Multilingual Learners
At New Visions, we recognize that multilingual students have unique cultural and linguistic “funds of knowledge” that they bring to the classroom. (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) Hence, our approach to serving multilingual learners is based on a few important principles:
Home language is a cognitive tool for learning. (García & Menken, 2015) Our classrooms seek to celebrate and utilize the linguistically diverse learning environments that exist among our school communities.
Language development is contingent on many factors, including socio-emotional and cognitive ones. (Suárez-Orozco et al, 2008) Hence, teachers work to support multilingual learners in a variety of ways.
ENL students can meaningfully participate in rigorous academic content, when teachers create the opportunities for them to do so. (Gibbons, 2014)
Accelerating learning for ENL students requires active progress monitoring and formative assessments to track growth in real-time, and to strategically respond to students’ learning needs in targeted and timely ways. (WIDA Consortium, 2013)
New Visions Charter High Schools are committed to providing Multilingual Learners access to a rich and broad academic curriculum, as well as supports and services that accelerate learning for students who are new to learning English. Our schools address the needs of multilingual students in the following ways:
Teachers in all core subjects work to make lessons accessible for all students, including English learners, using the Equal Access for All Learners (EAAL) instructional framework and multilingual entry points. Content-area instruction works best ENL students when teachers build on the linguistic and cultural assets that multilingual learners bring to the classroom.
English Learners are co-taught by a teacher certified to teach English as a New Language in at least one of their core academic subjects. ENL teachers work with content-area teachers to reduce linguistic barriers to learning.
Standalone ENL courses are provided specifically for ENL learners to develop skills in the English language, according to their language development.
Additional literacy support services in English are available based on students’ learning needs. Programs for native language arts and literacy may also be available.
REFERENCES:
García, O. & Menken, K. (2015). Cultivating an ecology of multilingualism in schools. In B. Spolsky, O. Inbar-Lourie, & M. Tannenbaum (eds.), Challenges for Language Education and Policy: Making Space for People. New York: Routledge.
Gibbons, P. (2014). 2nd Ed. Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
González, N., Moll, L., and Amanti, C. (2005). Funds of Knowledge: Theorizing Practices in Households, Communities, and Classrooms. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers
WIDA Consortium/Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. (2013). Developing a Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Approach to Response to Instruction & Intervention (RtI²) for English Language Learners. The WIDA Consortium. Retrieved from file:///J:/ENL%20Instructional%20Resources/WIDA/WIDA_RtI2_forELLs.pdf
Suárez-Orozco, C, M. Suárez-Orozco, and I. Torodova (2008). Learning a new land: Immigrant students in American society. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, MA.