This blog post will tackle the eighth guiding principle in working with Multilingual Learners (MLs). This content has been adapted for this blog from the WIDA ELD Standards Framework.
I wanted to open this blog post by sharing a poem about a multilingual learner written by Language Learner Specialist, Christina Ensling. She is a great learning resource to follow on Instagram and Twitter. You can find her with the handle @bookamiga. She often recommends books that are great for all students but especially multilingual learners. The poem goes like this…
My English is not broken.
I did not drop it carelessly,
watch it shatter into fragments of speech—
splintered words so fragile
that not even the broom
could locate the shards.
My English is soft clay.
With hard work I am shaping it.
I am using it to create something new,
a vessel in which to carry my dreams.
Guiding Principle #8 tells us about how multilingual learners think about their thinking (metacognitive), their language (metalinguistic), and their culture (metacultural) when working in academic settings. Students that speak multiple languages use their knowledge about thinking, language, and culture, to make and negotiate meaning in the world around them. The thought bubble about “tables” makes me think of this video of a young ML named Moises. Maybe you’ve seen this video before; I think it beautifully illustrates the tough inside-the-brain work that MLs do every day, in every subject, to make meaning of what they are learning. You’ll also notice Moises looking around the classroom to use the resources that the teacher has provided to scaffold his learning. Your students are likely using the resources in your room, too. This highlights the importance of those GLAD strategies in creating a language-rich classroom.
"Multilingual learners draw on their metacognitive, metalinguistic, and metacultural awareness to develop effectiveness in language use." (WIDA 2020).
Photo and Content Credit To Bialystok & Barac 2012, Casey & Ridgeway-Gillis 2011, Gottlieb & Castro 2017, June 2013.
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