Literacy Teaching for Bilingual & Multilingual Students
Literacy is widely seen as one of the most important skills that children need in order to be successful in school and beyond, however the teaching of reading and writing are largely still approached from a monolingual paradigm even though the vast majority of classrooms have students who speak (and are often literate to varied degrees in that language) in at least one other language beyond the language of instruction. Therefore, it is essential that educators acquire the knowledge and skills to consider the development of literacy from a broader, less restrictive linguistic paradigm in order to engage and effectively teach reading and writing to their students who are bi/multilingual. Regardless of teaching context (e.g., grade level; bilingual or monolingual instructional setting, etc.) educators in this course are supported to move away from a monolingual paradigm in relation to literacy development in order to make strong and effective use of their students' literacy knowledge across languages. Participants will apply new learning to implement strategies (such as contrastive analysis, reading and writing opportunities in both languages, etc.) that supports the development and transference of literacy learning across languages.
Outcomes: Participants will: Explain the relationships between oral language and literacy development and first and second literacy acquisition; Describe the relationships between literacy development, identity and motivation; Describe the different paths to literacy development specifically in relation to oracy and literacy in another language; Identify the ways in which knowledge of different orthographic systems can be beneficial to learning a new one; Apply knowledge of different orthographic systems to support students' literacy development through teaching strategies such as contrastive analysis; Apply knowledge of bilingualism to support students' literacy development across languages; Design strategies for teaching reading and writing that build on students' linguistic and cultural funds of knowledge; Identify the components of knowledge needed to become literate in another language and distinguish between those aspects of literacy that are common across all languages and those that are unique to certain languages; Create classroom environments and materials that support students' bi- or multilingual literacies and engage them in shared literacy events
Outcomes: Participants will: Explain the relationships between oral language and literacy development and first and second literacy acquisition; Describe the relationships between literacy development, identity and motivation; Describe the different paths to literacy development specifically in relation to oracy and literacy in another language; Identify the ways in which knowledge of different orthographic systems can be beneficial to learning a new one; Apply knowledge of different orthographic systems to support students' literacy development through teaching strategies such as contrastive analysis; Apply knowledge of bilingualism to support students' literacy development across languages; Design strategies for teaching reading and writing that build on students' linguistic and cultural funds of knowledge; Identify the components of knowledge needed to become literate in another language and distinguish between those aspects of literacy that are common across all languages and those that are unique to certain languages; Create classroom environments and materials that support students' bi- or multilingual literacies and engage them in shared literacy events