It is not unusual for conversations about bilingual learners to focus on the challenges and figuring out how to help these students. It is often a deficit based approach and the focus is on trying to "fix" a problem. A more effective way to support student learning is to take an asset based approach. Our bilingual learners have "bilingual superpowers" that they can use to take ownership of their own learning & teachers can activate in order to lower students' affective filter and maximize their learning. Many of our emerging bilingual students are simultaneous bilingual students because they have been exposed to more than one language by the time they are three years old. These students enter school with some BICS (basic personal interpersonal communication skills) and have a foundation in their Language 1 to gain CALP (cognitive academic language proficiency) in their Language 2 (English). We need to encourage our students to use their "bilingual superpower" to increase and support their learning. We need to help them realize that their approximations, (misspellings, miscues, or errors in English that are still close enough to be useful) are okay and beneficial. We need to help our students see that although the goal is to learn English, it does not have to be at the expense of losing their L1.
2 Comments
Rosalba Robles
1/19/2020 07:24:24 pm
As a first bilingual grade teacher, I am constantly communicating with my previous students in the hallway who are now third or fourth grades. A few years ago a student mentioned he was struggling in Math because it was in English. I reminded him that he is very smart and that he is a bilingual student. We discussed how he can think about it in Spanish and then just translate it into English. He mentioned that he had not thought about it before. I then learned, that every year, I need to have these conversations with all my students. I need to remind them of their superpower.
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Cindy Garcia
3/2/2020 05:53:32 pm
Yes, our bilingual students need to be reminded that their L1 is an asset. These conversations are so important in helping our students have a positive attitude towards being bilingual and having a growth mindset. Way to go with these important conversations!
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