Bilingual Classroom Activities
Though bilingualism can lead to many noted benefits, including increased cognitive awareness and high academic achievement, many immigrant families struggle to maintain their heritage language and culture after they move to the United States. In their article “'What If I Don’t Speak It?' - Classroom Strategies to Nurture Students’ Heritage Language,” Janka Szilágyi and her colleagues assert that supporting children in maintaining their heritage language “is the responsibility of all stakeholders involved in a child’s life” (pg. 117). This includes parents and extended family members as well as teachers. Teachers may question their ability to assist in preserving children’s heritage languages when they themselves are not familiar with the language. This need not be a roadblock, however, as Szilágyi et al. provide the following suggestions for ways in which teachers can become involved:
It is critical that teachers work to support children in maintaining their heritage language. Bilingual children have special skills and should be treated as assets capable of sharing their experiences with their fellow students. For more information, we highly recommend checking out ¡Colorín colorado! on the web at http://www.colorincolorado.org/ This bilingual English-Spanish website is supported by the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. It offers free multimedia materials for use by parents and teachers, and provides tips for reading at home and creating a welcoming classroom environment. In addition to Spanish, the website offers access to materials in eleven other languages, including Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, and Arabic, to name a few. It also contains numerous booklists and suggestions for fun and engaging classroom activities.
- give children access to dual language books and ask them to complete assignments such as writing book reports and/or giving bilingual book talks to their classmates
- have students translate daily news and announcements and present them orally to the class in their heritage language
- have children complete autobiographies in English and their heritage language
- ask children to locate cognates in both languages, which has the potential to increase vocabularies and reading skills
- encourage older bilingual children to act as mentors to younger bilingual students
- invite kids’ parents to share their culture and speak to the class in their heritage language, giving bilingual students the opportunity to act as translators
It is critical that teachers work to support children in maintaining their heritage language. Bilingual children have special skills and should be treated as assets capable of sharing their experiences with their fellow students. For more information, we highly recommend checking out ¡Colorín colorado! on the web at http://www.colorincolorado.org/ This bilingual English-Spanish website is supported by the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. It offers free multimedia materials for use by parents and teachers, and provides tips for reading at home and creating a welcoming classroom environment. In addition to Spanish, the website offers access to materials in eleven other languages, including Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, and Arabic, to name a few. It also contains numerous booklists and suggestions for fun and engaging classroom activities.
Sources:
- Szilágyi, Janka, Debra Giambo, et al. “Teaching Strategies: ‘What If I Don’t Speak It?’ Classroom Strategies to Nurture Students’ Heritage Languages.” Childhood Education 89.2 (2013): 117-121.