Did you know that the number of public school students in the United States who are English learners has grown to more than 5.3 million students in the past ten years? For these learners, their home languages aren’t just tools for communication—they’re bridges to academic success and cultural connection.

Growing up in Panama, my family spoke one language at home and another at school and in the community. English was our home language, but Spanish shaped our broader experiences. For me, being multilingual was always an asset—a perspective that continues to shape my belief in the power of linguistic diversity. Your students might speak English at school and another language at home, but we must understand and help them and their families realize that being multilingual is a gift worth preserving!

In secondary English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms, embracing students’ home languages isn’t just about equity; it’s about unlocking deeper learning, celebrating cultural identities, and fostering critical thinking. Let’s explore why home languages matter and how we can make them integral to our classrooms.

1. Home Languages Strengthen Identity

Students thrive when their cultural heritage is recognized and valued. Creating a safe and welcoming classroom empowers students to share their perspectives and build confidence in their identities.

One way to get to know all your students’ linguistic backgrounds is by asking thoughtful questions over time:

• What countries have you lived in?
• Where were your parents and grandparents born?
• Which language(s) do you speak?
• What are your cultural traditions?
• What are your interests?

These conversations or written reflections will help you uncover students’ funds of knowledge (Gonzalez, Moll, and Amanti, 2005)—the skills and experiences they bring to the classroom. You may even discover that some fluent English speakers have multilingual backgrounds that could enrich your classroom community!

2. Home Languages Build Vocabulary

Families can play an essential role in helping students expand their academic vocabulary. We know students need to be exposed to vocabulary and use it multiple times to develop an authentic and deep understanding of words. One way to help your multilingual learners with these multiple exposures is by inviting them to teach it to their families. Consider sending home a short list of key academic terms and encouraging your students to: 

1. Teach the word to their family members.
2. Identify the words in their home language.

Your students might discover cognates or develop a deeper understanding of the meaning of the word through conversations with their family members. These connections deepen comprehension, boost retention, and promote meaningful family engagement.

Once your students come back with the word in their home language, you could make a word cloud with the key vocabulary for your unit in multiple languages and display it in your room.  

Connecting English words to home language concepts builds academic vocabulary and bridges school and home, enhancing student learning and involvement.

3. Home Languages Build Literacy Skills

Engaging students in reading and writing tasks in both their home languages and English fosters critical thinking and cross-linguistic literacy skills. Activities like discussions, peer collaboration, and presentations encourage students to draw on their linguistic resources while practicing academic language. A strategy I love for bridging home languages and English is See/Say-Mean-Matter.

The See/Say-Mean-Matter Strategy helps students process content by moving from concrete details to abstract themes, cultivating deeper understanding and critical thinking. It’s especially effective for multilingual learners because it allows flexibility in language use while scaffolding complex texts. This is how it works:

1. Explain the purpose of each column in the graphic organizer:
   • See/Say: What does the text/media explicitly state?
   • Mean: What does it imply or suggest?
   • Matter: Why is it important, and how does it connect to real-world or personal experiences?
2. Share texts, videos, images, or audio to support diverse learning needs.
3. Encourage multilingual thinking by allowing students to process the content individually or collaboratively in their home languages. Encourage them to draft ideas in their home language before translating them into English.
4. Use probing questions to deepen thinking about the text or media:
   • "What makes you think that?"
   • "What does this mean to you?"
   • "Why does this matter?"
5. Use completed organizers, reflections, or observations to gauge progress.

By enabling multilingual expression and structured reflection, See/Say-Mean-Matter helps all students engage deeply with content, encouraging meaningful learning connections.

Elevate Language, Empower Learning

As educators, we have a unique opportunity to create spaces where students’ linguistic and cultural identities are celebrated. Incorporating home languages into instruction empowers multilingual learners to become confident thinkers and communicators, ready to excel in school and beyond.

It’s your turn to try integrating one of these strategies. How will you celebrate and leverage students’ home languages in your classroom? Imagine the impact this approach could have on their engagement and success.

Let’s make our classrooms places where every language and culture is seen as an invaluable asset to learning, collaboration, and growth. Together, we can create environments that honor all voices and inspire every student to reach their full potential.

Citations:

• Colorín Colorado. (n.d.). Cognates: An effective strategy for English learners. Retrieved December 9, 2024, from https://www.colorincolorado.org/ell-strategies/cognates

• González, N., Moll, L. C., & Amanti, C. (Eds.). (2005). Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

• National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). English Learners in Public Schools. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgf. 

• Say-Mean-Matter. Retrieved December 9, 2024, from https://usddrtiliteracystrategies.weebly.com/say-mean-matter.html