Across the U.S. there are numerous types of Bilingual/ESL programs. As a bilingual educator, I have rarely questioned the overarching intent of these programs and models. To me the main goal has been about helping students develop their English skills by using their L1 and previous knowledge. It’s been about working with students to have the reach the English proficiency of their monolingual English speaking peers.
However, the phrase transitioning students to English is one that is often used to describe students in many bilingual programs. This phrase implies moving from using L1 to exclusively using English & leaving L1 behind. While the language of instruction might include more English and less L1 as students move up in grade levels, it does not mean that L1 should be pushed out of the way. If the phrase transitioning students to English is used to describe a bilingual/ESL model, what is the mindset or the purpose of the model? A student’s L1 is something powerful and part of who a student is and therefore should be encouraged and maintained while they work on acquiring & developing their English. I don’t think the objective of the Bilingual/ESL model is to erase L1, but I do think it sometimes ends up happening based on the structures of the program itself and underlying mindsets/biases. Instead of saying we are transitioning kids to English, let’s adjust out language to say we are supporting students as they develop their English proficiency. What can teachers do to promote the idea of biliteracy among our students that are part of programs where that is not the main goal?
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As a district specialist it is always a challenge to support teachers at various stages of their professional learning journey. It is also not possible to meet with all of the elementary bilingual teachers across the district for professional development. With that in mind, I created the Google Site: 8 Ways to Support K-4 English Learners & Bilingual Students in the Mathematics Classroom www.tinyurl.com/8Waysin2018! Each month I have emailed out a link to a new 2-7 minute video that shares different strategies to support student learning in the mathematics classroom. While this doesn't mean every teacher has viewed or the videos, I do think it has provided a larger opportunity for teachers to to have access to professional learning session on their own time line and campus instructional coaches have a resource that they can use for turn around conversations at their campus.
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