Core Practices for Teaching Multilingual Students

Learn how to teach multilingual students effectively and equitably with this practical and accessible resource. The authors share real-world examples from the classrooms of ESOL teachers, unpack the teachers’ thinking about their instruction, and identify six core practices that are foundational to teaching multilingual students: knowing your multilingual students, building a positive learning environment, integrating content and language instruction, supporting language and literacy development, using assessment, and developing positive relationships and engaging in advocacy. The book focuses on how K–12 teachers can use these core practices in ways that humanize their instruction—positioning students as whole human beings, valuing the assets and resources they bring to the classroom, actively involving them in rigorous instruction that draws on their experiences and knowledge, responding to each unique learning context, and disrupting traditional power dynamics in education. This text will help pre- and inservice teachers of multilingual students to center equity and justice in their practice and understand how to move humanizing mindsets into action.

Book Features:

• Identifies and describes core practices for teaching multilingual students.
• Offers opportunities to analyze teachers’ instruction using core practices.
• Includes templates and additional resources that help teachers extend the use of core practices to their own planning.
• Supports teacher educators in preparing teachers to move humanizing mindsets to humanizing practices.
• Provides access to supplementary video clips depicting teachers as they engage in these practices and discuss their use.

Megan Madigan Peercy is a professor in applied linguistics and language education and in teacher education and professional development, and an associate dean at the University of Maryland. Johanna M. Tigert is an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Daisy E. Fredricks is an assistant professor of teaching and learning and the director of teacher education at Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“This book is foundational for anyone working in linguistically and culturally diverse contexts. The rich, classroom-based vignettes and examples provide expert and novice teachers with theoretical and practical insights into effective classroom practices. The chapters’ concrete action steps and invitations for further reflection are an excellent source for transformative practice and advocacy at the classroom and school level.”
—Ester J. de Jong, professor, University of Colorado Denver

“Readers will learn to engage in core practices of pedagogy that will make their teaching and their students’ learning culturally and linguistically sustaining and rigorous, in ways that meet not only language and content learning goals, but also the socio-emotional needs of all students.”
—From the Foreword by Christian J. Faltis, professor of bilingual education and department chair, Texas A&M International University

“The recent and growing body of work in core practices, especially for teaching multilingual learners, is an area of research that has expanded the focus on the practice of teachers in classrooms. This book addresses specific core practices for teaching multilingual learners, providing a comprehensive overview of issues, a planning guide for teachers, and tools for implementation. It should be a resource in every TESOL practitioner and teacher educator’s library!”
—Luciana C. de Oliveira, professor and associate dean, School of Education, Virginia Commonwealth University

Contents

Foreword Christian J. Faltis vii

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

1. Knowing Students 12

2. Building a Positive Learning Environment 27

3. Content and Language Instruction 43

4. Language and Literacy Development 61

5. Assessment 76

6. Relationships and Advocacy 94

7. Putting It All Together 111

8. Humanizing the Teaching Experience: Challenges and Solutions 127

Appendix 139

References 147

Index 157

About the Authors 163