Strategies & Routines for Multilingual Learners

One important tenet of working with adult multilingual learners is that it is important to utilize activities in the classroom that allow learners to connect their already existing knowledge and skills to classroom content. Activating background knowledge allows instructors to understand the knowledge and experience that learners already have around the content and allows learners to make connections to the classroom content that helps to support their understanding of and learning about the material. This strategy has the ability to support learners in contextualizing content, learning key vocabulary content, and sharing their knowledge and skills with other learners in the classroom. 

Strategies for activating background knowledge:

• Whole or small group discussions: Present content topic to learners using text, images, videos, etc. Ask learners to share what they know about the topic (vocabulary, real-life application, etc.), what they learned from the text or media presented, and their questions about the topic.
• K-W-L Chart: This graphic organizer allows learners to express what they know about something and what they want to learn. It also allows learners to return to the warm-up post-instruction to reflect on their learning. Instructors provide learners with a K-W-L chart prior to engaging with the learning content and materials about a specific topic. Instructors might use descriptions, images, or videos to provide context for the topic. Then, ask learners to decide what they already know about the topic and what they want to learn about. Instructors may provide an opportunity for learners to discuss responses with small groups or the whole class. After learners have had a chance to learn about the topic and apply knowledge, they should revisit the K-W-L chart to reflect on what they have learned about the topic.

Resource: More background on and strategies for activating background knowledge for multilingual learners can be found in this article from Colorin Colorado. It is written from a K-12 perspective; however, adult educators can adapt the strategies to the adult education context.

Because multilingual learners are possibly learning or continuing to learn about another language while also trying to acquire the content knowledge of the course, it is important to provide direct, clear, and explicit instruction in the required language and linguistic structures in English that are needed to interact with classroom materials and activities successfully. Typically, grammar and vocabulary are skills that are explicitly taught to multilingual learners. When incorporating explicit instruction in the classroom, instructors should ensure that:

• Learners are presented with direct instruction providing clear instructions, rules, or guidelines. 
• Learners receive models of language and linguistic structures that help them understand the concepts being taught. 
• Instructors are not assuming understanding and asking learners to infer the meaning or guidelines behind language or linguistic functions in English.

Strategies for explicit vocabulary instruction:

When providing explicit instruction in vocabulary, instructors should provide definitions for and example sentences using the target words. Other aspects worth including in vocabulary instruction are the part of speech, collocations (or commonly used word pairings/phrases), and pronunciation. 

• Matching: Instructor provides learners with a list of vocabulary words along with a list of definitions. Instructors should go over the pronunciation of words with learners before moving on. Learners then work to match the words to their definitions. Instructors can ask learners to work together, use what they know about the words or the other words in the definition, and match the words to the definitions. Instructor should review correct answers with the whole group asking their learners to explain the connection between their word and the definition they selected.
• The Frayer Model: The graphic organizer found in this folder is used to provide learners with not just the definition of the word but other aspects of the word that help with retaining its meaning and effectively using the word in context. Learners can work in pairs or small groups to complete the information using their own knowledge or dictionary tools.

Resource: Quizlet is an online resource that can be used to create vocabulary flashcards and matching activities. 

Once learners grasp the meaning of a word, it is also important to integrate activities that allow learners to apply this knowledge to using the vocabulary in context. These activities can be used for that application piece of vocabulary instruction. 

• • Fill in the blank: This type of activity is often called a cloze activity. For this activity, instructors provide learners with sentences that have blanks in them where they will place the target vocabulary word. If the sentences can be taken from the classroom text or experiment, this will give the activity the most relevance and meaning. An alternative to this activity is to give half of the learners vocabulary words and the other half the sentences with the blanks. Then learners work together to match the words and corresponding sentences together. 
  • Writing sentences: Instructors ask learners to use vocabulary words to write their own sentences. 

• Creating a class picture dictionary: Instructors assign learners a set of vocabulary words, and learners find images to represent them and add more information, such as the definition, part of speech, and example sentence. This is an effective extension of the Frayer model. This is most effectively done using technology on Google Docs, Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Word Docs. 

Strategies for explicit grammar instruction:

When learners come in contact with linguistic structures that are new, it is helpful to provide some explicit instruction on the rules and conventions around those structures. One example is the use of commands that are used to follow instructions. For example, “Pick up the pencil”. Before learners are asked to follow these instructions, it is important to ensure that they are familiar with and understand this linguistic structure. 

When providing explicit grammar instruction, instructors should:

• Keep it simple: Explain the basic rules or conventions related to the target structure. Try not to include too much information on exceptions to these rules, at least while learners are learning this new structure. In addition, instructors should provide clear explanations for the target concepts.
• Provide examples and models: Learners must see grammar concepts used correctly and in context. These examples and models should highlight the grammar concept using bold and/or underlined text. 
• Ask learners to identify the concept in context: Before being asked to use the grammar concept, learners should be given a text with the grammar concept and asked to locate it in the text by circling or highlighting it. This gives learners the opportunity to see the grammar concept, and it allows the instructor to assess whether or not learners have an understanding of the concept. 
• Give learners the opportunity to apply: Following the above steps, instructors should present learners with an opportunity to apply the grammar concept to an activity. For example, if focusing on the use of commands in instructions, the instructor could assign a task to learners, such as applying for a job or cooking dinner, and ask them to write out a set of instructions using commands for that task. Instructors should provide as many parameters as possible for the activity, such as how many steps need to be included in the instructions as well as a bank of verbs that learners might use to create their instructions. Based on the results of this application, instructors will know whether or not learners need additional instruction on or practice with this concept. 
• Reinforce the concept: Once a grammar concept has been taught, and the instructor can see that learners are able to apply the concept, instructors should find ways to occasionally include the grammar concept in instruction or learning materials so that learners are able to revisit the concept and continue to apply the concept. When deciding which grammar concepts require explicit instruction, instructors should consider the rate at which learners will encounter that concept throughout the course and ensure it is a concept that can be reinforced throughout the course.

SupportED defines a scaffold as “a temporary support a teacher provides to a student that enables the student to perform an academic task they would not be able to perform independently.” The idea of a scaffold is that as learners become more familiar or comfortable with a concept instructors are able to remove scaffolds so that learners are learning and working more independently. 

The following are examples of scaffolds that can be provided to support multilingual learners:

• Sentence Stems: A sentence stem is a set of words provided to learners to model how to respond to questions or how to formulate their own sentences. Whenever presenting learners with new questions, it is important to provide a sentence stem showing them the appropriate response. Instructors can provide as much or as little support with a sentence stem as learners need.

An example sentence stem:

“Why do you want to study science?” “I want to study science because __________.”

• Media: It can be challenging for multilevel learners to understand meaning and context based on written text alone. Adding images, videos, graphs, etc. to text can provide learners with additional information, support, and context that helps learners process meaning.
• Chunking Material: To support multilingual learners, it can be helpful to break content into smaller chunks to reduce the cognitive load on learners. This may mean breaking a text into smaller sections and asking learners to process each section independently before looking at the text as a whole. This may also mean breaking down course material into more digestible chunks. 
• Grouping strategies: Peer-to-peer learning is an important part of working with multilingual learners. Learners will have varying proficiency levels and experiences with the English language that they can use to support each other. Additionally, teaching or helping other learners is an effective way for learners to reinforce their own learning and knowledge.

Resource: For more information on scaffolding for multilingual learners, see this resource from SupportEd.