The Huffington Post – Kevin Wong
“What do you do when half of your class speaks one language, but the other half was raised speaking another? As a teacher, it’s physically impossible to speak more than one language at a time, and no matter how much you slow down, repeat instructions, or demonstrate the task at hand, often you’re met with blank stares – or worse, students who checked out the second you started using their second language. But is it really their fault? Teachers in dual language classrooms face an incredible challenge: they need to teach a linguistically diverse class of students to read and write in both languages, while also teaching increasingly difficult academic content… in two languages. While research points to numerous benefits of bilingual schooling, our teachers are the ones who need to – almost magically – turn a class full of kids into bilingual learners. This article aims to provide educators with five fundamental strategies to promote linguistic cross-pollination among students in dual language classrooms. These recommendations are drawn largely from the Center for Applied Linguistics.”(more)