Language Development
and Instruction

Issue 1: Students struggle to understand and follow directions in one or both languages.

Potential Reason: They have not yet developed receptive language skills in the target language.

Strategies:

  • Use multimodal instruction – Pair verbal directions with visuals (e.g., images, diagrams), gestures, and demonstrations. For instance, while giving directions on a science experiment, point to the materials, act out the steps, and use consistent gestures for words like "cut," "mix," or "write." This aligns with second language acquisition research emphasizing the importance of input +1 (Krashen), where visual scaffolds aid comprehension.

  • Provide sentence frames for clarification – Use prompts like “Can you say that in your own words?” or “I heard you say..., is that right?” Encourage students to paraphrase directions using structured language. This deepens processing and ensures students internalize what is being asked.

  • Use repetition and consistency – Repeat important phrases daily (e.g., "Take out your notebook" or "Turn and talk to your partner") to build routine language. Consistent language builds familiarity and accelerates comprehension for emerging bilinguals.

Potential Reason: Instructions are too complex or lack visual and contextual supports.

Strategies:

  • Chunk instructions – Break down complex directions into sequential steps, and display them visually on the board. For example: Step 1: Open your book. Step 2: Read page 3. Step 3: Write 3 ideas. This helps reduce cognitive load and allows students to process in manageable parts.

  • Incorporate realia – Use physical objects during instruction. When teaching vocabulary like "measuring cup" or "compass," showing the actual item supports tangible connections. Realia bridges abstract language with concrete understanding.

  • Check for understanding – Use informal checks like thumbs-up/thumbs-down, fist-to-five, or a quick "turn and talk" to a peer. This offers immediate insight into student comprehension and provides a chance to clarify before moving on.

Potential Reason: The pace of instruction does not allow processing time for students with emerging proficiency.

Strategies:

  • Build in wait time – After asking a question, count to five before calling on a student. This allows multilingual learners to process both the question and their response in the target language.

  • Use peer interpretation and modeling – Partner students strategically so those with stronger bilingual skills can model tasks. Make expectations clear for both students and monitor interactions to ensure all voices are valued.

  • Provide written instructions alongside oral explanations – Post directions on the board or provide handouts with visuals. Students can refer back at their own pace, increasing independence and reducing anxiety.

Issue 2:  Students struggle to comprehend content in their less dominant language.

Potential Reason: They have limited background knowledge or academic vocabulary in the target language.

Strategies:

  • Pre-teach key vocabulary -  Introduce key terms using visuals, gestures, realia, and cognates before instruction begins. Use interactive games or student-created flashcards to reinforce meaning. Provide bilingual glossaries so students can revisit terms across time.

  • Build background knowledge with multimedia and home language support - Use short bilingual videos, storytelling in both languages, or discussions that activate schema in the home language. This prepares students for content engagement and honors existing knowledge.

  • Use graphic organizers to build conceptual understanding - Use KWL charts, concept maps, or Venn diagrams that students complete in partners using both the target and home language. This reinforces metalinguistic awareness and promotes deeper learning.

Potential Reason: Instruction does not provide enough scaffolding for language learners.

Strategies:

  • Use language scaffolds consistently - Provide sentence stems, question prompts, and structured partner dialogues embedded in lessons. Adjust complexity over time to foster autonomy. Integrate these supports in both oral and written tasks.

  • Incorporate visuals and realia in instruction - Support verbal explanations with visuals, timelines, and models. Create anchor charts during lessons and reference them regularly. Visual tools reduce cognitive overload and support working memory.

  • Model and chunk content delivery - Use gradual release models like “I do, we do, you do.” Verbally model your thinking during tasks to show how to analyze, summarize, or compare. This makes academic processes visible and replicable.

Potential Reason: Assessments do not align with students’ language proficiency levels.

Strategies:

  • Differentiate assessments by language demands -  Offer multiple formats (e.g., oral responses, drawings, bilingual explanations) to demonstrate content understanding. Provide sentence frames and visuals to lower linguistic demands while maintaining cognitive rigor.

  • Use formative assessments to check for understanding during instruction - Use exit slips, whiteboard responses, or concept cartoons to gather data on comprehension. These informal assessments inform instruction and give students multiple ways to succeed.

  • Offer bilingual or dual-language assessments where possible - Allow students to respond in their stronger language or mix languages to demonstrate understanding. Use rubrics that separately assess content knowledge and language proficiency, making it easier to support both domains.

Issue 3: Students are not making expected progress in developing academic language in either language of instruction.

Potential Reason: Instruction focuses on social language but not academic language structures.

Strategies:

  • Embed language objectives alongside content objectives – For each lesson, clearly identify the academic language students need to use, such as transition words for cause/effect or sentence frames for compare/contrast. Post these learning targets visibly and revisit them during and after instruction to reinforce their application.

  • Explicitly teach language functions – Integrate direct instruction on how to describe a process, make a claim, or summarize a text. Use think-alouds and student modeling in both languages. For instance, demonstrate how to justify an opinion in Spanish using "porque" and in English using "because."

  • Use mentor texts and language frames – Select grade-level texts that model strong academic language, and analyze them together with students. Pair these texts with sentence frames that reflect the text structure and language features. Use bilingual mentor texts where possible to support cross-linguistic transfer.

Potential Reason: Students aren’t getting repeated, meaningful exposure to academic vocabulary.

Strategies:

  • Use a multilingual word wall – Develop interactive word walls that include visuals, definitions, and cognates in both program languages. Make words accessible during writing and discussions, and incorporate them into daily warm-ups or games.

  • Incorporate vocabulary routines across content areas – Reinforce key academic vocabulary by embedding them in chants, songs, graphic organizers, and categorization tasks across multiple subjects. Spaced repetition boosts retention.

  • Encourage cross-language vocabulary comparison – Facilitate activities where students compare word roots, suffixes, or meanings across languages (e.g., "educación" vs. "education"). This builds metalinguistic awareness and promotes transfer.

Potential Reason: Classroom interactions don’t provide enough opportunities to produce extended oral or written language.

Strategies:

  • Structure talk time – Use protocols such as "Talking Chips" or "Numbered Heads Together" to ensure all students participate using academic language. Provide sentence starters aligned to the lesson objective to scaffold responses.

  • Use interactive writing and shared journaling – Engage students in co-writing texts on chart paper or digitally. Model how to expand simple ideas into compound or complex sentences. Invite student contributions and reread drafts together.

  • Incorporate low-stakes, high-frequency writing opportunities – Implement daily quickwrites, learning logs, and exit tickets in both languages. These build writing stamina and reduce the fear of making mistakes, especially when language structures are still developing.

Issue 4: Students show frustration or disengagement when they cannot express themselves fluently in one of the program languages.

Potential Reason: They experience anxiety about speaking or writing in their less proficient language.

Strategies:

  • Incorporate low-stakes practice – Use activities like Think-Pair-Share or peer interviews where risk is minimal. These provide rehearsal opportunities in a supportive setting before sharing publicly.

  • Use performance-based tasks – Allow students to demonstrate learning through storytelling, drawing, drama, or digital presentations. These multimodal options reduce reliance on full linguistic output while still engaging expressive skills.

  • Celebrate progress, not perfection – Establish norms that affirm risk-taking and emphasize growth. For example, use bilingual language ladders to show student progression in vocabulary or structure.

Potential Reason: Instructional tasks are not sufficiently scaffolded for their language development level.

Strategies:

  • Use leveled sentence frames – Offer multiple sentence frame options for different proficiency levels. For example: Beginner: "I see a ___"; Intermediate: "The ___ is important because..." Scaffolding supports access to academic discourse.

  • Provide word banks and vocabulary walls – Display relevant content-specific and high-utility words in both languages, with images when possible. Refer to these during instruction and model how to use them in speaking and writing.

  • Use dictation and voice-to-text – Tools like Google Docs voice typing or Seesaw audio responses allow students to produce language verbally and reduce barriers caused by spelling or grammar limitations.

Potential Reason: They do not see a clear purpose for developing bilingualism and prefer to use their stronger language.

Strategies:

  • Make bilingualism visible – Display bilingual signage, celebrate multilingualism through bulletin boards, and host events where community speakers share how they use multiple languages in their careers or daily lives.

  • Tie bilingual skills to real-world applications – Show video clips or share articles where bilingualism is advantageous (e.g., translation, international business, travel). This builds intrinsic motivation by making language learning relevant.

  • Celebrate bilingual accomplishments – Hold "language milestones" celebrations or recognize students in assemblies. Consider bilingual awards that focus on growth and effort in both languages.