Foundations of Teaching Multilingual Learners

Catalog description

This course will examine language and its structures and the ways that language mediates learning in classrooms and schools. Our charge in this course will be to better understand the nature of language learning, asking specifically how English as a Second Language (ESL) Program Specialists, in collaboration with content area teachers, can support the holistic learning and success of language learners in ways that value home languages and acquisition of multilingual literacies. Students will develop a critical understanding of foundational concepts related to first and second language acquisition and the development of bilingualism and biliteracy for children and young people. Students will explore English as a language system, including linguistic forms and functions, as well as the fundamentals of early literacy and strategies to build semantic networks across languages and support learners' emergent biliteracy. Analysis of curricular materials at different grade levels will guide students to identify genre and linguistic features and consider how teachers can integrate learning of content and language in lesson plans and larger curricular units. Direct instruction of academic language will be a focus as well as how language mediates learning in content area classrooms. In sum, this course will consider features of language and how to create opportunities for MLs to think analytically, build explanations, and explore conceptual understandings through classroom interactions.