REL Blog Post: Supporting Dual Language Learners in the PreK Classroom

How can teachers support dual language learners in the preK classroom, especially when considering the number of languages spoken? In Boston’s Head Start programs in 2015 alone, children spoke more than 140 languages and more than 35 percent lived in households where English was not the primary language.1 In 2016, about 12 million (22 percent) of children in the United States spoke a language other than English at home. This rate has risen by 1.2 million (2 percent) over the last decade.2

Educators explored this timely topic in the webinar “Promoting Kindergarten Readiness for Dual Language Learners: Evidence-Based Language Models and Transition Strategies,” co-hosted by REL Northeast & Islands, REL West, and the Cross-REL English Learner Working Group. Featured presenters Linda Espinosa, professor emeritus of Early Childhood Education at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and Whit Hayslip, early childhood education consultant and former assistant superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, guided participants through evidence from research, classroom strategies, and instructional models to best serve dual language learners.

As dual language learners (DLLs) develop language skills in both English and their home language, Espinosa noted that this bilingualism carries a number of advantages to children—including social, linguistic, cognitive, and cultural benefits. However, knowing how to provide support for “balanced bilingualism” (having equal proficiency in both a first language and second or more) can be daunting for teachers, especially when they don’t know most of the languages spoken in the classroom themselves.

Espinoza and Whit presented the instructional model POLL—Personalized, Oral Language(s) Learning—to address this concern. POLL is comprised of three complementary supports for DLLs: Instructional Supports, Family Languages and Interests, and Environmental Supports. These are described briefly below.

https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/northeast/Blog/Post/17

TK Conference 2018

Linda Espinosa, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Early Childhood Education, University of Missouri, Columbia Whit Hayslip, Early Childhood Education Consultant, Starting Smart and Strong Initiative Elizabeth S. Magruder, M.Ed. Senior Program Associate, WestEd Center for Child & Family Studies

This session presented specific strategies for ECE teachers that address the language, social, and emotional needs of young DLLs. The Personalized Oral Language Learning (POLL) approach, which has been implemented in several districts throughout California, is based on the new National Academies of Science report. Participants will learn effective classroom strategies for DLLs and their families and have opportunities to interact with each other and share local best practices. Real life examples from the Fresno Language Project will be woven throughout.

Apoyo al desarrollo de lenguaje y lectoescritura en los niños que aprenden dos idiomas

Elizabeth S. Magruder, Whitcomb W. Hayslip, Linda M. Espinosa, & Carola Oliva-Olson

https://tkcalifornia.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/many-languages-one-teacher-spanish.pdf