisiones más efectivas. Las investigaciones sobre las evaluaciones nos han dejado mucha evidencia sobre cómo hacerlo. Participants will

1

2

3

4

5

compare the parts of functions of the brain that process information differently than monolingual students,

develop the DL and EB assessment literacy needed to build an accurate and holistic profile of each reader and writer,

a more effective and orthographically efficient developmental progression for Spanish-English DL and EB students,

evidence=based strategies for teaching the skills that students must master or transfer,

leverage research in developing agency and motivation for bilingual and biliterate brilliance

Contact us today to find out how you can dramatically improve the quality of education provided to your language learners. tajulearning.com

The Case for Acquired Phonics READING

Stephen Krashen and Jeff McQuillan propose that the distinction between learning and acquisition applies to phonics

R

esearchers in second language acquisition have hypothesized that there are two very different ways of gaining knowledge of language: acquisition and learning. Learning results in conscious knowledge of rules and is the result of deliberate study. Acquisition results in a feel for correctness. It is the result of understanding what we hear and read. We propose that this distinction applies to how we acquire/ learn and use phonics.

that the pressure made her hate arithmetic, Mason decided not to intervene on reading. Around her ninth birthday, “she began to read, and two months later she could read at the level of her literate friends. Then she extended her reading, and now (age 15) she reads the way very literate adults do’ (p. 28).“ H. K., described in Kerman (1993), was another homeschooled child. Kerman notes that H. K. “refused instruction.” Her mother reported that at age ten, H. K. “learned

Examples of Learned and Acquired Competence The simpler phonics rules can be consciously learned. For example, b at the beginning of English words is pronounced as is the first sound in bee. But if b comes at the end of a word and is after m it is silent, as in comb. In an informal study, one of us (SK) estimated that about 20% of literate English speakers have consciously learned the rule, even though all have acquired it. But then it gets more complicated. Why is b silent in combing? And why is b pronounced in combination? Nearly all of us have acquired these rules: we don’t make mistakes in reading these words out loud. Not many of us, however, have learned the rules. (Very few of the people SK asked knew these rules, and SK had to look them up.) It has been asserted that all rules of phonics must be taught and cannot be acquired. Gentry (2022), in fact, has claimed that this has been demonstrated by research but presents no citations. Acquisition of Phonics: Learning to Read without Instruction McQuillan (1998a) presents an extensive review of cases in which children learned to read at home but did not get extensive instruction from their parents. They did not receive metalinguistic support (“learning” about language). They learned to read without “systematic formal instruction usually associated with school— phonics training, phonemic awareness exercises, and other skillbuilding activities” (p. 34). Krashen and McQuillan (2007) also present several cases of children who learned to read well after the time formal teaching of reading is done in school. The cases include Mason (1993), who reported that her daughter, who was homeschooled, “could not/did not want to read” at age eight and a half. Having tried earlier to push her to learn math, and finding

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

19

READING

the basics about reading although I shall never know how.” In cases such as these, “the children made rapid progress once they began reading material they were genuinely interested in of their own volition” (Krashen and McQuillan, 2007). In many cases, children received “elaborative” support, that is, help in making input comprehensible. Goodman and Goodman (1982) reported that their daughter Kay learned to read on her own

20

at age five years, six months. Her parents provided elaborative support, including being read to and talked to... and a great deal of “singing, poetry, and oral language games” (McQuillan, 1998a, 21). McQuillan (1998b) reviewed a survey done by the US Department of Education of over 6,000 parents of children aged six to nine and concluded that about one in ten children learn to read in the home environment, where “in many cases... systematic intervention is unlikely” (p. 16).

languagemagazine.com

In our discussion of the studies reviewed just above, we have assumed that successful reading means that phonics has been acquired or learned, that readers need to be able to accurately pronounce every word in order to understand what they read. In other words, we assumed that total mastery of phonics is necessary for reading. This may not be true. In the two studies reviewed in the next section, the tasks, carefully sounding out isolated written words, do in fact require mastery and use of

October 2022

READING the rules of phonics, and are therefore a better test of knowledge of phonics rules. The following two studies thus confirm that phonics can be acquired, and also provide a comparison between the efficiency of acquiring and learning phonics . More Willing to ‘Sound It Out’ In Gambrell and Palmer (1992), first and second graders in “literature-based” classes that “emphasized whole language... and the integration of reading and writing” were compared to students in conventional classes. The conventional classes relied on basal series, workbooks, “and the use of children’s literature during voluntary reading time” (p. 216). Children were asked what they would do if they were reading and came to a word they didn’t know. The literature-based children were far more likely to say they would try to “sound it out” (69% in first grade, 52% in second grade, compared to 21% of the conventional students in first grade and 19% in second grade). More Accurate in ‘Sounding It Out’ In Freppon (1991), first graders in “literature-based” classrooms were compared to first graders in traditional skill-based classrooms. The literature-based teachers identified themselves as “literature-based and whole language” (p. 142). Literature-based classes emphasized reading for meaning and strategies such as guessing/predicting and rereading (p. 144); “no mandated phonics or vocabulary curriculum was present.” Instruction in the skill-based classes had “a strong emphasis on traditional, sequenced phonics” (p. 142), with “drill and practice on discrete skills using worksheets” (p. 144). Literature-based students devoted substantially more time to reading, 18 to 20 minutes per day, compared to five to nine minutes in the skill-based classes. The literature-based students were more successful in correctly sounding out the words in a story (53% compared to 35%), even though the skill-based students had received much more instruction in phonics. The Two Studies: Summary and Discussion The literature-based children were more likely to use their knowledge of phonics and used it more accurately, even though children in the conventional classes had more exposure to traditional phonics instruction and more practice learning and using the rules relating sounds to spelling. The two studies described here confirm that children can acquire rules of phonics from reading, and the results are consistent with conclusions about the conditions needed: a great deal of comprehensible and highly interesting reading material. They are also consistent with the conditions for “optimal input” for language acquisition in general (Krashen and Mason, 2020). The superior performance of acquired phonics in these studies may be due to these factors: 1. Even the best students do not learn all the rules presented in class. In fact, the most knowledgeable teachers don’t know all the rules, and even the most expert scholars have not discovered the rules (Smith, 2004). This is a powerful argument for the reality and usefulness of acquired phonics. 2. The complexity of some consciously learned rules requires time and effort for retrieval and application. In other words, acquired knowledge is easier to apply.

October 2022

Do We Need ANY Instruction in Phonics? We do not conclude from the evidence presented here that conscious knowledge of phonics is useless. It has been argued (Smith, 2004) that some conscious knowledge of phonics might help reduce alternatives and make input more comprehensible (McQuillan, 1998a, p. 40). But there is no support for making it the central part of instruction. The Disdain for Acquired Knowledge Learning to read without instruction is mentioned in the professional literature, but is it in passing and often without comment. The following is from an interview with Joel Gomez, in Ehri et al. (2022), commenting on interviews with various experts on reading: “One of the primary outcomes of the discussions was the case made for the importance of teaching the fundamentals of reading as an important step toward learning how to read. It was emphasized that instruction on the grapheme-to-phoneme relationship was an important element of these fundamentals.  However, a counterpoint to this approach was provided by some of the roundtable participants, who shared memories on how they learned to read as children. Some of the participants stated that they learned to read before attending school by listening to books being read and then looking at the books. One participant said that he learned how to read by listening to oral tapes synced to pages on the book” (Ehri et al., 2022).

Registration ends 18 October 2022

www.tesol.org/elevate

languagemagazine.com

21

READING No further comment was made on this observation. All that was stated was that acquisition without instruction existed. This negligence gives acquired phonics the status of an odd and rare phenomenon. We feel that enough evidence was presented here to warrant serious study of acquired phonics and its applications. References Ehri, L., de Jong, E., Kurto, K., and Gomez, J. (2022). “Unifying Language Acquisition with Literacy Instruction for Language Minority Students.” Language Magazine. www.languagemagazine.com/2022/07/18/ unifying-language-acquisition-with-literacyinstruction-for-language-minority-students. Fink, R. (1995/6). “Successful Dyslexics: A constructivist study of passionate interest reading.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 39, 268–280. Freppon, P. (1991). “Children’s Concepts of the Nature and Purpose of Reading in Different Instructional Settings.” Journal of Reading Behavior, 23, 139–163. Gambrell, L., and Palmer, B. (1992.) Children’s Metacognitive Knowledge about

Reading and Writing in Literature-Based and Conventional Classrooms. NCR 41st Yearbook, pp. 217–223. Gentry, R. (2022). “Why Spelling Instruction Should Be Hot in 2022–2023.” www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ raising-readers-writers-and-spellers/202101/ why-spelling-instruction-should-be-hotin-2022-2023. Goodman, K., and Goodman, Y. (1982). “Spelling Ability of a Self-Taught Reader.” In Gollasch, R. (Ed.), Language and Literacy: The Selected Works of Kenneth S. Goodman, 2, pp. 221–226. London: Routledge and Kagan Paul. Kerman, K. (1993). “A Mother Learns to Understand Her Child.” Growing Without Schooling, 92, 27. Krashen, S. (2009). “Does Intensive Reading Instruction Contribute to Reading Comprehension?” Knowledge Quest, 37(4), 72–74. Krashen, S., and McQuillan, J. (2007). “Late Intervention.” Educational Leadership, 65(2), 68–73. www.sdkrashen. com/content/articles/late_intervention.pdf. Krashen, S., and Mason, B. (2020).

“The Optimal Input Hypothesis: Not all comprehensible input is of equal value.” CATESOL Newsletter, May 19, 2020, 1–2. https://tinyurl.com/y7h64zhr. Mason, J. (1993). “Without a Curriculum.” Growing without Schooling, 94, 28. McQuillan, J. (1998a). The Literacy Crisis: False Claims and Real Solutions. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Publishing Company. McQuillan, J. (1998b). “Is Learning to Read without Formal Instruction Common?” Journal of Reading Education, 23(4). Smith, F. (2004). Understanding Reading, 6th ed. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Stephen Krashen is professor emeritus, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California. Jeff McQuillan is the author of The Literacy Crisis: False Claims, Real Solutions (Heinemann, 1998).

MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages • Top-Ranked University • 11-month Program • Award-Winning

Malibu Campus • Centered on Linguistic and Social Justice • Hands-On Clinical Practicum • Specializations in Educational Leadership LEARN MORE NOW

gsep.pepperdine.edu/TESOL

22

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

SEL

Identifying Equitable Intervention Essie Sutton offers a framework to help ensure appropriate supports for struggling multilingual learners

F

or multilingual learners struggling academically or with social– emotional learning, it can be difficult for educators to identify whether the primary challenge is language acquisition or an underlying learning disability. Proper identification of the actual challenge that is getting in the way is critical to providing them with the appropriate interventions to support improved outcomes. Unfortunately, this difficulty in accurately assessing whether a multilingual learner (MLL) is struggling with language acquisition or another learning challenge has led to both over-identification and under-identification of these students in special education, representing a misallocation of district resources and, for far too many MLLs, an education that fails to meet their academic and social–emotional learning needs.

emotional, and behavioral needs of all students. At Tier 2, schools provide small-group, consistent academic interventions or targeted behavioral supports using evidence-based interventions to support students. For students who are not responding to instruction and intervention at Tier 2, more intensive and individualized interventions are offered by a specialist at Tier 3. At all levels, it is crucially important that interventions offered are evidence based and culturally and linguistically responsive to students’ unique strengths and challenges.

Connecting the Dots Can Be Complicated Multilingual learners in the US represent a diverse tapestry of racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds and over 400 different primary languages. Moreover, they are served in different types of language programs, which impacts the rate of language acquisition as well as the quality of literacy and reading instruction. As a result, it can be particularly complex to accurately assess their academic and SEL needs, and this often requires a constellation of data and insights to inform decision-making. There is a well-supported research base of best practices in distinguishing between learning acquisition and language-based learning disabilities, but implementation of these best practices is often problematic and inconsistent. In order to make the implementation of best practices for MLLs actually practicable, districts and schools need a responsive system that meets the unique needs of these students and the educators who serve them.

SAVE THE DATES! C Connect and learn with thousands of English language professionals around the world online or in person.

Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) is a system-level framework for supporting all students holistically—academically, behaviorally, and social–emotionally. The MTSS framework comprises four core components: screening, progress monitoring, a multilevel prevention system, and data-based decision-making. Typically, MTSS frameworks include three levels—or tiers—of support for instruction and intervention: Tier 1 includes schoolwide core curriculum designed to meet the academic, social,

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

23

SEL

FOUR KEY COMPONENTS OF A CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY RESPONSIVE MTSS 1. Use of a culturally and linguistically responsive curriculum Content should be student centered, valuing and utilizing the cultural and language experiences that MLLs bring to the classroom. This is also known as a strengths-based approach because it treats students’ multilingual backgrounds as assets in their education, rather than disadvantages or deficits.

Teachers can make academic or social–emotional learning lessons more culturally responsive by using examples that are relevant to their students’ lives and experiences. This may require educators to modify the curriculum they are currently using or to find programs that are appropriate given their students’ language and cultural backgrounds, but the positive impact of doing so is well documented. Studies have shown that when students can see themselves in the materials, it can lead to higher levels of engagement and improved outcomes. When teaching SEL and setting behavior expectations, it is important for educators to be aware of the different cultural norms of their students and how that might impact their social and emotional behaviors or expectations. Giving students the opportunity to express their emotions and feelings in their first language might also help them with certain social–emotional skills, such as self-awareness, self-regulation, and their social problem-solving—often through translanguaging.

2. Provide ESL support across all levels of instruction For multilanguage learners, English as a second language (ESL) support should be provided in Tier 1, and not be restricted to the Tier 2 and 3 levels of instruction. This provides students consistent opportunities to practice their oral language skills, which supports and accelerates progress with language acquisition. It is especially important that ESL instruction is part of Tier 1 in schools and districts with high proportions of multilingual learners to ensure that the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral needs of these students are fully integrated into the core curriculum. One way teachers can incorporate ESL into core curricula is by offering more opportunities for small-group student discussions on topics of instruction—whether on academic or social–emotional learning topics. Another way that teachers can provide ESL support at Tier 1 is by exposing MLLs to grade-level reading materials and not just leveled readers. At the Tier

Fly Five is a K-8 digital and print SEL curriculum designed to explicitly teach the age-and-grade level appropriate SEL skills that lead to success in, out of, and beyond school.

Scan here to learn more

Contact us today 413-207-6232 [email protected] https://www.flyfivesel.org/help/contact-us

24

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

SEL

“When implemented with fidelity, a culturally and linguistically responsive MTSS program can ensure equitable and appropriate interventions for multilingual students struggling academically or with SEL.”

Here again, a system-level technology platform can turn this constellation of data points into manageable and actionable insights for educators and administrators. 4. Support collaboration across multiple stakeholders To provide MLLs with the academic, behavioral, and social– emotional learning support they need requires effective collaboration among a broad group of stakeholders including general education, special education, and ESL teachers, academic and behavioral specialists, students, and families. Achieving the kind of collaboration needed requires that all involved stakeholders have visibility into students’ strengths and needs, across all academic, behavioral, and SEL areas. In order to effectively collaborate, stakeholders need to be able to easily see which strategies are being used by other members of the team and to share observations on challenges and progress. Achieving the degree of multifaceted, multistakeholder collaboration needed to best support MLLs will be significantly streamlined and improved with an effective technology platform. Systems-Level Technology Platforms Support Fidelity and Efficiency When implemented with fidelity, a culturally and linguistically responsive MTSS program can ensure equitable and appropriate interventions for multilingual students struggling academically or with SEL. However, the promise of MTSS for MLLs is often limited

2 and 3 levels, MLLs should receive more targeted, small-group or one-on-one instruction to help bridge any gaps in language acquisition and literacy skills.

3. Use data to drive decision-making Universal screening is a critical component to any effective MTSS framework and should be done three times a year to measure progress. In order to accurately assess multilingual students, screening should be done in both English and their first language to get a clearer picture of whether students are struggling with language acquisition or whether an underlying learning need is impacting progress. For MLLs receiving Tier 2 or 3 support, regular progress monitoring should also be conducted in both English and the student’s first language. This will help ensure that students are progressing at the same rate in both languages. In order for this data to be actionable for educators, they need to be able to easily access the results from both language assessments as well as track students’ progress over time, and then make plans that support continued, differentiated intervention planning. In addition, district and school leaders need to be able to disaggregate these data by campus and grade level, as well as by different student demographics, to ensure that resources are being allocated equitably to support all students. The way in which data is collected and interpreted at the student, school, and district levels is key to successful implementation of culturally and linguistically responsive MTSS, but research shows that many schools do not have the necessary tools to view student data over time or to disaggregate it to look for trends across groups or schools.

October 2022

Workshop 2 begins on 1 November! Don’t leave. Lead as an ESL peer coach! SWEL CERTIFICATE WORKSHOP SERIES In this online three-workshop series, you’ll benefit by: Being recognized as an English language teaching expert at your school. Gaining the skills to help your multilingual learners achieve better outcomes with support throughout their school day. Receiving the tools and professional development you need to be a resource to your colleagues.

languagemagazine.com

25

SEL

#ROARGlobally

Earn an MA online in

Spanish Convenient 30 credits fully online

flexible Start any semester and set your own pace

affordable $330 per credit anywhere in the world

Supportive Receive individualized, live online advising

26

(208) 282-3043 | [email protected] isu.edu/globalstudies/ma-spanish

by ineffective implementation due to incomplete or disconnected assessment data; lack of visibility at the student, classroom, school, or district level to see where progress is being made (or not) for groups of students; or cumbersome and noncollaborative approaches to selecting evidence-based and culturally appropriate interventions. Fortunately, technology solutions exist that reduce or eliminate these obstacles for schools. It is critical that all districts implementing MTSS identify a technology platform that streamlines data collection and visibility across stakeholders, supports educator and family communication and collaboration, and provides easy access to evidence-based interventions. For districts serving a high percentage of MLLs, it is particularly important to use a technology platform that fully integrates these components in a culturally and linguistically responsive framework. Resources Ortiz, A. A., Robertson, P. M., and Wilkinson, C. Y. (2018). “Language and Literacy Assessment Record for English Learners in Bilingual Education: A framework for instructional planning and decision-making.” Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 62(4), 250–265. Martin-Beltran, M., and Peercy, M. M. (2014). “Collaboration to Teach English Language Learners: Opportunities for shared teacher learning.” Teachers and Teaching, 20(6), 721–737. Counts, J., Katsiyannis, A., and Whitford, D. K. (2018). “Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners in Special Education: English learners.” NASSP Bulletin, 102(1), 5–21. Hammond, Z. (2014). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor among Culturally and

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

SEL

Linguistically Diverse Students. Corwin Press. Ford, B. A., Stuart, D. H., and Vakil, S. (2014). “Culturally Responsive Teaching in the 21st Century Inclusive Classroom.” Journal of the International Association of Special Education, 15(2). https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/infographics/pdf/REL_PA_ Translanguaging_to_Support_Students.pdf https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/helping-englishlanguage-learners-succeed-multi-tiered-system-support-mtss https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1192519.pdf Basaraba, D. L., Ketterlin-Gelle, L. R., and Sparks, A. (2022). “Addressing the Need for Spanish Literacy Assessments within the Context of Bilingual MTSS: Investigating the technical adequacy of ISIP Español for grades 3–5.” School Psychology Review. Linan-Thompson, S., Ortiz, A., and Cavazos, L. (2022). “An Examination of MTSS Assessment and Decision Making Practices for English Learners.” School Psychology Review, 51(4), 484–497. https://www.branchingminds.com/mtss-data-tracker Eagle, J. W., Dowd-Eagle, S. E., Snyder, A., and Gibbons Holtzman, E. (2015). “Implementing a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS): Collaboration between school psychologists and administrators to promote systems-level change.” Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 25(2–3), 160–177.

Shop TESOL Press Best Sellers!

Dr. Essie Sutton is an applied developmental psychologist and the director of learning science at Branching Minds (www. branchingminds.com), a system-level K–12 education platform that connects data, systems, interventions, and stakeholders so that educators, administrators, and families can work together to support students’ holistic needs. Follow on Twitter @BranchingMinds.

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

27

EDTECH

Using Artificial Intelligence to Support Emergent Bilingual Students in the Classroom Maya Goodall explains how educators can maximize the benefits of AI for their students October 2022

languagemagazine.com

28

EDTECH

A

rtificial intelligence (AI) can promote equity for emergent bilingual students in two ways: 1) by creating powerful, individualized learning pathways and 2) by quickly producing data that has historically been absent or extremely delayed. AI can create personalized learning for each student based on their current language level and deliver on-time data that educators can use to make informed instructional decisions. This is important because educators typically have had to rely on data collected from a time-consuming one-to-one exchange between a proctor and the student, and the results of that test were not immediately available. Thus, an educator likely had to begin teaching emergent bilingual students without knowing their true language proficiency level or which language standards had been mastered. But with individualized learning pathways, AI, and data, those educators can use their valuable time to make academic decisions that will move the needle for their students. Celebrating Emergent Bilinguals Emergent bilinguals (also known as English learners) are students who are developing skills in their heritage languages while also learning a new language. Using a term like emergent bilingual celebrates the linguistic knowledge of the heritage languages that learners bring with them to school. Those funds of knowledge can and should be leveraged to help the students become bilingual (in this case, by adding English to their repertoires). Those students’ heritage languages and cultures are assets to focus on as deep knowledge, and something that can be built upon. Currently, about one in every ten students in US public schools is an emergent bilingual; that number is growing. Thanks to technological advancements, we can now use AI to help support bilingual and multilingual students. In fact, if you have a program that individualizes the student experience and provides data based on what learners have done online—or that pushes information to you in some other way—you’re probably already using AI in your classroom.

engine can “listen” as the learners talk and get to know the way they speak, including their individual accents. All this data can readily be pushed out to the educator in a usable and actionable way. In the best case, the AI should provide offline support in the form of standards-based lessons and help the educator group students according to their needs. 2. Helps educators prioritize instruction with current, accurate data. Teaching emergent bilinguals an entirely new language is not a “set it and forget it” exercise by any means. The data is constantly changing based on how the student progresses. Using an AI-enabled platform, educators, principals, and district leaders can all monitor how well this student demographic is doing. This is a far cry from the past, when educators had to wait for an annual language proficiency test to find out if a learner was making progress (or not). Now, they can log in and check progress year-round. Better yet, the embedded progress monitoring and offline resources help educators prioritize and target instruction to meet the individual needs of all the students. 3. Works in tandem with educators and their knowledge. Early on, there was concern over whether AI would somehow “replace’’ human beings. We’ve always known that when it comes to the classroom, there is no replacement for a human educator who understands the art of teaching and has the expertise and

Five Ways AI Promotes Equity and Supports Emergent Bilinguals Defined as a computer’s ability to complete tasks normally performed by humans, AI can be used to listen to speech and respond as well as to collect and aggregate data. Because AI also helps machines learn from experience and adjust to new inputs, it’s the perfect tool for helping emergent bilinguals in the classroom. Here are five ways that an AI-enabled language program helps promote equity and supports emergent bilingual students: 1. Continually adjusts to the students’ needs through personalization. Excellent AI will determine the language level of the student and start them on a pathway that meets them right where they are. The algorithm will systematically move the student along an upward trajectory of learning. However, if a student makes a mistake, there should be scaffolds in place to provide corrective feedback. The student experience should also be coded in a way that alerts the educator whenever a learner is facing difficulties. All activity that the learner engages in online (e.g., when the student speaks, makes selections via multiple choice, or inputs answers on a keyboard) should be captured as data for the educator. Using this data, the AI can continually learn and adjust to individual students. For example, a speech recognition

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

29

EDTECH deliver meaningful lessons.

skill set to make instructional decisions with the data that the AI is providing. In the best-case scenario, an equity-focused program will provide offline lessons that are connected to the online experience. It should also help educators continue the personalization in face-to-face environments by providing suggested groupings of students based on their online performance. Indeed, educators can use their discernment to

4. Provides speaking practice. Aided by AI, embedded speech recognition technology can be coded to listen to students and determine whether they’re mastering the language proficiency standard they’re being taught. This is important because other programs may only look at and factor in reading standards. While reading comprehension is a main goal, the fact is, oral language comprehension will set the foundation for both reading comprehension and proficiency in writing. Oral language is the bedrock for the other domains, and speaking practice is essential to oral language proficiency. 5. Embeds equity into the curriculum. At our company, we’re constantly thinking about how to proceduralize equity in the language-learning classroom. We spend time thinking about creating infrastructure around the concept of equity and how to embed equity into the curriculum versus having it just be an afterthought or an add-on. If we start from

this point of view, every subsequent decision will follow suit. One of the ways that we aim to proceduralize equity is through an algorithm that includes AI, speech recognition, human intelligence, and data. There’s More to Come At a fundamental level, AI uses computers and machines to mimic human decision-making, perception, and other processes needed to complete tasks. It also creates individualized learning pathways for students, gathers data on their performance, and presents that data to the educator in a way that makes sense. Artificial intelligence should also correlate and connect with the state standards and objectives, show educators what a student has mastered, and reveal what work still needs to be done. As we begin to see more AI make its way into educational technology, there’s no doubt that its positive impacts will continue to materialize—both for emergent bilinguals and for all learners. Maya Valencia Goodall, MEd, MA, is senior director of emergent bilingual curriculum at Lexia Learning (www.lexialearning.com).

Ready for an upgrade? Introducing EntreCulturas® Companion Reader Edition—the perfect blend of culture, literacy and technology!

Scan to learn more.

30

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

A powerful force for equitable, effective instruction. January 18–20, 2023 | Austin, Texas Featuring these leading experts:

Paula Maeker

Mike Mattos

Douglas Reeves

Katie White

Kenneth C. Williams

Nicole Dimich

Luis F. Cruz

Heather Friziellie

Jessica Djabrayan Hannigan

Sharroky Hollie

Keynote speakers

Gather your district and building administrators, along with new and veteran teachers and support staff, to understand how everyone plays a role in student success. Learn directly from experts and practitioners who have firsthand experience implementing the RTI at Work™ process. Engaging breakouts and keynotes will address how to: • Create and target time in your master schedule for interventions, intensive remediation, and extension

• Apply research-based behavior/SEL interventions

• Gain proven intervention strategies for math and literacy

• Teach students agency and ownership of their learning

• Acquire practical solutions to current roadblocks and challenges

• Effectively deal with resistance

SEATS FILL QUICKLY. CLAIM YOURS TODAY. at SolutionTree.com/RTIPLC2023 Need an option close to home? We’ve got you covered. Registration is now open for the Virtual Summit on RTI at Work. Accessible on any device, the virtual summit delivers all the quality content from our live event straight to your campus. February 21–23, 2023

Take part in the #1 PLC at Work® conference for educators

Achieve Equity. Elevate Learning. Phoenix, Arizona | February 28–March 2, 2023 Build and sustain a strong, collaborative PLC. This unique event brings together some of the brightest, most respected minds in education. You’ll hear dynamic keynotes and attend powerful breakouts designed to help infuse the PLC at Work® process into every aspect of your school or district. This is the one learning experience you won’t want to miss.

Featuring these leading experts:

Mike Mattos

Tina H. Boogren

Anthony Muhammad

Dylan Wiliam

Regina Stephens Owens

Hedreich Nichols

Luis F. Cruz

William M. Ferriter

Mario Acosta

Tom Schimmer

Tim Brown

Marcia L. Tate

Timothy D. Kanold

Keynote speakers

Who should attend? 

Teachers (elementary, secondary, and special education)



Curriculum directors



Instructional coaches



Principals and assistant principals



Superintendents and assistant superintendents



Professional learning directors

“Our district has invested in making PLCs happen throughout all schools. The keynotes and breakouts were excellent for our school team leaders to attend and continue to learn about the process.” —Josh Burton, secondary curriculum and instruction director, testing coordinator, Anderson School District 2, South Carolina

REGISTER TODAY SolutionTree.com/RTIPLC2023

Looking for a virtual summit experience? Join us April 11–13, 2023.

All Students Deserve a Bilingual Education BILINGUAL ED

Doris Chávez-Linville and Carol Johnson simplify the bilingual argument and suggest what’s needed to make bilingual education more widely available

34

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

E

xtensive research has proven the benefits of bilingual education for all students, not just English language learners.1 Both bilingual education and the research supporting it have been around for decades, but until recently, bilingual education has been very limited—and sometimes even discontinued because it takes time to see the results. The current dual language trend of English speakers learning another language (and learning in that language) has reinvigorated a focus on dual language and bilingual education,2 but to fully support all students, bilingual education must become a norm. What Is Bilingual Education?  Bilingual education is more or less what it sounds like: it’s an education in which two languages are commonly used in instruction. There are different types of programs across the US. Some distinguish between bilingual and dual language education based on the goal of the program. For example, in a bilingual transition program, the goal is to transition students to a fully English curriculum. In a dual language program, the goal is for students to develop literacy in two languages. For the purposes of this article, we will use bilingual and dual language interchangeably.

BILINGUAL ED

“When schools move to bilingual classrooms, these students suddenly have access to learning in the same way that all of their Englishspeaking peers do.”

Why Is Bilingual Education Better? If English were the only language you spoke and you took a class on chemistry offered only in German, you wouldn’t do very well. You’d probably pick up some information from familiar-sounding words and any images on the board—and maybe there would be a little math mixed in to give you some more clues—but it would be an uphill battle, and you’d likely be lost compared to your German-speaking classmates. To make matters worse, if your teacher only spoke German, you wouldn’t be able to ask questions. As a result, the teacher wouldn’t have the ability to discern what you were struggling with due to the language barrier and what you were struggling with conceptually.  Now imagine a different classroom with younger students. Imagine you are a child in that classroom just learning to read. You come to school with some English phrases or words you picked up from TV, neighbors, or other interactions. You also come with your home language, the one your parents and other relatives might use at home daily. But now you are asked to perform in a language you have yet to fully master. You are asked—

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

35

BILINGUAL ED

and at times required—to only use English. What is happening here? This new place you are excited about is not acknowledging a part of who you are, your home language. It’s as if it no longer matters. These are just two ways you can connect yourself to what an English language learner faces in one way or another when bilingual education is not provided. . Why Do These Examples Matter? When schools move to bilingual classrooms,

36

these students suddenly have access to learning in the same way that all of their English-speaking peers do. They stop being primarily English language learners—a designation that focuses on what they lack— and become emerging bilinguals, with all the strengths and promise of someone who already knows one language and is on their way to mastering a second. Let’s look at what this means for a student named Sofia. She will enter her school journey in a way that will leverage all that she knows, all of her experiences, her culture, her whole self. No longer will she find herself in a place of doubt or fear when responding to questions about what she knows, because she now has options. Sofia brings two languages to the classroom and will utilize both to learn and grow. From this vantage point, a teacher is able to see a student in a holistic way. This provides the teacher with a true understanding of the student’s strengths, as well as the opportunity to identify what areas need further support. Furthermore, the teacher can now make connections between the two languages, leveraging commonalities. Just imagine: embracing the whole child, the whole learner, the whole potential. What does the research say? Historically, emerging bilinguals tended to be the group of students who grew the least—not because they were incapable of growth, but because the focus was on their lack of English. However, research over the past 30 years has demonstrated that emerging bilinguals

languagemagazine.com

in bilingual programs achieve not just in one language but in two.3 What is even stronger is the generalizable longitudinal research by Collier and Thomas in 2017.4 Conducted in 36 school districts in 16 US states, with over 7.5 million student records analyzed, the research followed English learners (of all language backgrounds) in grades K–12. In fact, in English achievement, emergent bilinguals in two-way immersion programs performed at grade level (50th NCE) by fifth grade, while those in one-way immersion programs performed at grade level (50th NCE) by seventh grade. Continuing the development of first-language literacy significantly influences their high achievement in English compared to students receiving little or no primary language support.5 The research clearly shows the need to shift the way we think about emergent bilingual learners and the tools and data educators use to serve them. Our mindset should evolve from pointing out gaps in knowledge or skills in English to recognizing and celebrating the knowledge and skills students have in their home languages and the ways these can be used to promote learning. What Are the Barriers to Bilingual Education? Although the research is clear on what works for emergent bilinguals, 81% of these students receive instruction in English only, according to the US Department of Education. Knowing that it’s better for everyone, why isn’t bilingual education more widespread? There are several reasons: •

Funding—First, bilingual education is not more widespread due to a lack of money. In California, for example, former state superintendent of public instruction Tom Torlakson launched the Global California 2030 initiative, which aims to greatly expand the number of bilingual programs in California schools by 2030. That mandate is unfunded, however. In Texas, House Bill 3 focuses on dual language instruction. Yes, there is funding, but districts must have a minimum of 20 students to provide instruction in a language other than English. These are examples from the two states with the largest numbers of English language learners in the US. But there is hope, because there is money designated specifically for English language learners. Title 3 funding is the funding

October 2022

BILINGUAL ED districts are using to establish supports for these students, but it’s only meant to be used in programs for English proficiency. Districts can use other state funding, however, along with Title 3, to establish bilingual programs.6 •

Resources and materials in the paired language—For bilingual programs to be successful, teachers must have quality materials, assessments, and other tools to run a classroom in a language other than English. Further, materials should be designed with dual language instruction in mind. Students in bilingual programs are not two monolinguals in one body. Using tools and resources translated from English or developed for monolingual classrooms is not enough. But again, there is hope: Organizations and education companies are starting to research and invest in what truly works. Researchers are working to set a precedent with programs developed for bilingual education as districts are demanding quality materials for their students.

•

Bilingual/biliterate teachers with the appropriate background, who have received certification in bilingual education, have the linguistic and cultural understanding of what a dual language program entails. However, to have bilingual/biliterate teachers ready to support the growing numbers of programs across the nation, we need a strong pipeline that starts from the current bilingual programs in place. It is a cycle that we need to get ahead of, or we will continue to have to collaborate with other countries to bring teachers to the US to fill the need.

The research behind bilingual education has been around for half a century. Biliteracy is an asset to our students’ lives, families, and communities and to the US as a whole. It’s better for our students and it’s better for our future. The time to put it into wide practice is now. Links 1. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC6168086

2. www.dlenm.org/who-we-are/what-is-dual-language-education 3. www.gocabe.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Online-Version-ME2020-v2.pdf 4. www.thomasandcollier.com/articles 5. https://static1.squarespace.com/ static/5d854ac170e64a71d1de71d3/t/5d9cb55f26d64b44562c6069/1570551181085/ ARAL+2017+%28typed%29.PDF 6. www.berkeleyschools.net/wp-content/ uploads/2011/10/TWIAstounding_Effectiveness_Dual_Language_Ed.pdf?864d7e 7. https://in.nau.edu/wp-content/uploads/ sites/135/2018/08/Two-way-Immersionek.pdf Doris Chávez-Linville, MSEd, is the director of linguistic and culturally diverse innovation at Renaissance. She can be reached at doris. [email protected]. Carol Johnson, PhD, is the international education officer at Renaissance. She can be reached at [email protected].

January 28 - 31, 2023 • Columbus, OH

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

37

Portuguese FOCUS

Why Learn Portuguese

P

and is currently taught at US Army and US Air Force military academies. Portuguese makes sense in the global economy. Brazil’s sheer size, large and dynamic economy—the ninth largest in the world—and 200-million-strong population make it a major destination for many international companies. It is an agriculture and commodities powerhouse, ranking as the world’s top exporter of coffee, soybeans, sugar, and orange juice. It is also a major producer of automobiles, textiles, computers, aircraft, and footwear and is the twelfth-largest trading partner of the US. Only a small percentage of Brazilians speak English, so knowledge of Portuguese is essential to working there. Knowledge of Portuguese is a rare World Languages Week, and marketable skill Oct. 17-21, is a virtual global among Americans A Global Career Expo l're�ented by CULTR career expo that brings together OCTOBER 17-21, 2022 that will make representatives from diverse individuals stand out to potential industries to connect with Register Here! employers. While students about the global skills interest in Portuguese essential to their industries. is on the rise and enrollment increased by 10% between 2009 and 2015, fewer than 12,500 college students were enrolled in Portuguese language studies in 2015. Moreover, Brazil is known to have CENTER FOR low levels of English URBAN LANGUAGE language skills, another advantage TEACHING & RESEARCH for speakers of Portuguese who are interacting with Brazilians. Learn More at For many https://cultr.gsu.edu/world-languages-week students of African descent,

ortuguese is the official language of eight countries (Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé e Príncipe) and is also widely spoken in the Asian countries of Macau and Gao. It is the sixth most widely spoken language in the world, with more than 230 million speakers. There is a large community of Portuguese and Brazilian immigrants in the US: the 2010 Census reports approximately 336,000 Brazilian-born residents. Portuguese language skills are highly prized by the US government—it is considered a preferred language by the National Security Education Program (NSEP)

,s�

GeorgiaState llriivers1ry.

38

CULTR

languagemagazine.com

learning Brazilian Portuguese is especially significant. The African influence in Brazilian Portuguese is easy to notice in vocabulary, and, along with the native Brazilian influence, is the main reason for the phonetic differences from European Portuguese. However, phonetics is only a small detail when we take into account the richness of the cultural influence of African traditions, religions, and cosmovision.

October 2022

Scholarships and Grants to Study Portuguese

THE BILINGUAL AUTHORIZATION PROGRAMS

AT WHITTIER COLLEGE

Joseph Adams Senior Scholarship Information for 2022 will be available in October (deadline: Dec. 8, 2022). Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (SHH) is an honor society for high school students enrolled in Spanish and/or Portuguese, sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP). Each year the SHH awards scholarships in the amounts of $2,000 and $1,000 to graduating senior-class members of SHH who have shown evidence of high achievement in Portuguese or Spanish throughout high school. Only one application per chapter will be accepted. The society offers scholarships to high school members for university studies and travel to Spanish-speaking countries, as well as honoraria and possible publication in Albricias. www.aatspshh.org/student-scholarships Camões – Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, I. P. Scholarship Program Camões, I.P., a Portuguese public institute, offers several scholarships for both academic-year and summer-session study of Portuguese language and culture at approved institutions. www.instituto-camoes.pt/en/activity-camoes/what-we-do/ scholarships/scholarships-camoes-i-p National PALCUS Scholarships (and partial list of external awards) The Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the United States offers an annual $1,000 award to students of Portuguese ancestry. The council has also compiled on their site a partial list of other organizations that offer ancestry-based awards to PortugueseAmerican students. https://accessscholarships.com/scholarship/palcus-nationalscholarship-program

Train online and earn certification to teach high levels of academic biliteracy in K-12 dual language settings

AVAILABLE PROGRAMS Credential + Bilingual Authorization Master of Arts + Bilingual Authorization Bilingual Authorization for Post-Credential Educators

$819 PER UNIT Bilingual authorization courses now available online

Portuguese Fraternal Society of America (PFSA) Scholarships PFSA offers academic scholarships to offset university tuition for society members as well as residents of Humboldt County, CA. www.mypfsa.org/scholarship/#

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

WHITTIER.EDU/BILINGUAL 39

FOCUS

National Teach Portuguese Week Renato Alvim and Rachel Mamiya Hernandez explain why the celebration counts

T

oward

the end of 2019, on the heels of the success of the American

40

Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese’s (AATSP’s) inaugural National Teach Spanish Day, Rachel Mamiya Hernandez— then Portuguese representative to the board of directors—was tasked with planning an equivalent day for Portuguese. In pondering the differences between the contexts of teaching Spanish in the US (the most widely studied language other than English, over 41 million speakers, robust representation of programs from pre-K–16+) and teaching Portuguese in the US (a less commonly taught language, around one million speakers nationwide, a patchwork of elementary and secondary programs with a slightly higher concentration of programs in higher education), she realized that we really needed more than a day to help spotlight and bring attention to the teaching and learning of Portuguese and to celebrate the diverse cultures of Lusofonia (the Portuguese-speaking world). With that, she came up with the idea not to celebrate National Teach Portuguese Day but rather to commemorate National Teach Portuguese Week. In early 2020, Rachel met with Luis Gonçalves, president of the American Organization of Teachers of Portuguese (AOTP), and Célia Bianconi, then chair of the ACTFL Portuguese SIG. They both responded to the idea with enthusiasm, and they collectively decided on the first week of November as the date. Little did we know about the ensuing challenges the coming year would bring. While the pandemic muted celebrations a bit, during the first week in November 2020, the AATSP helped celebrate the first National Teach Portuguese Week (NTPW). On Nov. 5, 2020, as part of the week’s celebrations, the AATSP with support from the National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) hosted its first-ever webinar exclusively for Portuguese teachers, Práticas Inovadoras no Ensino de Português, with the presentations “Two Teachers in One: Creating Fun and Easy Videos to Target Specific Language

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

FOCUS

Structures,” by Jéssica Martinelli Bell’Aver, Bluffdale Elementary School, and “The Development of an Inclusionary Open Textbook for Portuguese,” by Eduardo Viana da Silva, University of Washington. In 2021, NTPW celebrations continued both online and with in-person events with our new Portuguese representative, Renato Alvim. Universities like Indiana University celebrated NTPW with a series of events from November 1–5: “A Conversation about the Current State of the Amazon and Indigenous Populations in Brazil” with anthropologist Professor Eduardo Brondizio; a booth with information, cultural demonstrations, and fun facts about the Portuguese language; and a Portuguese hotspot at the IU First Thursday Festival. The AATSP hosted two special webinars that week. One, Perspectivas de Futuros Profissionais da Língua Portuguesa, focused on the experiences of graduate students who were studying to become Portuguese language teachers. It featured AATSP Graduate Student Day competition winner Marcela Lemos, from Indiana University, Bloomington, and Mariana Oliveira, from University of Wisconsin, both working on their PhDs degrees. Events like this one are so vital when we consider the importance of maintaining the pipeline and cultivating future language-teaching professionals. Our second online panel, Perspectivas de Professores de Língua Portuguesa nos Contextos K–12, featured K–12 Portuguese language teachers from across the country, including Jéssica Martinelli Bell’Aver, Bluffdale Elementary School, Bluffdale, Utah; Fabiana Hansen, Hidden Valley Middle School, Bluffdale, Utah; Bruna Alcaraz, Dallas Independent School District, Dallas, Texas; and Lisa DaCunha Machnik, Somerville School District, Somerville, Massachusetts. In 2022, the tradition of celebrating National Teach Portuguese Week in the US at Portuguese-teaching institutions will include various activities that focus on diversity and inclusion, such as panels on language inclusion, incorporating Luso-African and Afro-Brazilian cultures, and the promotion of Portuguese language studies through internationalization of university programs and collaborations abroad. With over 230 million speakers worldwide, Portuguese ranks among the top ten most widely spoken languages in the world, yet it remains on the fringes of world language education, representing less than 1% of world language enrollments in higher education institutions in the US (Looney and Lucin, 2018). Nevertheless, there are some areas of notable expansion; in the most recent survey of elementary- and secondary-level programs, there were over 8,700 K–12 students learning Portuguese in the US, with notable program expansions in states like Massachusetts and Utah (UGA Portuguese Flagship, 2016).

October 2022

This said, our profession still faces several hurdles, perhaps most notably the lack of National Board certification and, in many states, the absence of licensure programs for teachers of Portuguese. If we as language-teaching professionals truly support equity, diversity, and inclusion, we must do all that we can to ensure that teachers of less commonly taught languages and Indigenous languages have access to national and state certifications and licensures. While it is important to celebrate Portuguese and the diverse cultures of the Portuguese-speaking world both at home and abroad, it is also equally important to shed light on the issues many in our profession face. References Looney, D., and Lucin, N. (2018). “Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Summer 2016 and Fall 2016: Preliminary Report.” Modern Language Association. University of Georgia Portuguese Flagship (2016). National Survey of Portuguese Programs. www.portflagship.org/survey-of-programs Dr. Renato Alvim, associate professor at University of California Stanislaus, is AATSP’s Portuguese representative. Rachel Mamiya Hernandez, professor of Portuguese, Spanish, and Latin American and Iberian studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, is AATSP president.

DISCOVER THE MISSING LINK in Your Dual Language Instruction! Program authors Dr. Sandra Mercuri and Vivian Pratts invite you to engage your emerging bilinguals with Biliteracy para todos™ — a standards-based, uniquely designed program carefully crafted for English-Spanish instruction targeting language, content, and translanguaging practices.

™

Support students across three developmental stages of biliteracy: • Early Biliteracy / Biliteracidad temprana • Developing Biliteracy / Biliteracidad en desarrollo • Advanced Biliteracy / Biliteracidad avanzada

okapi

Early Biliteracy / Biliteracidad temprana

educational publishing

Advanced Biliteracy / Biliteracidad avanzada — Available Now! Contact your local Okapi representative for more information, or request your free sample

by contacting us at [email protected]

languagemagazine.com

41

EQUITY

Pass the Mic edited by Ayanna Cooper Revolutionizing Language Acquisition Programs through Leadership Coaching

Ayanna Cooper interviews Rachelle Nelson about her role coaching school leaders who serve multilingual learners Q: Tell us about yourself, your background and language history. Rachelle: As a Black and Latina woman with Native American roots and an urban upbringing, I learned early on the injustices my people faced in acquiring access and opportunities for advancement. Language was a focal point in my life. On my mother’s side, my family spoke Spanish, English, and what we referred to as Spanglish, a combination of English and Spanish. On my father’s side, I came to learn that Black communities had their own dialects of the English language. While in elementary school, I was discouraged from bringing Spanglish or other ways of communicating I learned from my father’s side into the classroom, or even from using them during supervised play. None of my peers were encouraged to speak Spanish or any version of English that was not mainstreamed. I came to realize as a young girl that those who did not speak English the way it had been deemed correct were treated differently. When I entered middle school, I noticed my peers who spoke languages other than English were in different classes, and by high school, many of my peers who were not fluent in English were found in the corner of my general education classrooms, quietly sitting alone, not engaged in the content or by the teacher. Q: Tell us about your career as an educator. Rachelle: After beginning my teaching

42

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

EQUITY

career, returning to serve communities that I grew up in, I found policies for multilingual learners (MLLs) had made some progress. However, they had not changed much in the quality of programming. Years later, I moved into leadership positions such as team lead and, soon after, coordinator. When the opportunity became available to provide resources for MLLs, programming still seemed mediocre and mainly consisted of assessment compliance with little to no progress monitoring in between students’ initial placements and their annual language assessments.

most marginalized students in need of support and supporting them to take the necessary steps to improve student outcomes. This focus has been the core of my career. Years ago, I saw MLLs at my school, where I taught and served as an administrator, in similar conditions as I had experienced as a student decades prior. It was apparent then, as it is apparent now, that language-acquisition programs need to be revolutionized to better serve students, using innovative methods that engage students in acquiring English while honoring their home languages and cultures.

you seen good examples of technology that supports English language acquisition?

Q: How have those experiences contributed to your ability to coach other educators?

Q: I couldn’t agree more! Yes to revolutionizing language programs. For instance, during the pandemic we saw a number of issues with distant, online, and virtual English language instruction. Have

Q: How do you encourage educators you coach to think creatively about their language programs?

Rachelle: I help them by identifying the

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

Rachelle: Yes, I have observed a number of exemplary instructional practices using technology in English language programs. Assuring that instruction offers practice and application that includes all language domains can be challenging at first but soon becomes the expectation. It starts by thinking about instruction in innovative and unconventional ways—not simply using technology for the sake of using technology.

Rachelle: Educators I have coached, and

43

EQUITY colleagues across the nation with limited funding, have created progress-monitoring structures with goal setting alongside their students. They have learned how to engage students in a meaningful way in order to best support them. Students who previously lacked understanding of their language classification, and thus its meaning, now had clarity on their language-acquisition levels. They equally had agency in creating a road map for advancement and/or to become redesignated—and finally to have potential to graduate high school, college, and career ready, including with a Seal of Biliteracy. Q: That sounds like you help them to use various data points, is that correct? Rachelle: Yes, formal and informal data must be collected, analyzed, and prioritized. Student demographic data, student goal setting, annual English language proficiency scores, graduation rates, attendance, and school climate survey results are some of the data that I coach school leaders around. All of these pieces must be brought to the

table as part of our coaching conversations. We also include stakeholders as part of our storytelling in an effort to be transparent. We have to ask and seek answers to questions that can tell us what the data means, what the data includes and does not include, and most importantly, whether the data tells the story that we expect it to. If not, what will we do about it? Q: Nice! I’m sure stakeholders appreciate understanding these data stories. What recommendations do you have for the field? Rachelle: As we see an increase in multilingual learners in school systems across the nation, we must get to know our students and the cultures they come from in order to better meet their needs. While many schools have an English learner plan, and it appears to meet the basic requirements on paper, it doesn’t mean that it is advancing English language acquisition. Furthermore, there is no one-size-fits-all program model, so this is why we must listen to learn from the students directly.

I propose a call to action for all educators and school leaders to think innovatively about the linguistic diversity of the multilingual learners they are tasked to serve. We need all educators to understand that students who are learning English as a new language deserve a quality education across all content areas, one that is comparable to that of their native-Englishspeaking peers. I ask school leaders to reimagine how they support the teachers who serve these students and employ school and district leaders to make highquality language-acquisition programming a priority in their schools and districts. For two decades, Rachelle Nelson has been involved in education reform to create innovative pathways to equitable conditions for Black and Brown communities. Rachelle has served as a community engagement champion with a focus on elevating underrepresented voices. She has experience as a general and special education teacher, director of student support services, principal, leadership coach, and chief academic officer.

Scan and register in 1 minute!

Leadership Curriculum with Proven Results

JOIN OVER 17,000 EDUCATORS AND MORE THAN 2 MILLION STUDENTS > Leadership lessons with a community service framework > Supported by evidence-based research > ELA/Reading Alignment and STEAM Alignment Guides available > Grades 6–12

“I am wondering what took me so long to utilize the Lead4Change program, it is truly a gift for me and my students.” KRISTINE • TEACHER • HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOL • CHANDLER, AZ

FREE! Get started today. Lead4Change.org/LM 44

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

l r o W AW w hole Ne

f o d

e g a u g n La Curriculum Story Books DVDs

SPANISH

Music Activity Books

FRENCH

Games

MANDARIN and many more!

Language Learning Software Let us find the best products for YOUR needs. Use the code LangMagAd for free ground shipping through 11/15/2022.

P.O. Box 13092 Atlanta, GA 30324-0092

(800) 729-3703 • (404) 233-4042

www.wor.com

Winning Home Games HERITAGE LANGUGAES

Selena Cabral, Gina Garza-Reyna, and Dulce I. Niño introduce five easy games and activities that help raise a bilingual child

T

o help encourage parents to raise bilingual children, you need a plan in place that is delivered with consistency. Not all homes are the same. Therefore, each family should devise a plan that best suits its unique household makeup. Of course, a good first step when beginning the journey of raising a bilingual child is to seek advice from seasoned parents who have successfully walked down the path. However, scholars and practitioners also can provide sound advice and tips on getting started. As current practitioners working in elementary bilingual classrooms, we are familiar with the process of learning a language and often are asked by parents for ideas and suggestions, thus the inspiration for this article. To begin, let’s establish what being labeled bilingual actually means. The most common understanding is that an individual is bilingual when they can speak in two different languages. However, the consensus in the realm of bilingual education is that bilingualism exists on a continuum and all levels of language proficiency should be celebrated. It’s natural for a child to develop

46

a bit more proficiency in one language than the other. A child may even prefer one language over the other, even though they have developed all four language domains (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) in both languages. In order for a child to be bilingual, though, and placed anywhere on the bilingual continuum, parents have to make the initial decision of how exactly to go about exposing their child to the languages. Ideally, there are two choices for parents: sequential or simultaneous. Simultaneous bilingualism means that both languages are acquired at the same time, and sequential means that one language is acquired before the other (Baker and Wright, 2017). Both can work; it is just a matter of deciding what works best for the family in particular and deciding on a language system. Language-Learning Options A family language system not only helps provide structure but also regulates language exposure and ensures equality among the two languages the child is learning. We

languagemagazine.com

suggest one of the following two: one language, one environment (OLOE) or one parent, one language (OPOL) (Cunningham, 2011). OPOL requires each parent to select one language they will speak to the child. For example, Mom will speak English to the child, but Dad strictly speaks Cantonese. This method will allow for the child to be able to practice both languages and associate each parent with one of the languages, thus limiting confusion. One caution, though: stick to the structure. It is very easy for parents to switch languages and give a child unequal exposure, resulting in limited use of one language. In OLOE, most parents will require the child to speak one language at home and only allow for the second language to be spoken in other settings (i.e., school, the park, church). This will allow parents to help develop a language that is not widely available to the child in their community. For example, if you live in a community that is dominant in English (i.e., businesses, billboards, radio, movies are in English), then reserving only the second language for strict use at home can make sure the child gets

October 2022

HERITAGE LANGUGAES

exposure to it and uses it. Of course, it is important to research all the methods that can be used to best help with your family’s needs. But once a decision is made—commit. Language Development Research has shown that a new language can be introduced at any age. Of course, it is never too late to learn a new language, but it also is never too early. Children begin to learn the language that surrounds them from the day that they are born. In fact, as early as ten months old, babies begin to learn and recognize the different sounds associated with each language. According to Poarch and Krott (2019), early exposure to another language can cause changes to take place within regions of a child’s

October 2022

brain. Supported by the work of Grundy, Anderson, and Bialystok (2017), they observed through electroencephalography (EEG) that the brains of monolinguals and bilinguals work differently, providing for them an academic advantage in addition to the social benefits. In fact, bilingual children often perform two to three grade levels above their monolingual peers (Thomas and Collier, 2004). With very young children, language acquisition can be facilitated through interaction and play. A child can begin to pick up language through activities that involve rhymes, lullabies, poems, and games. Using Games Children first begin to use language as a way to socially interact with others. If we

languagemagazine.com

add play to that, it’s a double win for the child. They are not only acquiring language but also participating in social activities that help them develop cognitively, physically, and emotionally. Play and its effectiveness have been documented substantially (Jimenez, 2015). Here are five games that can be modified to the child’s age and can be done at home or in an early childhood classroom. Game 1: Story Monster Story Monster is a short story reading game which can be altered to fit different age groups. Using index cards, write short stories and place them in a box. Shake the box and pick out one index card at a time. Depending on the child’s age, the story can be read to them or the child can read

47

HERITAGE LANGUGAES it. On the back of the index card, questions can be written regarding the story, which will help the child recall events or details from it. The stories can be written in the language(s) used at home. Decorate your box to look like the child’s favorite monster and you’ll entice them to play as they reach into the monster’s mouth to pull out the cards. Tip: If the child masters this quickly, try placing story starters on the cards instead and have the child come up with their own story. For example, “I was outside playing in my backyard when I heard a sound. I looked around and...” Game 2: Vocabulary Squares Vocabulary Squares is a board game that reviews age-appropriate vocabulary words with the child. The parent or teacher can use vocabulary words from home or school to fill in the blanks in the board game. For example, if playing using words from home, adding garage, smoke alarm, cabinet, sidewalk, and foyer would be appropriate. This helps students properly identify objects while expanding vocabulary. A two-anda-half-year-old who knows smoke alarm is

much more impressive than one who calls it the “beep beep,” right? The rules can be modified to fit the child’s age. Player One (the adult) and Player Two (the child) will need to roll foam dice and move their object however many squares the dice indicate. The child must then give an oral definition of the word, draw a picture, or even use their own body to explain the vocabulary word as best they can. Tip: If the child is unable to provide a definition, the adult can use the opportunity to review the word with the child and build the understanding of that particular vocabulary word. Game 3: Fishing for Sounds Fishing for Sounds is a great activity that allows children not only to practice their sounds but also to recognize them among other sounds while using their motor skills. The adult can create index cards with three- to four-lettered words with one letter bolded and underlined and picture cards that demonstrate the words’ meanings. The child will draw a picture and then pick the appropriate letter(s) from the pond using the

Photo: example of fishing for Sounds game

fishing rod. The adult can focus on initial or ending sounds and have the child say the sound(s) after they are retrieved from the pond. Tip: Change the words and cards often. You do not want the child to memorize the content, but rather to authentically be able to identify it. Also do not mix languages while playing. Do the activity in one language, then later in the week do it in the other. Game 4: Do You Have? Do You Have? is a game that requires children to use adjectives to describe a picture. The pictures can be created by parents or even the child. The parent can model how to use descriptive language first so the child can get the gist of the activity. Don’t be afraid to aid the child in the beginning if needed with prompting questions such as: Do you do have an idea what this is? Is it big or small compared to this other object? Do you have any ideas on what other words we can use to describe this? You can easily adapt this game by using family pictures so that the child not only learns the names of extended family but also practices their oral language—a key building block to vocabulary, reading, and reading comprehension. Don’t be afraid to expand, using pictures of places or things the child interacts with or visits frequently (e.g., the family dog, the grocery store, the park). Tip: Like the previous activity, do this in one language. You can alternate turns with the child if the goal is to develop two languages at home.

48

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

HERITAGE LANGUGAES

“When activities and games are integrated into the daily life of a child, they can gain vocabulary, skills in problem solving and multitasking, and creativity.” Game 5: Constructing Words Constructing Words is a game that can easily be modified to each child’s level. This activity involves having the child locate individual sounds and place them in order using a Lego base as a model. For school-age children, this activity can be used as a way to review their spelling words for the week or words they may be having trouble with. Once the child is able to recognize sounds, they can then be dictated a word and using a dry-erase marker can write the word on the Lego base. After, the child can proceed to find the individual Legos to construct the word on top on the base and can orally say each letter. Tip: If the child is below three years old, start with their name and the names of family members. Then expand to words they use frequently (e.g., food, play, dog, toys). If the child is school age, this is a great time to begin reviewing high-frequency words or word families.

Activities in Bilingual Speakers.” International Journal of Bilingualism, 19(3), 259–281. Poarch, G. J., and Krott, A. (2019). “Bilingual Advantage? An appeal for a change in perspective and recommendations for future research.” Behavioral Sciences, 9(9), 95. Collier, V. P., and Thomas, W. P. (2004).” The Astounding Effects of Dual Language Education for All.” NABE Journal of Research, 2(1), 1–20. Selena Cabral is currently pursuing her master’s degree in bilingual education at Texas A&M University–Kingsville. Selena has a passion for working with language learners and has experience working as a teacher’s aide in elementary bilingual classrooms where the language focus is English:Spanish. Gina Garza-Reyna, EdD, is an associate professor at Texas A&M University–Kingsville, where she teaches courses in bilingual education. Prior to working at TAMU-K, Dr. Garza-Reyna worked as a bilingual classroom teacher and public school administrator. She continues to work with districts across the US, training and coaching teachers in dual language education. Dulce I. Niño received her master’s in bilingual education from Texas A&M University–Kingsville in the spring of 2022. Currently, she is a bilingual math classroom teacher in a public school in Texas. Prior experience includes working with bilingual students ranging from first grade to fifth grade.

The few games presented here are just the tip of the iceberg to get you started, perhaps even to inspire you to create more games and activities of your own. It’s important to remember that what works for one child may not work for another. It’s okay to assess and adapt to meet the needs and interests of the child. Exposure to different languages will not affect a child’s learning ability or cause them to fall behind academically. On the contrary, it is giving them a linguistic and academic edge. When activities and games are integrated into the daily life of a child, they can gain vocabulary, skills in problem solving and multitasking, and creativity. References Baker, C., and Wright, W. E. (2017). Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (6th Ed). Multilingual Matters. Cunningham, U. (2011). Growing Up with Two Languages: A Practical Guide for the Bilingual Family (3rd Ed). Routledge. Grundy, J. G., Anderson, J. A. E., and Bialystok, E. (2017). “Bilinguals Have More Complex EEG Brain Signals in Occipital Regions Than Monolinguals.” NeuroImage, 159(1), 280–288. Jiménez, A. F. (2015). “Private Speech During Problem-Solving

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

49

Making Learning Fun Matters LITERACY

Randi Economou says the key to inspiring and improving learning is making sure students and teachers are engaged and enjoying what they’re doing

W

hile I still had a passion for teaching and working with students, I had the opportunity to have a broader impact taking on a position leading teacher professional learning for a start-up. I made the decision to leave the classroom, even though it meant taking a pay cut. I made the move because I believed that helping teachers make better

USE PROMO CODE OCT22

50

use of technology would make learning more fun, accessible, and enduring for everyone.

More Potential and More Accountability Early in my teaching career, resources were limited. We didn’t even have access to a full set of classroom textbooks. I learned early on that I needed to leverage technology to find and curate media and other resources to engage my students—this was the medium that they embraced and understood. In a very real sense, technology made it possible for me to do my job and connect in meaningful ways. My eagerness to use it also made me the “cool” teacher whom students were excited Scarlett Lewis (Founder) to spend time with The Jesse Lewis Choose because they knew Love Movement they were going to Building a culture of love, resilience, get to engage and forgiveness, and connection in our collaborate using fun communities at a time when it is tools, and nothing needed the most. engages students in learning like fun. When we implement intentional, Further, evidence-based, research-backed technology also has SEL practices we are laying a strong foundation for our students’ the potential to save current and future achievements. teachers time by automating certain tasks, making it SCAN to register now for the SEL so much easier to Vision Summit, November 3, 2022! differentiate and

languagemagazine.com

personalize learning for individual students and to find a wealth of resources that connect more deeply with specific students. As a result of the pandemic and the shift to remote learning that was necessitated around the country, much of that potential and demand for 1:1 computing has been realized more quickly. Technology has penetrated much more deeply into schools, and that’s great, but it has also come with more demands on teachers that I didn’t have to face when I was in the classroom, including a greater amount of accountability. Teaching is among the highest callings, and many teachers pour so much of themselves into their students and their work. But the demands on teachers have expanded beyond what they were a couple of decades ago and even just a few years ago. Many teachers, including myself, entered the profession to make a difference and to have a profound impact on each student. I still believe that when students know how much you care and learning is meaningful, they will rise to achieve success that lasts beyond a single test measure. While accountability is good and necessary, we have seen a greater emphasis on assessments, and standards have become more rigorous over the years. But there’s a new kind of accountability that’s a little more difficult to see from outside the classroom. When I was a teacher, we often had to wait for test scores to come back from district or state assessments before we had real information about student learning to work with. Now teachers have real-time data that’s coming to them all the time, like a flood. It’s great that they have the current

October 2022

data to act upon, but it also creates a ton of pressure to differentiate for each student right now. There’s a lot of power in having the data, but it also causes things to move so much faster than when I was a teacher. To me, right now seems like an exciting time to be a teacher, but I also want to honor the labor educators are doing because all this excitement and potential is coming atop a great deal of stress, uncertainty, and really hard work. Return to Fun Rich standards and real-time data are here to stay, even if they bring some headaches along with their improvements. Based on my decades of experience at edtech companies, I know we can’t change that. What we can do is make the classroom more engaging and fun for teachers and students. Sometimes fun is the only thing that will break through and motivate a student to learn. Making learning fun can help children think outside the box or bring about curiosity. I’ve heard it said that students do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. When I brought fun into my classroom, I saw my students’ stress levels come down, and they felt more at ease to learn and retain skills. As a language arts teacher, I think of all the students I’ve come across who never truly became readers until they found something they loved reading about, something they had fun reading about. Once you get a reluctant reader into a book about robots or baseball or horses—whatever it is that kid loves—they become a voracious reader and consumer of learning. They learn to read for pleasure and interest and not as a chore or to prepare for the test. Students need to find meaning in what they’re reading, and then they will fall in love with it. The same thing is true of learning more broadly. Help students find meaning in what they are learning, and they will fall in love with the process of becoming a committed, lifelong learner. To get to that meaning, we must make learning fun for students. However, to do so we need to create that strong foundation first. Every child has an innate desire to have fun, and they will work hard to do so. If we make learning fun, they will work just as hard for that as for any other kind of fun. I believe that even in my current role as CEO of Capstone, I can help build capacity and engage our team in fun, which in turn has an impact on the students and educators we serve. Randi Economou originally joined Capstone in 2010 and served as the vice president of the west for seven years. In July 2022, she returned to Capstone as chief executive officer. Beginning her career as an educator and staying true to her passion for teaching and learning, Randi has dedicated her career to advocating for lifelong learning opportunities for all children. She has held a variety of leadership positions at TeachMaster Technologies, PLATO Learning, myON, and most recently Renaissance. Randi holds an undergraduate degree in English and she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Master of Education from Grand Canyon University. She can be reached at [email protected].

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

51

The Science of the Bilingual Reading Brain and the Great Oracy Debate BILITERACY

Alexandra Guilamo stresses the importance of purposeful oracy

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

53

L

et me just come right out and say it. Improving biliteracy outcomes is complicated. Why? Because we educators still want to see reading and dynamic bilingualism as separate entities rather than interdependent processes. Although these processes happen in the brain, it’s the world that shapes them. Their complexity is compounded by the subtle nuances of the many program models used by schools to serve the interests of distinct student populations. However, understanding the science of the bilingual reading brain—which reflects current research, theories, and methods that give dual language (DL) and emergent bilingual (EB) students a biliterate advantage—has provided substantial evidence for how to improve instruction for dual language and emergent bilingual students. But even before understanding research about the bilingual reading brain, educators must understand that, for DL students to be successful, DL classrooms need to be purposeful and focused on all aspects of biliterate reading instruction, even those that do not commonly exist in the typical, monolingual classroom. Understanding that DL classrooms are not monolingual is fundamental for educators to find relevance and urgency in the decades of research highlighting how monolingual approaches fail to produce high achievement for DL and EB students.

Dual Language Data Framework

54

®

The Great Oracy Debate DL and EB students are more successful at becoming biliterate when instruction is matched to approaches, methods, and strategies that have been validated by research as improving biliterate outcomes. To ensure this match, the schools we serve must include oracy, transfer, word recognition, and linguistic comprehension, or O x T x C x D = R2 (Guilamo, 2021). Despite having these scientific models for biliteracy, many DL programs face countless barriers in aligning instruction to research relevant to improving biliterate outcomes. For some, these barriers stimulate questions that help them organize time and coordinate instruction across both program languages. It is a response to research that moves them toward their equity and biliteracy goals. Yet not all districts with DL and EB programs have been open to relevant and trustworthy research when it indicates a need for oracy and transfer—because these areas mostly live outside the typical, monolingual perspective of what the science of reading must be. But therein lies the conundrum—DL and EB classrooms are not typical or monolingual. DL programs haven’t produced higher bilingual and biliterate outcomes by using research on what works in monolingual classrooms because not all of it is relevant. While much has been written about the science-based need for transfer (Guilamo, 2022), oracy hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. Oracy is one aspect of oral language development. It’s part of the foundation needed for EB and DL success with reading words and reading comprehension (Pollard-Durodola et al., 2006). It’s also a critical practice for building affirmed identities and required for developing metalinguistic awareness. Oracy is not simply time to turn and talk. It requires purposeful planning of objectives, collaborative structures, coordinated scaffolds, and strategies that engage and develop students’ use of vocabulary, language structures, and linguistic patterns. So why is oracy necessary if science has confirmed that all brains act the same regardless of language (Malik-Moraleda et al., 2022)?

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

BILITERACY Neurocognitive Science, Oracy Practice, and Print Literacy Learning DL, EB, and monolingual students all read and process language by activating the same parts of the brain. These brain areas are responsible for the same functions and include the angular gyrus, which coordinates with other areas to understand the words and concepts communicated; Broca’s area, which is key in expressing language; and Wernicke’s area, which is crucial in making meaning of language and sense of syntax (Siddiqui et al., 2008). Together, these areas of the brain (along with the hippocampus, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and more) integrate each encounter with language to form a dynamic network of words, linguistic features, tones, and other patterns that get used to understand and communicate the ideas that students will encounter in texts. However, language (like the language used in books) is not just about the patterns and features we put together when we communicate. In 1894, the author, poet, and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes stated, “language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.” And it appears that brain neuroimaging confirms his statement. The more oral language students can access and use, the more their language networks flow. And the more these networks grow, the better students can express their ideas and learning. While the same areas of the brain shape language networks, there are differences in the distinct patterns, words, and rules for communication across languages and cultures. Oracy, Word Recognition, and the Science of the Bilingual Brain A lifetime of events, memories, social interactions, and repeated encounters with language creates the language network that maps predictable patterns for how language works. These networks are road maps that guide students (via “whispers”) on what to do with words, how to approach sentences, or how to decipher other language patterns. When students see language patterns in texts already in their road maps—regardless of the language used to map them—they become available resources that help inform the students. Oftentimes, this crosslanguage “whisper” accelerates biliterate results, like when Spanish-speaking students recognize the word lamp the first time they see it in English because the word lampara

October 2022

is already mapped in Spanish. Teaching students to attend to and use these crosslinguistic connections changes the structure of this language network by linking the patterns shared across languages to what already exists in the road map (Guilamo, 2022). Research indicates that even crosslanguage patterns that are different and don’t easily connect to students’ existing languages will still whisper to students what they should do (Abutalebi et al., 2008). After all, the existing language map of a Haitian-Creole student, for example, is still their brain’s most predictable resource for interpreting new words in English. These patterns and rules that shape linguistic road maps play a critical role in decoding words (Melby-Lervåg and Lervåg, 2011). The evidence consistently shows significant cross-language effects on phonological awareness (Gottardo, 2002; Yan, Siegel, and Wade-Woolley, 2001). What students remember or where they have been guided from their language road map affects how they make sense of all letter–sound relationships. Take the words dip and deep. Many Spanish-speaking EBs produce the same

languagemagazine.com

/ee/ sound for both medial vowels. This is not an error. It indicates the brilliant bilingual brain using its language road map to figure out how to use an unfamiliar word that includes familiar letters, despite them reading in English. Phonetics gets the silent treatment in many science of reading conversations, even though it plays an essential role in DL and EB students’ success. Phonetics is the ability to perceive and produce sounds and speech and can easily be included in oracy instruction. I always remember the influence of cross-language whispering when I observe students trying to navigate the letter–sound relationship produced by sh and ch. It’s not that these sounds are inherently complex. Rather, when many Spanish-speaking students read or hear those two sounds, they often find the difference between them difficult to perceive. While I have not yet found conclusive evidence, one reason could be the language road map’s process of whispering overgeneralized information from Spanish about what to do with sh in English, since that digraph doesn’t exist in the network’s resources. This makes it

55

DUAL LANG more likely that they’ll approximate with its closest related sound, /ch/. Another reason could be the road map’s interpretation of the only possible sound it knows—an interpretation made easier by disregarding subtle distinctions through linguistic selectivity. Either way, English has its fair share of unique sounds and speech patterns that must be perceived, distinguished, and produced. DL instruction must use oracy to attend to these cross-language effects in speech discrimination and production (Gholamain and Geva, 1999; Gottardo et al., 2001; Mumtaz and Humphreys, 2002). By integrating phonetics into oracy, students can improve their ability to perceive subtle differences in the letter– sound relationships they hear, learn how they’ll need to position their mouths, and more closely approximate the sounds produced by the many letter combinations that make them. Science-Based Recommendations for Implementing Oracy The shift to including purposeful time and authentic practices for oracy has been crawling its way to the DL classroom. For DL and EB students, oracy is not squandering time needed for more important learning. Rather, including time for oracy provides the most basic educational access for students to develop the language in texts because it improves their comprehension of texts they’re held accountable for reading. It protects time for students to learn what the reading standards demand. After all, isn’t it the foundational skills standards that ask students to show an understanding of syllable, sound, and spelling–sound relationships in spoken words and to use context to confirm that understanding? Most of us have seen how challenging this learning can be for DL and EB students when meaningful opportunities to interact with and understand the spoken words they must read are removed from instruction. And if they don’t interact with and understand these words, how will they efficiently perceive, discriminate, identify, produce, isolate, and blend their sounds when they do not occur naturally in their more literate language? Our bilingual students cannot change who they are and what they know in exchange for becoming successful readers—nor should they. On the other hand, we educators can change our

56

instructional approaches to include practices like el dictado (Escamilla et al., 2014), Lotta Lara (Butvilofsky et al., 2017), annotated read–respond–retell, the language experience approach (Nessel, 2008), and more. We can connect oracy practice to the essential language students need to access learning that is meaningful. We can replace traditional bell ringers with oracy strategies, add oracy before outlines in the writing process, and use the words found in books to compare letter–sound patterns across languages. We can do so much to provide instruction that reflects the science of the students we serve. If nothing else, we can at least protect time for purposeful oracy. References Abutalebi, J., Annoni, J.-M., Zimine, I., Pegna, A. J., Segheir, M. L., Lee-Jahnke, H., Lazeyras, F., Cappa, S. F., and Khateb, A. (2008). “Language Control and Lexical Competition in Bilinguals: An event-related fMRI study.” Cerebral Cortex, 18(7), 1496– 1505. Butvilofsky, S., Roberson, N., Sparrow, W., and Hopewell, S. (2017). “Lotta Lara: A promising biliterate reading strategy.” Literacy Research and Instruction. Escamilla, K., Hopewell, S., Butvilofsky, S., Sparrow, W., Soltero-González, L., Ruiz-Figueroa, O., and Escamilla, M. (2014). Biliteracy from the Start: Literacy Squared in Action. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing. Gholamain, M., and Geva, E. (1999). “Orthographic and Cognitive Factors in the Concurrent Development of Basic Reading Skills in English and Persian.” Language Learning, 49(2), 183–217. https://doi. org/10.1111/0023-8333.00087 Gottardo, A., Chen, X., and Huo, M. R. Y. (2021). “Understanding Within- and CrossLanguage Relations among Language, Preliteracy Skills, and Word Reading in Bilingual Learners: Evidence from the science of reading.” Reading Research Quarterly. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rrq.410 Gottardo, A., Yan, B., Siegel, L. S., and Wade-Woolley, L. (2001). “Factors Related to English Reading Performance in Children with Chinese as a First Language: More evidence of cross-language transfer of phonological processing.” Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 530–542. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/00220663.93.3.530

languagemagazine.com

Guilamo, A. S. (2021). “The Science of Reading in Dual Language.” Language Magazine, 20(8), 33–34. Guilamo, A. S. (2022). “The Science of the Bilingual Reading Brain: What science says about transfer and translanguaging.” Language Magazine, 21(9), 19–21. Malik-Moraleda, S., Ayyash, D., Gallée, J., et al. (2022). “An Investigation across 45 Languages and 12 Language Families Reveals a Universal Language Network.” Nature Neuroscience, 25, 1014– 1019. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-02201114-5. Melby-Lervåg, M., and Lervåg, A. (2011). “Cross-Linguistic Transfer of Oral Language, Decoding, Phonological Awareness and Reading Comprehension: A meta-analysis of the correlational evidence.” Journal of Research in Reading, 34(1), 114–135. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.14679817.2010.01477.x Mumtaz, S., and Humphreys, G. (2002). “The Effects of Bilingualism on Learning to Read English: Evidence from the contrast between Urdu–English bilingual and English monolingual children.” Journal of Research in Reading, 24, 113–134. https://doi. org/10.1111/1467-9817.t01-1-00136 Nessel, D. D., and Dixon, C. N. (2008). Using the Language Experience Approach with English Language Learners: Strategies for Engaging Students and Developing Literacy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Pollard-Durodola, S., Mathes, P. G., Vaughn, S., Cardenas-Hagan, E., and LinanThompson, S. (2006). “The Role of Oracy in Developing Comprehension in SpanishSpeaking English Language Learners.” Topics in Language Disorders, 26(4), 365– 384. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00011363200610000-00008 Siddiqui, S., Chatterjee, U., Kumar, D., Siddiqui, A., and Goyal, N. (2008). “Neuropsychology of Prefrontal Cortex.” Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 50(3), 202–208. Alexandra Guilamo is a dual language expert, author, keynote speaker, and the CEAO at TaJu Educational Solutions (a company dedicated to serving educators and leaders of DL and EB programs). For more information on bringing the Science of the Bilingual Reading Brain® training to your district, contact TaJu at [email protected]. Visit www. tajulearning.com or follow Alexandra @ TajuLearning on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

October 2022

BILITERACY

Supporting Our Youngest Dual Language Learners Nicole Hsu offers takeaways from California’s DLL Pilot Study on culturally and linguistically effective teaching strategies, family engagement strategies, and professional development opportunities

C

alifornia is home to more dual language learners (DLLs) than any other state, both in number and share. DLLs, or children learning English in addition to another language, represent over 50% of the state’s population between the ages of zero and five years and are one of the fastest-growing groups in California. From 1998 to 2016, California public school instruction was required to be conducted in English only. This policy also influenced early learning settings, resulting in a workforce underprepared to serve the growing population of DLLs and their families. The passage of Proposition 58 in 2016 repealed bilingual education restrictions, reflecting a shift toward valuing bilingualism as an asset and honoring the critical connection of home language maintenance to one’s cultural identity. In support of this shift, First 5 California launched the Dual Language Learner Pilot Study in 2017 to better understand how educators and systems can support DLLs and their families in early learning settings. Led by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), the DLL Pilot Study conducted 1) a statewide background study to understand the landscape of supports available for DLLs ages 0–5, 2) an in-depth study across 174

October 2022

languagemagazine.com

57

BILITERACY early learning programs in 16 participating counties to examine the relationship between current teaching practices and child and family outcomes, and 3) an expansion study of how participating counties used funds to scale strategies to support DLLs. This study sample included home- and center-based care settings; infant, toddler, and preschool-aged DLLs; and four language groups (Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese). AIR released the final summary in June 2022, including policy recommendations based on their research findings in the areas of teaching strategies, family engagement strategies, and professional development. Part of the study focused on understanding attitudes and beliefs around bilingualism and dual language learning. Among parents surveyed, 88% reported wanting their children to become bilingual. This sentiment was particularly prevalent among families with incomes over $100,000. Program directors in both homeand center-based settings shared similar beliefs—more than 80% of them recognized the importance of children developing their home languages. However, only 18% of centers and 15% of family childcare homes reported having specific DLL-focused policies and strategic plans. About a third of programs provided lending libraries or activities to support children’s at-home learning.

Université d’Ottawa

|

"Both teaching and family engagement strategies can be bolstered through professional development opportunities."

One explanation for these low levels of DLLfocused policies and plans may be that the state lacks a strong framework for identifying and assessing DLLs, especially assessments that can be used across multiple languages. Although California’s education code has a definition for DLLs, the term is used in a variety of ways, and what counts as a bilingual program varies. This means that understanding and supporting DLLs becomes dependent on the provider’s personal knowledge and experience or the caregiver’s willingness and comfort with sharing information about the child’s language background with the provider. The 2021 signing of Assembly Bill (AB) 1363 aims to systematize the identification of and the collection of information about DLLs in the California State Preschool Program so programs can better support their learning and development. However, even if providers hold this knowledge, they might not be prepared to adequately support DLLs because it is not a required component of teacher training and competencies. The in-depth study analyzed current teaching strategies used across the 16 sampled counties and their relationship to child outcomes. More home language use in early learning settings was associated

University of Ottawa

FRENCH IMMERSION at uOttawa A unique opportunity with unparalleled support: •

Available in 86 undergraduate programs

•

Open to intermediate and advanced French students

•

An authentic bilingual environment in Canada’s capital French Immersion Studies [email protected] www.immersion.uOttawa.ca

Lit Card.indd 1

58

languagemagazine.com

with positive outcomes in both English and the home language for preschoolaged DLLs. As the authors state, the higher the frequency of Spanish spoken in the classroom, “the better children from Spanish-language backgrounds performed on Spanish vocabulary and oral comprehension, basic mathematics, bilingualism, literacy skills, executive functioning, social–emotional well-being, and English oral comprehension.” More exposure to Spanish did not have any negative effects on English skills. This pattern held somewhat for Cantonese- and Mandarin-language DLLs, where home language exposure was associated with improved bilingualism and vocabulary skills. For infant and toddler DLLs, more language input was only associated with more advanced linguistic knowledge and skills in that same language. More exposure to Spanish did not have any negative effects on English skills. Classroom practices—such as books, songs, and basic phrases—that do not require teacher proficiency in the DLLs’ home language were also positively related to outcomes for Cantonese- and Mandarinlanguage DLLs, such as oral comprehension, English vocabulary, and bilingualism. These outcomes were not observed for Vietnameselanguage DLLs, which the authors note may be due to the small number of classrooms with students who speak Vietnamese. In addition, the study explored the connection between family engagement strategies and families’ attitudes and beliefs about bilingualism, as well as families’ support for learning at home. Families receiving positive messages about dual language learning and cultural diversity were more likely to value home language skills as an aspect of school readiness. More frequent

16/04/2018 11:38:31 AM

October 2022

BILITERACY communication between programs and families was associated with more participation in classroom events and more engagement in at-home learning. Providing at-home learning activities in both the home language and English was associated with greater engagement in activities like reading and counting. Families enrolled in home-based care were less likely to receive these materials, but when they did, the materials were more likely to be in the families’ home language. Family outcomes were stronger when communication and materials were shared in the home language, but for educators who are not proficient in that language, any culturally and linguistically responsive two-way communication with families of DLLs is valuable. A more in-depth summary of family engagement findings can be found at https://californiadllstudy.org/ sites/default/files/2022-04/DLL-FamilyEngagement-Brief-508.pdf. Both teaching and family engagement strategies can be bolstered through professional development opportunities. Currently, only 25% of educators across early learning settings are required to receive DLL-focused professional development, while 92% of teachers indicate a need for more DLLfocused training.

October 2022

Center-based educators were more likely than home-based educators to receive pay and have access to substitutes that allowed them to participate in professional development (69% to 29%, respectively). Teachers who received DLLfocused professional development viewed bilingualism as an asset and were more confident in their ability to support DLLs. They were also more likely to use evidence-based teaching strategies for DLLs and engage with families in a linguistically and culturally responsive way, both of which are associated with positive outcomes for DLLs. These findings emphasize the importance of supporting DLLs’ home languages in the classroom, culturally and linguistically responsive family engagement practices, and having an early learning workforce that is adequately prepared to work with DLLs. The study reinforces the direction of current policies and programs in California. In addition to AB 1363 mentioned above, California’s Master Plan for Early Learning and Care emphasizes the need to support DLLs to advance equity in early learning. The Language Justice Initiative, which offers training and resources to the early education field to create more equitable learning opportunities for DLLs, recently launched a Multilingual Learner Teaching Certificate to develop teacher

languagemagazine.com

competencies to deliver a high-quality education for multilingual learners and families. California’s asset-based approach to supporting DLLs can be a model for other states. As the DLL population continues to grow, affirming and building on the assets they bring will be the only way forward. Nicole Hsu is a policy analyst on the Early and Elementary Education Policy Team at New America. She provides research and analysis on early childhood policies and programs that consider the broader communities and systems supporting child and family well-being, particularly for English learners and children with disabilities. During graduate school, Nicole served as a policy consultant for the Alameda County Early Care and Education Program, Sacramento City Unified School District, and the North Carolina Partnership for Children. She has also worked alongside families, educators, and healthcare providers at The Primary School, an integrated health and education school in East Palo Alto, CA. Nicole is a proud product of the California public school system and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UC Berkeley. This article was originally published online by New America (www.newamerica.org).

59

CAREERS

Survey Reveals Barriers to Tackling Teacher Shortage Stress, pay, politics, dissatisfaction undermine California educators, especially those of color

A

new survey (cta.org/voices-fromthe-classroom) of nearly 5,000 current teachers in California finds that while teachers enter the profession to help students and make a difference, many teachers today are feeling acute levels of stress and job dissatisfaction and are considering leaving the profession. The findings underscore significant challenges to teacher retention and the recruitment and preparation of aspiring teachers, especially teachers of color.  “Nothing matters more for a student’s future than to have a caring, high-quality educator in every classroom. Unfortunately, this data confirms what we’ve been hearing from educators anecdotally. Not only are we experiencing an urgent teacher shortage, but many of our educators are barely hanging on,” said E. Toby Boyd, California Teachers Association (CTA) president and a kindergarten educator. “Exhausting. Stressful. Frustrating. Overwhelming. These are the top four words educators chose to best describe what it’s like to teach right now. Students deserve high-quality teachers who are paid a professional salary, can afford to live where they teach, and are supported in the classroom. We can solve this educator recruitment and retention crisis, but it’s going to take acknowledgement, commitment, and collaboration.” “Voices from the Classroom: Developing a Strategy for Teacher Retention and Recruitment” details results from a quantitative survey of 4,632 current TK–12 teachers in California conducted by Hart Research Associates on behalf of UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools (CTS) and CTA. The report also includes insights from in-depth interviews with former and aspiring teachers. KEY POINTS: Job Satisfaction and Future Outlook While many current California teachers find their work rewarding and fulfilling, they also feel exhausted and stressed. Teachers were more likely to choose words like “Exhausting” (68%), “Stressful” (61%), “Frustrating” (49%), and “Overwhelming” (51%) to describe how they felt about their current position as a teacher over words

60

like “Rewarding” (34%), “Fulfilling” (29%), “Enjoyable” (22%), and “Empowering” (14%). The majority expressed low levels of satisfaction with key aspects of their job.  Teacher Retention Four in ten teachers surveyed said they have considered leaving the profession, and 20% said they will probably or definitely leave the profession within the next three years. Burnout from stress (57%) was the toplisted reason for leaving the profession, with political attacks on teachers ranking as the second-highest reason (40%). Other reasons included workload, low pay, student apathy and behavioral issues, and lack of support from district administrators.  “We’ve reached a tipping point. Teachers are continuously being asked to do more with less,” said Dr. Tyrone Howard, co-faculty director of CTS. “It’s an unfair ask. Our teachers deserve more than what we are giving them.” Diversity and Inclusion within the School Work Environment Many current teachers of color, especially Black teachers, said they have experienced discrimination and do not feel comfortable expressing themselves at their school sites. Aspiring and former teachers of color shared that feeling comfortable and a part of their school community was directly tied to whether their students and their families, peers, and leadership had similar racial/ethnic backgrounds to their own. While more than half of White teachers expressed high satisfaction that their work environments are free of discrimination and prejudice, the percentage was below 50% for teachers of color. Additionally, 62% of Black teachers and 54% of Asian American/Pacific Islander teachers surveyed said they have experienced racial discrimination in their current positions.  Only 41% of teachers strongly agreed that the environment at their school is supportive of different cultures, and even less of different identities (36%). Only 31% believed that their fellow teachers demonstrate a genuine commitment to cultivating diversity. Four in ten LGBTQ+ teachers reported discrimination based on their sexual orientation in their current

languagemagazine.com

teaching positions.  “If we want to attract and retain a diverse teacher workforce, our schools and working environments have to do better at accommodating diversity,” said Dr. Kai Mathews, project director for the California Educator Diversity Project for CTS and researcher on the project. “We have a tendency to think that diversity begins and ends with the demographics of a population, but we know that diversity efforts either succeed or fail based on the accessibility and inclusivity of an organization’s culture.” Teacher Preparation Programs Aspiring teachers provided insights on teacher preparation programs, including the importance of real-time teaching experiences and concerns about the workload and required state teacher assessments. Compensating student teachers was suggested by a significant number of the aspiring teachers and is viewed as a very important policy change that will help alleviate financial stress at an important time in the teacher preparation process. Eighteen out of 25 aspiring teachers stated that financial costs influenced their ability to finish the teacher preparation program. Practices and Policies to Improve Teacher Retention Over 88% of teachers identified better pay as the top issue state and local officials should prioritize to improve teacher retention, followed by smaller class sizes, stronger discipline policies for students who behave disruptively, better staffing and a more manageable workload, and more support services for students. Over 80% of teachers said it was difficult to find affordable housing near their places of employment, while 68% said it was difficult for them to keep up with basic expenses and the cost of living and to save for retirement. Former teachers expressed concerns regarding classroom and relationship management and indicated a desire for more professional opportunities for teachers (especially those who are newer to the field) to learn relationship-based skill sets to manage interactions with students, other teachers, administrators, and parents.  

October 2022

RESOURCE

Okapi Literacy and Language Solutions

O

kapi Educational Publishing provides flexible literacy solutions built on best-practice instructions for grades K–5. Currently in use nationwide in a range of programs and a variety of instructional settings, their engaging materials empower each student to take responsibility for their literacy and language growth, producing powerful results. Okapi’s stellar lineup of programs includes the award-winning Flying Start to Literacy and Despegando hacia la lectura. Paired texts—one fiction and one informational—are linked by their common use of content vocabulary and the same big idea. WorldWise: Content-Based Learning and ExploraMundos provide engaging content that is fully aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and C3 Social

Studies Outcomes for each grade. Okapi’s four flagship programs provide title-for-title equity in English and Spanish, making them ideal for dual language instruction. All four programs are included in Okapi Digital Literacy, a digital platform with over 1,100 books offering digital access and teacher support for every title. Channel the latest research into a dynamic instructional tool for emerging bilinguals with Biliteracy para todos, a standards-based, uniquely designed program carefully crafted for English–Spanish instruction targeting language, content, and translanguaging practices. Give students a purpose for their reading and inspire further inquiry.

Implementing SEL Effectively in the Classroom

I

ncorporating SEL can seem like an extra add-on to an already full class schedule. However, the following suggestions will challenge you to think about it differently. Incorporate SEL into academic subjects. A strong SEL curriculum is sequenced, active, focused, and explicit (SAFE). One example of a CASEL-aligned SEL curriculum is Fly Five, which focuses on five core competencies: cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self-control (CARES). Within these competencies, lessons are integrated with literacy components that include read-alouds, reading comprehension strategies, graphic organizers, and written reflections.  Provide mindful moments. Allow students time to pause and reflect by using mindful moments. These brief activities teach strategies to relax and reduce stress and provide time for students

to practice managing their thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Make strong school-to-home connections. In communication with families, highlight the ways SEL is intentionally woven throughout the day in your lessons and classroom discussions. Encourage parents and caregivers to serve as role models by sharing their own social and emotional development stories. Share tips and activities in newsletters/emails to parents and guardians. Prioritize your own SEL. SEL is unique in the sense that it can never be mastered; we are always learning and growing. It is important for students to see their teachers alongside them as lifelong learners. Commit to understanding and managing your own emotions as well as strengthening your relationships with yourself, your students, and your colleagues. www.flyfivesel.org/sel-curriculum/about-fly-five

K–12 Training in 20 Languages

V

ector Solutions’ award-winning K–12 online training courses can now be translated into up to 20 languages, allowing more school district employees to access the courses in the languages they are most comfortable using to learn. The Course Translations feature leverages AI technology to translate the text of the course content, as well as the knowledge checks and assessments that are included with the training modules. Some courses also offer translated machine-generated narration. The feature is available for dozens of courses in Vector’s environmental, health, human resources, nutrition services, social and behavioral, special education, and transportation libraries, with more being added regularly. It is also available for many state-specific safety

and compliance courses. To use the translations feature, an employee simply logs into their course and selects their preferred language from a drop-down menu. The Course Translations feature is available in the three-language Standard Package— English (US), Spanish (US), and French (Canadian)—and in the 20-language Expanded Package: English (US), English (UK), Spanish (US), Spanish (European), Spanish (Mexican), French (Canadian), French (European), Arabic, Chinese (Simplified Mandarin), Chinese (Traditional Mandarin), Tagalog, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (European), Russian, Thai, and Vietnamese. www.vectorsolutions.com/solutions/vectorlms/k12-training-management

California Literacy Acceleration Grant

C

alifornia Literacy Elevation by Accelerating Reading (Project CLEAR), led by the San Diego County Office of Education in partnership with Saint Mary’s College, is a learning acceleration system funded through the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence. This professional learning opportunity is designed for educators interested in becoming teacher leaders with expertise in reading intervention that will

October 2022

expand availability and access to literacy acceleration and intervention for diverse students in their districts or schools, such as students who are English learners, students in dual language programs, and students with disabilities, including those with dyslexia and/or phonological processing issues. Through this grant-funded twoyear program, participants will become teacher leaders who can train and coach teachers to implement comprehensive

languagemagazine.com

literacy strategies in schools and K–12 interventions in English, Spanish, or both, for students who have reading, writing, and language-based needs. The primary goal is to build capacity within districts across California to implement and support literacy development. Applications are now being accepted for the semester beginning January 2023. www.sdcoe.net/educators/curriculuminstruction

61

LAST WRITES

Don’t Knock Halloween Knock-Knock Jokes Richard Lederer makes a mockery of ghosts and ghouls Knock, knock. Who’s there? Wooden shoe. Wooden shoe who? Wooden shoe like to hear a bunch of Halloween knockknock jokes? Knock, knock. Who’s there? Boo! Boo who? Don’t cry. You’re about to laugh at some Halloween jokes.

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Achoo. Achoo who? “Achoo on people’s necks!” boasted the vampire. Knock, knock. Who’s there? Ice cream. Ice cream who? Ice cream whenever I see a ghost.

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Hearsay. Hearsay who? Hearsay parade of Halloween knock-knock jokes.

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Ivan. Ivan who? Ivan to drink your blood.

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Eyesore. Eyesore who? Eyesore like knock-knock jokes.

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Discount. Discount who? Discount is named Dracula!

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Howl. Howl who? Howl you be dressed up for Halloween?

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Hair comb. Hair comb who? Hair comb a pack of werewolves.

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Phillip. Phillip who? Phillip my bag with Halloween candy.

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Decry. Decry who? Decry of de werewolf sends shivers up de spine.

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Aida. Aida who? Aida lot of candy on Halloween.

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Wanda. Wanda who? Wanda go for a ride on a witch’s broomstick?

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Armageddon. Armageddon who? Armageddon out of the way of any monster I meet.

62

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Witch. Witch who? Witch way to the

haunted house? Knock, knock. Who’s there? Witch. Witch who? Gesundheit! Knock, knock. Who’s there? Zombies. Zombies who?

Zombies make honey and zombies don’t. Richard Lederer, MAT English and education, PhD linguistics, is the author of more than 50 books on language, history, and humor, available at his website, www.verbivore.com. Please send your questions and comments about language to [email protected].  

Longtime Language! columnist Richard Lederer has just published a Halloween and a Christmas treasury, which he'd love to share with his readers. Chock full of cartoons, history, lore, puns, riddles, jokes, games, and more, these are the perfect books for everyone who enjoys the holidays! In addition to autographing each book, the author will be pleased to personally inscribe on request. $15 per book, incl. shipping. Send your order to Richard Lederer 10034, Mesa Madera Drive, San Diego, CA 92131-1922. Make check payable to Verbivore, Inc. PayPal also accepted. Website: verbivore.com. Send any questions to [email protected].

languagemagazine.com

October 2022

SUBSCRIBE TODAY LANGUAGE MAGAZINE WE UNDERSTAND EDUCATORS Language Magazine offers strategies to help educators effectively overcome the challenges of multilingual classrooms while recognizing the opportunity that multiculturalism offers all students in today’s increasingly global society.

Subscribe With

Benefits

At Language Magazine, we love our subscribers and want to do whatever we can to make them happy, so we’re introducing a range of new benefits to keep them smiling. In addition to the leading, independent publication devoted to the acquisition of language and literacy delivered every month, subscribers now receive: • Weekly, specialized—choice of four—email news digest and information update • Grant information • Jobs • Discounts on materials, conferences, software, travel

www.languagemagazine.com/subscribe

ADVERTISE WITH CONFIDENCE Get the expert information you need, every month, without fail with Language Magazine. With up-to-date news and features on classroom development, professional development, and classrooom guidance, Language Magazine is a valuable resource to add to your toolbox.

Active at the state, national, and international levels, we participate in state and federal congressional advocacy activities, as well as UN and UNESCO initiatives to further our goal of extending the gifts of literacy and multilingualism to all.

Build Equitable Partnerships Among Families, Educators, and Communities Research-Based Approaches to Accelerate Student Achievement In this highly readable roundup of the latest research, a Harvardbased team makes a compelling case for investing in evidencebased family-engagement practices—and suggests powerful, clear ways to put those practices into action at your school or district.

“

When schools intentionally cultivate relationships of trust and respect with families, they create a culture where EVERYONE WINS! — Dr. Karen L. Mapp, Anne T. Henderson, Dr. Stephany Cuevas, Martha C. Franco, and Suzanna Ewert

Everyone Wins!

Dr. Karen L. Mapp

Anne T. Henderson

Dr. Martha C. Franco

Dr. Stephany Cuevas

Suzanna Ewert

“Students feel supported and reassured when the most important adults in their lives are working together to help them learn. When this process starts in early childhood, [it sets up] a positive cycle that persists from cradle to career.” — Dr. Karen L. Mapp, Anne T. Henderson, Dr. Stephany Cuevas, Martha C. Franco and Suzanna Ewert

Authors

scholastic.com/everyonewins

Videos

Downloads

Explore helpful tools, resources, and videos on the companion website!