Instructional Strategy #4: How can I support my ML students’ oral language development?

Oral language development—in both English and the home language—should be a central focus for educators teaching ML students. Although not all programs provide intentional dual language instruction, research suggests that dual language education is optimal for young ML students’ learning and development (NASEM, 2017), so this is an ideal goal for programs to reach. Oral language strategies across models should be implemented intentionally to ideally promote both languages. Key oral language skills include expressive and receptive vocabulary, listening comprehension, and grammatical knowledge, all of which are critical for future reading comprehension for young ML students (Espinosa 2015; Crosson & Lesaux, 2013). Teachers should incorporate rich and high-quality language experiences with back-and-forth exchanges in both languages, as consistent with the program’s language model, which can help foster language development and achievement (Espinosa & Crandell, 2020). 

ML students’ developing language skills may also include codeswitching, or using words and phrases from both languages in a single sentence (check out this Guide on Code Switching from the Office of Head Start for more information). This is a normal part of bilingual development and demonstrates children’s flexibility in drawing on the resources they have in both languages (read this Fact Sheet on Translanguaging for more information on the theory behind how multilingual children use their full language repertoire to make sense of and communicate information). While multilingual children may have a smaller vocabulary in each language initially and lack some ‘translation equivalents,’ educators should account for, draw from, and encourage vocabulary use in both English and the home language. It is important for teachers to serve as strong language models in the languages that they speak, which includes clear language allocation and strategic separation of the languages (Olsen et al., 2020). Teachers should also highlight the similarities and differences between the languages children speak and English in order to support children in making connections. By providing high-quality, culturally appropriate language interactions in both languages that are relevant to children’s experiences, educators help ML children develop a solid foundation in both of their languages, which will support future literacy and content learning. 

The following evidence-based strategies should be used with a specific purpose in mind, as consistent with the program’s language model, and differentiated and tailored to each individual child’s level and needs (which should be gathered from continuous assessment). Oral language practices should be integrated with the other strategies presented in this document. For K-3 teachers, refer also to the California K-3 ELD Standards that highlight oral language interactions for MLs.  

Evidence-Based Strategies and Resources

Overarching Strategy: Provide language-rich environments to support each language.

Overarching Strategy: Provide explicit vocabulary instruction in each language.