Encourage Home Language Literacy in the Summer
3 ideas to suggest to Multilingual Learners
I realize that some of you have finished school and are heading into a well-deserved summer break, but many are getting in the last couple of days or weeks. This post is all about suggestions for enhancing home languages. Check out this post from Parents Empowered, too.
Benefits of Home-Language Literacy
Did you know that home-language literacy helps and does not hinder reading development in a new language? Of course, grammar rules, letter sounds, and other factors differ between languages; the foundational reading skills developed in a student’s first language will transfer to the second language. A student who becomes proficient in reading in their home language is better prepared to learn reading in a new language. On the other hand, a student who must learn reading skills and a new language simultaneously has to work twice as hard and is less likely to succeed in either area (Short & Fitzsimmons, 2007). To support students develop literacy in English, the first step is developing literacy in their home language.
Research shows that students can learn multiple languages at once without negatively affecting either language. Time spent developing home language skills will not hinder a student’s progress in English (Genesee & Lindholm-Leary, 2021).
Don’t Neglect the Home Language
Because many newcomer parents hear and experience the importance of English proficiency in the US culture at large, many feel they must only encourage English at home. This advice may be well-intended, but in reality, it impedes Multilingual Learners’ progress. An English-only approach limits effective communication between parents and children. Additionally, other family and community members may struggle to connect with the child, making it difficult to share stories and traditions, communicate, or even support the child's schoolwork. It diminishes the funds of knowledge they could be learning.
Neglecting the home language can impact ML’s self-concept, relationships, and overall language development. Parents should be encouraged to use their home language with their children to foster a richer and more natural language experience. Teachers and schools should also support home language development.
Here are three ideas you might incentivize for your MLs over the summer:
Write in a physical or electronic journal. This post has lots of creative ideas to share with your students.
Photo by Prophsee Journals on Unsplash Read books, social media, blog posts, and articles in home languages. Public libraries are wonderful resources for summer reading.
Photo by Eliott Reyna on Unsplash Make an effort to talk with community members in home languages.
Photo by Rémi Walle on Unsplash
You could make a chart or checklist for them. Let them know they’ll get extra credit if they show what they did over the summer. This truly lets them know that the school community supports this idea.
Does your school encourage home language development? How?
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