“Empowerment” is a major buzzword in education right now - that much is undeniable. But what does it look like in the classroom, particularly when it comes to our most vulnerable populations? Not all student empowerment looks the same either - it needs to be tailored to the specific needs of students. One group that has been historically underserved in this area is English Language Learners.

Multilingualism as a Tool of Empowerment

While ELLs may lack fluency in English, this is not necessarily a reflection of their understanding of content, nor does it need to necessarily be an impediment. Instead, the linguistic diversity that ELLs bring to the table should be viewed as a potential asset to be leveraged in the classroom. Simply put, we must view multilingualism as a feature, not a bug. So, the question becomes, how can we create learning experiences for our ELLs in the integrated content classroom that are adaptive to their needs as they construct meaning and develop skills in English, while also leveraging the diverse linguistic skill sets they already possess?

Identify cognates AND false cognates

Cognates can be a great way for ELLs to take their native language vocabularies and apply them to English. However, false cognates can also pose a problem for ELLs and lead to misunderstandings. As a teacher, it is important to be aware of both and point them out to ELLs whenever possible. Additionally, allowing students opportunities to use their native language in the classroom can be effective while they are learning new content. This can be achieved in multiple ways, but a few examples are:

• Creating bilingual glossaries - The creation of student-generated content-specific bilingual glossaries as a means to help students make connections between English and their native languages is a task that is well-worth the time. Consider also having students embed images into these glossaries in order to further cement connections.

• Allow for use of native language in discourse and reflection - Creating windows for ELLs to use their native language in the classroom in productive modalities of speaking and writing can help them to better develop understandings of new content as they learn English. This can manifest in many ways, but examples include engaging in native language content-focused conversation if there are students with similar language backgrounds, as well as composing reflections on learning in the native language. While the initial instinct as the teacher in the room may be to, and rightfully so, express concern that we won’t necessarily know what students are saying, in general the potential rewards far outweigh the potential pitfalls in this scenario.

• Providing ELLs with sentence starters and frames, even for verbal language - Providing sentence frames and starters allows ELLs to focus explicitly on creating and expressing content understandings instead of having to divide their attention between content and generating the necessary communicative language around it. Ex. “I know this because…”

• Using multimedia to create asynchronous language opportunities - The use of multimedia tools in the classroom has greatly expanded potential opportunities for ELLs to practice language skills at a pace that is appropriate and specific to them. With regard to receptive language, for example, students can listen to prompts as many times as needed, as well as use tools like video speed setting to slow things down, closed captioning and re-viewing prompts and other videos as many times as is needed to discern meaning. In the productive domain (speaking and writing), students can take as many opportunities as they need to record responses to prompts, as well as demonstrate the best they are capable of. Examples of digital learning resources that can assist with this are Flipgrid, which allows students to record video responses to prompts, and video production software like WeVideo.

Our ELLs have a lot to offer our school and classroom communities when we find ways to prevent language from being a barrier to entry. These are just a few ways to help empower ELL voices in your classroom. For more ideas, please visit great resource sites like Colorin Colorado, or check with the RBERN, who offer professional development specifically tailored toward working with ELLs.