Building Literacy with Multilingual Learners: Insights from Linguistics

Now in a revised and expanded third edition, this established course text and teacher guide explores the processes involved in second-language acquisition and translates the research into practical instructional strategies for PreK–12.

Engaging classroom vignettes and personal reflections from the authors and other seasoned educators bring the teaching methods and linguistic concepts to life. Highlighting ways to draw on emergent bilingual and multilingual students' strengths, the book presents innovative learning activities, lesson-planning ideas, technology applications, downloadable reproducible forms, and other resources.

(Second edition title: Building Literacy with English Language Learners)

New to This Edition:

• Chapter on visual literacy.
• Extensive updated coverage of literacy in the digital age, including gamification and video games, digital reading, and uses of ChatGPT in the classroom.
• Increased attention to multimodal projects and activities.
• New or expanded discussions of translanguaging, dual-language instruction, English as a lingua franca as well as an academic language, and other timely topics.

Pedagogical Features:

• “How Does This Look in the Classroom?” sections.
• Study and discussion questions in every chapter.
• Chapter-opening “Key Vocabulary” boxes.
• End-of-book glossary.

Table of Contents

Preface

Guide to Pronunciation in This Book

1. Big Ideas and Research That Guide the Profession
2. First-Language Influence in Second-Language Acquisition
3. ELL Oracy: Listening Comprehension and Oral Language Development
4. Learning to Read, Write, and Spell Words in English as a New Language
5. Visual Literacy and Language Growth
6. Using Morphemes to Learn Vocabulary
7. Word Formation Processes, Cognates, and Collocations
8. “The Same, but Different”: Reading Fluency in English as a New Language
9. Achieving Comprehension in L2 English Reading
10. Writing to Learn in English across the Curriculum
11. Multilingual Learners in the Multimodal Classroom

Glossary

References

Index

"Lems, Soro, and Charles provide a clear, accessible roadmap to literacy instruction for English language learners, based on solid research in linguistics, reading and writing development, and ESL teaching methods. I’ve used this text multiple times in my graduate class on ELL literacy, with great success. My students, many of whom are inservice teachers, find the book to be not only enlightening, but also really practical, due to the many instructional techniques and activities it includes. A real highlight of the third edition is the added emphasis throughout on supporting students’ multilingualism and making their L1s an integral part of English literacy instruction through practices like translanguaging."
- Karen L Ford, PhD, Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education, University of Virginia

"In the third edition, Lems, Soro, and Charles present important current advances in language education. Of note are fast-developing technologies and their uses, not only as teaching and learning tools and modalities, but also as topics for content lessons. The third edition is well organized and accessible, and masterfully connects linguistic concepts to strategies that educators can immediately implement in their classrooms. This is an excellent text for teacher preparation courses related to second-language acquisition and bilingual education. I have used the book in my biliteracy methods courses, as well as for professional development, and loved it. The content can serve as a basis for writing assignments, in-class discussion and analysis, presentations, and demonstrations of the sample teaching strategies."
- Sonia W. Soltero, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Leadership, Language and Curriculum, DePaul University

"In its third edition, this book has gotten even better. It continues to do a superb job of combining theory with application. As the authors introduce linguistic concepts, they share their own personal experiences and those of other professionals in the field. The authors have added more practical activities that teachers can start using right away to help multilingual learners master a new language. I really appreciated the discussions of topics like the pros and cons of using artificial intelligence in the classroom."
- Margaret Gigous, EL Resource Teacher, Villa Park School District 45, Illinois