Early Years TV Blog Post

by Karen Nemeth

I was honored to have a conversation with Kathy Brodie on Early Years TV. We talked about Strategies to Engage Multilingual Learners in All Areas of the Classroom. Would you like to read more about this topic? Here are links to the key resources that we mentioned in our discussion. Let me know in the comments if you would like more information.

Research about the importance of two-way, relationship-based interactions with children who are multilingual learners:

• The Linguistic Genius of Babies – TED Talk by Dr. Patricia Kuhl
• Shanahan, T. & Lonigan, C. (retrieved 2023) – The Importance of Early Oral Language in Literacy Development, Language Magazine 
• Durán, L.K., López, L., Wackerle-Hollman, A.K., Miranda, A., Sawyer, B., & Hammer,C.S., (2023) Look Who’s Talking Now: Examining Language Use with Dual Language Learners in Preschool Classrooms, The Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education, 46(1-2), 25-46.

Research about the importance of specific strategies to support each child’s home language for comprehension and learning:

• Banse, H.W. (2021) Dual language learners and four areas of early childhood learning and development: what do we know and what do we need to learn? Early Child Development and Care, 191:9, 1347-1360
• Espinosa, L. (2013) Early Education for Dual Language Learners: Promoting School Readiness and Early School Success, Migration Policy Institute
• Understanding Language Development to Support High Quality Instructional Interactions (recorded webinar is 1 of a 3-part DLL series Front Porch Broadcast 2020)
• Nemeth, K. (2021), Educating Young Children with Diverse Languages and Cultures, Routledge Publishing
• Brillante, P. and Nemeth K. (2022), Universal Design for Learning in the Early Childhood Classroom: Teaching Children of All Languages, Cultures, and Abilities, Birth – age 8 years, 2^nd edition, Routledge Publishing

Resources about supporting home-school connections to build belonging and cultural relevance:

• Koralek, D., Nemeth, K., & Ramsey, K. (2019), Families and Educators Together: Building Great Relationships That Support Young Children, NAEYC
• Reid, J.L., Scott-Little, C, & Kagan, S.L. (2019) Diverse Children, Uniform Standards: Using Early Learning and Development Standards in Multicultural Classrooms, Young Children, 74(5).

Language Castle blog posts with practical strategies mentioned in the interview:

• Multilingual Learners Need Materials with Intrinsic Meaning
• Beyond Hello for Multilingual Learners
• Fast 5 Gamechangers Empower DLLs with Conversations
• Fast 5 Gamechangers to Support Math Learning for Young DLLs
• Fast 5 Gamechangers: Preschool Science Learning for DLLs

Enjoy!