What is language and how is it developed?

This vlog shows my personal definitions for language, language learning, and language teaching.

I have included examples from teaching multilingual learners in Hainan, China.

This activity helped me to compartmentalize the working definitions. By having a clear focus for each, I was able to think creatively and articulate meaning in a way that is helpful when designing lessons for my students.

Designing lessons for English language learners requires a focus on previous knowledge and experience, mother tongue language, and additional languages to create meaningful connections for the learning experience. The role of the teacher in a multilingual classroom is to provide opportunities for scaffolding as it is not only helpful but essential in culturally responsive teaching. Assessing the language learner becomes more focused when you have focused lessons designed around these three definitions.

Further Reading

Benefits of a Bilingual Brain

Using Multilingual Approaches: Moving from Theory to Practice

Below the Tip of the Iceberg

Promoting Bilingual Approaches in Teaching and Learning

The Importance of Your Mother Tongue

Global Campaign for Education Policy Brief

Learning a Second Language? Develop your Mother-Tongue

Raising Children Multilingual

Language Assessment Tools

Please join the discussion about language teaching and share your experience in the comments.

Thank you for visiting.

Until next time,