By Angela Aquilizan and Marisa Chin-Calubaquib, Teachers
“Language is a fundamental part of cultural identity.” —Louise Derman-Sparks, educator and author
Did you know that Bing Nursery School has a voluntary dual-language learning group? Composed of teachers, the group meets monthly to discuss and reflect upon the changing demographics of classrooms and best practices for celebrating and supporting dual-language learners. Thanks to this group, established in the fall of 2022, we have introduced and integrated multiple strategies and techniques for honoring children’s home languages and highlighting the rich diversity of languages present in our community.
Based on the information we gather during intake conferences in the fall with Bing families, we discovered there are 15 different home languages in the West PM class that the children are exposed to. This discovery motivated us to identify strategies for honoring the rich diversity in our class. One approach we have used this year is integrating multiple languages while singing songs that include commonly used words. Teachers generally begin this process by writing the song’s lyrics or printing them out, and then translating a few of the key words into some of the languages present in the class (Spanish, Tagalog, French, and Italian are among those spoken by teachers). Next, we invite the children and their families to assist us with translations both in the script of their home language and phonetically. Some of the songs we’ve sung in multiple languages include “Hello Friends,” “Friends 1,2,3,” and “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Families were eager to share the words in their languages, and the children were sometimes more invested in singing when their language was featured and truly lit up upon hearing a familiar song in the speech used at home. Monolingual children benefited from being exposed to other languages, and quickly picked up on familiar words. Some of the languages that the class heard this year include Spanish, Farsi, Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, Tibetan, Greek, Italian, French, Korean, Tagalog, Hebrew, and more.
Another practice that we already use, but that became more intentional, was the use of props and visual aids to support dual-language learners during story time. Offering concrete representations for children to identify with and connect to when learning new vocabulary helps them remember and recall these new words, especially if the child is a visual learner. Some such aids that have been used in our class are felt pieces, laminated illustrations, stuffed animals, and dolls. Teachers also engaged the children with sign language and gestures, again giving children something concrete to associate with the words being spoken or sung.
As part of her research into supporting dual-language learners, Angela came across the use of persona dolls—a strategy adapted from Trisha Whitney’s book, Kids Like Us, and the work of Louise Derman-Sparks, Debbie LeeKeenan, and John Nimmo, advocates for anti-bias education in early childhood. According to Whitney, persona dolls are distinct from puppets and other props because they carry personal and social identities children can relate to or learn from. “Juanito” and “Juanita,” our persona dolls in West PM, are bilingual siblings (they speak English and Spanish) and the same ages as the children in our class. In using these persona dolls, we aim to create affirming mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors—guided by the groundbreaking work of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, known for her research on multiculturalism and children’s literature. The persona dolls serve as mirrors as the children notice similarities between their own identities and those of the dolls. They serve as windows and sliding glass doors as the children are introduced to and experience the different cultures and languages through conversations, games, music, and dances with the dolls. One of the songs the children sang and danced to with our persona dolls is called “Juanito Cuando Baila (Juanito When He Dances),” by José-Luiz Orozco.
In addition to these strategies and materials, we have used anchor texts in the classroom to introduce new vocabulary words in English and in other languages that are relevant to the children’s lives. As Elizabeth Magruder, an early learning expert, and her colleagues explained, “An anchor text is an intentionally selected book used repeatedly to foster vocabulary and concept development.” These anchor texts are the books we read at story time and return to repeatedly throughout the week.
In West PM, one of our anchor texts was Frederick by Leo Leonni. We learned a number of new vocabulary words in English, such granary, supplies, and poet. And because Frederick is a mouse, it sparked our interest in learning how to say that word in different languages. The children began to teach each other how to say “mouse” in their home language, and we documented the various translations on paper so we could revisit the words. As our list of words grew, we decided to incorporate our newly acquired vocabulary into rhymes and songs. For example, the children gathered around the table and sang “Hickory Dickory Dock,” supplying the word “mouse” in different languages (such as Farsi):
Hickory Dickory Dock
The moosh went up the clock
The clock struck one
The moosh went down
Hickory Dickory Dock!
Adopting these strategies to support dual-language learners became second nature to the teachers and children in West PM. By the end of the school year, families were offering us translations of new vocabulary or significant words without the teachers even having to ask. For instance, one of the children has four loquat trees at home and brought a bag of this exotic fruit to share with the class. Some children were eager to try something new, while others recognized the fruit and were excited to have it again. During drop-off, a caregiver noticed the fruit and shared that it’s called níspero in Spanish while another child was quick to identify the fruit in Korean: Pí Pā. From that organic start, we continued to have more contributions in multiple languages and discovered that loquats are not prevalent in all countries and therefore might not have a designated word in some languages. We’ve also observed the children initiating conversations to learn more about one another’s home language. As one curious 3-year-old asked during snack time, “How do you say ‘milk’ in Farsi?”
The children have taken so much pride and joy in becoming experts of their home language and being able to share an integral part of themselves with others. We look forward to continuing to use these and other techniques for supporting all the children in their language journeys.