1. National Early Childhood Inclusion Institute
Joining With Families to Set Dual Language Learners on the Road to Language and Literacy Success
National Early Childhood Inclusion Institute
Chapel Hill, NC
May 13, 2015
Joanne Knapp-Philo Ph.D.
Patsy Pierce Ph.D.

2. Who’s here in your role as...
Parents or other family members?
Early Interventionists
Home Visitors?
Classroom Staff?
Therapists?
Medical Staff?
Other?
Who else?

3. Outcomes
To explore:
The research on the importance of ALL young children developing the home/family language to the best of their abilities
Key materials that provide families and professionals with concrete suggestions and ideas

4. Diversity: What do we know?
The U.S. has been undergoing a profound demographic transition
Last quarter of the 20th century and will continue well into the 21st century

5. Dual Language Learners
The largest growing population in the US!

6. Home Language: A key part of instructional design
Children’s Home Language is the foundation of their acquisition of English
A child’s Home Language goes deep. When it comes to understanding the importance of a child’s HL:
We need both a general appreciation and specific knowledge that links understanding, decision making, and daily practices.

7. Importance of Home Language
Children develop their identity
Children learn and develop social skills and emotional intelligence
Children acquire cultural knowledge and identity
I am a member of my family….
I am a boy and boys to certain things in my family….
I eat at the little kid table and the big kids eat later…
We go to the Mosque with on Friday.

8. Children use their Home Language
To understand themselves, their families and others
To internalize the language they hear when parents and family members talk
To think and reflect on information about themselves, their families, and their communities
Who among us is fluent in more than one language?
What language/s do you think in?
Is it a influenced by:
Where you are?
Who you are with?
How tired you are?
What else?
Is it the

9. Cognitive skills develop in the Home Language
Classification
Categorization
Logical/cause-and- effect reasoning
Narrative abilities (length and complexity)
Concepts related to spatial relations/math
Ask group for examples

10. Uninterrupted development of the Home Language from Birth-5
Enables children to continue to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they already have
Does NOT mean English can’t also be introduced
But remember- children with disabilities can and do learn more than one language without loss of the other one.
The home language becomes a base to build on and transfer from.

11. So… what’s it take? Strong support for the home language
At LEAST one adult who speaks only the home language with the child
Other caregivers, family members, siblings, extended family, neighbors, and members of the community speak the home language to the child
Whenever possible, and when they are good models of the home language, caregivers, teachers, therapists, nurses, etc. speak the home language to the child

12. Joining with families to support home language
Providing families information about the FACTS—which are not always what they have been taught to believe
Supporting families in their goals to teach their children in their language

13. Activity Work in your small group
Read the entire handout you are assigned
Report out to your group:
What do families need to know and believe ?
What to professionals need to know and believe?
How do you suggest this document be used and with whom? Take it deeper than you did this am. Make as long a list as you can to take home!

14. The Benefits of Being Bilingual
Shares some reasons bilingualism is an asset to individuals, families and our entire society

15. The Gift of Language
Written for families of dual language learners in an attempt to answer many of their frequently asked questions

16. Language at Home and in the Community for Families
Offers eight things families can do every day to help their children learn their family’s language and become successful in school!

17. Language at Home and in the Community for Teachers
Ideas to share with families—similar to what is written for families—helps you to see your role in encouraging families to share their language, culture and traditions
Activity (20-minute activity total)
3 minutes - Instructions
Determine
Each group will read a different section (4 total; Cognitive, Social-Emotional, Learning, & Global) in the Benefits Handout.
Determine important points that will be shared with members of your table.
5 minutes – Reading
Read assigned section and determine important points to share with table.
3 minutes per group = 12 minutes total - Reporting
Each group report to table.
1 minute – Transition
Are there 1-2 people who would like to share a thought or idea that was stimulated by this activity, information or handout?
Let’s now discuss the overall value of being bilingual.”

18. Overall reactions
Please share some of your group’s best ideas that you think others may not have come up with!

19. All families want what they believe is best for their children
Telenovela

20. Background Knowledge— A key for young children with disabilities
All the information children learn and store in memory about themselves, other people, objects, and the world around them
Beliefs, values, rules, and expectations for behavior developed in different cultural settings and environments

21. Background Knowledge
Developed through children’s daily interactions and experiences within their family and in their community
Developed in one or more languages and can transfer to another language
Organized in the child’s mind into concepts (schemas) that enable children to connect new information to their existing knowledge beginning at birth

22. Background Knowledge matters for DLLs because
They may have different experiences depending on their family’s culture, language/s, social class, religion, emigration experiences, etc.
Children are increasingly able to recognize and reflect upon aspects of different environments… this is a great source of conversation, word learning, and reflective thinking

23. How families and professionals promote Home Language
Activities that promote
Children’s enriched vocabulary
Levels of executive function
Specific approaches to
learning
letter knowledge
print concepts and
phonological awareness
In the home language

24. How families and professionals promote Home Language
Think out of the box! Remember every adult should support language development for verbal and non-verbal children:
High-quality adult child interactions
Extended conversations that build vocabulary and elaborate upon ideas and information
Daily book-reading combined with multiple oral language strategies, e.g.
Talking about the book before and after the story
Explaining new words during reading, etc.

25. When interventionists speak English only
When adults do not share the same language as the children they sometimes are “thrown off”
Adults have the ability—not only to communicate—but to have a significant impact upon children’s development and to effectively model English when they understand and implement effective models of English for ALL children

26. When interventionists speak English only
Language acquisition… does not occur in isolation, it involves multiple, simultaneous levels of activity
Children get (and stay) involved in activities (physical level) and…
… They process information mentally as the activity continues (cognitive level)…
… Over time, children acquire language as part of their involvement in the activity (language level)

28. When interventionists speak English only
Modeling English
Get the child involved in an activity that they enjoy; offer the child choices of activities as needed…
As the activity continues, observe the child’s actions…
Provide language models related to the child’s ongoing activity (for example, the “self-talk” and “parallel talk”

29. Translation/Interpretation
How do you find qualified translators and interpreters ?
What are the qualifications that you require?
How do you certify their competence?
What ongoing specialized staff development do they receive?
What training do they receive about working with families of young children with disabilities?

30. Remember translators and interpreters are YOUR voice!

31. Our job is to share the facts!
Key thoughts
Young children with disabilities:
Are capable of learning multiple languages with the right supports
Deserve to be able be communicate and develop strong relationships with their closest caregivers
Families may not know this yet and need support to use their home language with their children with disabilities
Our job is to share the facts!

33. Closing Please complete the evaluations Thank you for participating!
Feel free to contact us:
Office of Head Start National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness
Toll free
system/cultural-linguistic

34. NCCLR Mobile: Scan QR Code
Scanning a QR Code is done with a smart phone and an app that uses your phone’s camera