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PROMOTING DUAL

LANGUAGE SUCCESS IN A MONOLINGUAL CLASSROOMTracie Myers, Stacey Flanigan, and Katy Knudtson

Community Child Care Center, St. Paul

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Walking into a new language…

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Who We Are Community Child Care Center

demographics36 of 56 children are dual language learners

(home language other than English), additional children have another language in the home

17 different languages that are always changing ○ Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Ojibwe, Swahili,

Hebrew, Arabic, Tamil, Korean, Bengali, Setswana, Hindi, Malayalam, Vietnamese, French, Catalan, Punjabi

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Different Programming Styles Bilingual Monolingual (English or another

language)

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Population of DLLs in Schools 20% of U.S. population over age 5 speak a

language other than English at home (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010)Number has increased 140% in 30 years

Over 50% of U.S. schools serve at least one DLL (NCES 2009)

14.1% of public elementary school students are DLLs (NCES 2009)

6.5% of public secondary school students are DLLs (NCES 2009)

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Population of DLLs in Schools 2005: 29% of Head Start participants do not

speak English as first language (Cheatham & Ro, 2010)

150 languages among U.S. DLL students (Chen & Shire, 2011)

Predicted that by 2030s, 40% of K-12 students will have limited English proficiency (Chen & Shire, 2011)

Only 15% of BA and 13% of AA ECE teacher prep programs require a course on working with DLLs (Gillanders, 2007)

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What happens if we don’t serve them? Misassessment resulting in over-

referrals for special needs, disabilities (Brooks & Karathanos, 2009)

Results in an invisible, isolated population of children whose identities are ignored, stereotyped, or deemed in need of fixing

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Stages of Second Language Acquisition1. Using home language in classroom2. Nonverbal Period

Child spends time observing Socially irrelevant (on the sidelines)

3. Going public with words/phrases Formulaic and Telegraphic Speech

4. Productive use Full participant, fluent communicator

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Individual Differences Exposure Age Personality Motivation Simultaneous or Sequential Acquisition Order of stages not set in stone, kids

can skip around, backtrack, etc.

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Communicating at Play Time How do kids use language with each

other at play time?NegotiateJoin a gameAssign rolesTake turnsPersuade

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Byong-Sun How does this compare to a native

English speaker’s play? Socially irrelevant Double Bind

Can’t be social without the language, can’t learn the language without being social

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Strategies for ECE Professionals Developing family-school partnerships Designing classroom environment Fostering positive teacher-child

relationships Supporting positive peer interactions

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Developing Family-School Partnerships: Programming Messages of welcome and support Family intakes Enrollment forms Names Policies and philosophies Open-door policy Sharing information and materials Community events

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Developing Family-School Partnerships: Teachers Family intake Home language plan

Native language resources Sharing information (curriculum, materials, etc.) Get to know families as individuals, not as a

culture

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Developing Family-School Partnerships: Teachers Home visits, conferences Goals Assessment

Authentic, dynamic assessment without language

Discuss progress vs. resultsDialogue about language development

Invite families to share language/culture in any way they are comfortable

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Developing Family-School Partnerships: Teachers

Families are your best resource! They are the experts on their culture and

language, so developing partnerships will help you and you will feel more

comfortable asking about it

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Classroom Environment Consistent schedule and routine

Circle Time RoutinesSmall group vs. Large groupPhoto schedule

Safe havens Individualized

communication tools

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Classroom Environment Represent languages, cultures

Labels (materials, names)Books, Read-along storiesMusicToys/SuppliesSpeak a few key words/phrases

How does your family say “hello”?

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Teacher-Child Relationship Get to know the language, culture of child Try a greeting word in the child’s home

language Learn to pronounce the child’s name Interact first without language—parallel play,

smiles, and space Refer to child without speaking to him/her

directly (included in group, but no pressure to respond)

Narrate the day with running commentary

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Teacher-Child Relationship Start slow, with a few key words in home

language Interact with simple phrases supported

with gestures/visual aids Repetition Start with hear and now Expand their communication Keep expectations in check

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Supporting Peer Interactions Establish class mentors Invite DLLs to play with you and into play groups

with other children Small group instruction vs. large group Model and supply language

Vocabulary words in contextRepeating in social negotiations

Child-centered activities that encourage peer interaction

Intentional child placement Safe havens

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Contact Us Tracie Myers, Director

director@cccc.comcastbiz.net Stacey Flanigan, Education Coordinator

cccc.office@gmail.com Katy Knudtson, Preschool Teacher

cccc.youngerpreschool@gmail.com Community Child Care Center

www.umncccc.org

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RefencesBrooks, K. & Karathanos, K. (2009). Building on the cultural and linguistic capital of English learner

(EL) students. Multicultural Education, 16(4), 47-51.Cheatham, G. A. & Ro, Y. E. (2010). Young English learners’ interlanguage as a context for

language and early literacy development. Young Children, 65(4), 18-23.Chen, J. J. & Shire, S. H. (2011). Strategic teaching: Fostering communication skills in diverse

learners. Young Children, 66(2), 20-27.Gillanders, C. (2007). An English-speaking prekindergarten teacher for young Latino children:

Implications of the teacher-child relationship on second language learning. Early Childhood Education Journal, 35(1), 47-54.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). Characteristics of public, private, and Bureau of Indian Education elementary and secondary schools in the United States:Results from the 2007–08 Schools and Staffing Survey (NCES 2009-321). Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009321/tables/sass0708_2009321_s12n_02.asp

Nemeth, K. N. (2012). Basics of supporting dual language learners: An introduction for educators of children from birth to age 8. Washington, D.C.: NAEYC.

Tabors, P. O. (2008). One child, two languages: A guide for early childhood educators of children learning English as a second language. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). New Census Bureau report analyzes nation's linguistic diversity: Population speaking a language other than English at home increases by 140 percent in past three decades (CB10-CN.58). Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/cb10-cn58.html