JUL-LA3.QXD 5/23/2003 11:57 AM Page 453

Fostering Multiliteracy in a Linguistically Diverse Classroom

How does a monolingual teacher support linguistic 453 David Schwarzer

Alexia Haywood diversity in a classroom of children who speak many Fostering Multiliteracy Charla Lorenzen different native languages?

However, in this classroom, the teacher is actively working to foster not only their linguistic awareness and skills in English, but also in their native languages. The purpose of this article is to de- scribe our collaborative work within this multiliterate classroom and to provide some suggestions for main- stream teachers who are interested in supporting linguistic diversity. We believe that any teacher can foster multiliteracy in the classroom without being a speaker of those languages. The first step is to under- stand the importance of first lan- guage literacy in the teaching of English as a second language. The next step is to recognize common misconceptions about the teacher’s role in multiliteracy development. The final step is to surpass these misconceptions by creating a class- The school year is well under way next question is less anticipated, room that fosters multiliteracy. in Alexia Haywood’s classroom “What language do you speak?” During the last 20 years, many arti- when a new student from Turkey These children assume that the new cles and books have been written joins them in October. Alexia greets student must speak another lan- about first language literacy and its the girl and her father and chats guage besides English. Alexia’s importance in the teaching of En- with them while the other children classroom is a linguistically diverse glish as a second language (Moll & listen attentively. She then gathers Central Texas pre-kindergarten Greenberg, 1990; Freeman & Free- the children around to meet the new class in which 14 of the 16 students man, 1991,1992, 1993, 2001; Faltis student. They are immediately inter- are bilingual. Like many other & Hudelson, 1994; Krashen, 1999; ested and bombard her with ques- second language learners in the Skutnabb-Kangas, 1990; Schwarzer, tions. The first question that bursts United States, they are acquiring 2001). Researchers have looked for forth from the energetic group is the English as a second language ways to maintain students’ first lan- expected “What’s your name?” The through the regular curriculum. guages, not only as a resource for JUL-LA3.QXD 5/23/2003 11:57 AM Page 454

their second language development, have a long-lasting impact on chang- veloping the English language. This but also as a resource that should ing students’ perspectives about their option treats native language usage be developed before those lan- native languages from that of prob- as a “passing illness” that, once guages are lost (Fishman, 1980; lem to resource (Ruiz, 1991). cured, will go away. Peyton, Renard, & McGinnis, 2001). Maintenance of the native lan- Many advocates of the development TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES ABOUT guage by the community has been of students’ native languages per- NATIVE LANGUAGE USAGE an uphill battle for a long time. ceive first language literacy instruc- IN SCHOOL SETTINGS Many language minority communi- 454 tion as a job primarily suited to ties explore options of weekend bilingual, ESL, or heritage language Teachers’ attitudes about native lan- schools and afternoon programs in Fostering Multiliteracy teachers working in maintenance- guages in schools can be summa- order to maintain native languages. oriented programs. We believe that rized as: Sometimes, schools and school dis- fostering multiliteracy can be the • forbid native languages tricts, under pressure from lan- domain of any teacher interested in guage minority parents, agree to developing the languages repre- • allow native languages create classes or afternoon clubs. sented in his/her classroom. • maintain native languages Most of these classes happen after Hudelson (1987) pointed out that a school or as extracurricular activi- strategy that is effective for develop- • foster native languages ties. Moreover, only those minority ing literacy for a monolingual child To forbid the development of multi- languages represented by a large is also effective for helping children literacy is to ignore children’s number of speakers in the school or develop literacy in their mother home languages. Many teachers are district are afforded this opportu- tongue even if the teachers do not unaware of their students’ native nity. These programs are not fre- speak all the languages of the stu- tongues and believe that their main quently taught by the regular dents. Furthermore, Freeman and job is to foster English literacy de- classroom teacher, but by a “spe- Freeman (1993, 2001) and Samway velopment. By forbidding native cial” teacher who knows the lan- and McKeon (1999) report ways language literacy, however, they guage of the students. In Alexia’s monolingual teachers can support are often denying children the op- school, for example, Chinese and students’ first languages. This article portunity to acquire their home Korean students are pulled out for builds on and expands prior research language as an important gift and native language maintenance in- in this area in the following ways: inheritance and as an integral struction. Of course, language mi- • It addresses common misconcep- aspect of their identities. nority children are segregated during these classes. Under these tions about multiliteracy develop- Other teachers allow students to conditions, students perceive a du- ment and the implications of these use their native languages in select ality in their language learning— misconceptions for mainstream school settings. For example, chil- school is mainly interested in monolingual classroom practice. dren are allowed to use Spanish developing English, while home • It expands the audience involved in and community settings are mostly discussing multiliteracy to include Fostering multiliteracy interested in the development of monolingual mainstream teachers. English and the native language. can be the domain of • It changes the focus from maintain- Fostering biliteracy or multiliteracy ing native language literacies out- any teacher interested development in the school setting side of school to fostering them in developing the seems to be the most radical ap- within curricula in order for students languages represented proach. In our opinion, there are to become balanced bilingual and at least two feasible options: dual biliterate people. in his/her classroom. language/bilingual programs and • It suggests activities monolingual monolingual teachers fostering teachers can use in their daily class- during recess, and it is fine for multiliteracy in the mainstream room practice to help children in one child to translate for another classroom. general and multilingual children in during class time. However, the use In the dual language/bilingual pro- particular achieve some level of mul- of home languages is only allowed grams, students are expected to tiliteracy. These simple activities can for the purpose of teaching or de- attain high levels of oral and writ-

Language Arts, Vol. 80 No. 6, July 2003 JUL-LA3.QXD 5/23/2003 11:57 AM Page 455

ten proficiency in both languages. prevailing misconceptions about is socially constructed (Goodman & Successful dual language/bilingual multiliteracy development. Wilde, 1992), creating a multiliter- programs have been widely docu- ate learning community is crucial mented (Freeman & Freeman, 1991). for fostering multiliteracy. Although MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT Such programs necessarily serve a monolingual teacher cannot actu- large minority language MULTILITERACY DEVELOPMENT ally “teach” students’ native lan- populations within a given school Before monolingual teachers can guages, that teacher can create a or district. When possible, dual create a multiliterate classroom, multiliterate community. language/bilingual programs are they must first address some of the Misconception #3: Teachers who 455 the ideal choice of instruction. commonly held misconceptions do not know how to write in lan- In Alexia’s case, the demographics about multiliteracy development. guages other than English cannot Fostering Multiliteracy of her classroom (6 Korean speak- Misconception #1: Monolingual foster writing in the students’ ers, 4 Chinese speakers, 3 Spanish teachers cannot foster multiliteracy home languages. speakers, 2 native English speakers, since they are not multiliterate. Teachers can enlist the help of others and only 1 Turkish-speaking child) Reyes, Laliberty, and Orbansky to provide students with rich multi- made the dual language/bilingual (1993) state that, “monolingual lan- literate print environments. They can program option impractical. There- guage arts teachers cannot tap into develop a multiliterate classroom li- fore, she decided as the mainstream native languages because they do brary to use during sustained silent teacher to foster multiliteracy de- not have a working knowledge of reading times in their classes. They velopment in her linguistically di- other languages” (p. 659). Of course can also encourage parents to bring verse class. we agree that multiliterate teachers magazines, coupons, newspapers, Monolingual classroom teachers can are necessary to tap into all the re- bottles, and other objects containing foster multiliteracy in children’s home languages. Teachers can in- Although a monolingual teacher cannot actually quire about students’ languages, not “teach” students’ native languages, that teacher can simply as part of the home language survey or for district reports, but to create a multiliterate community. locate someone in the school and home communities who can help sources available to a multiliterate print in order to give students real to foster the students’ languages child. However, we believe that life experiences in their native lan- within the classroom. Schools and monolingual teachers can tap into guages. These changes may seem communities can become partners some of the resources available in small, but they can have a big in the development of lifelong students’ native languages, even if impact on students’ appreciation of multilingual/multiliterate individu- they do not have a working knowl- their native languages. als who are aware that their native edge of those languages. What they Misconception #4: Teachers who language and literacy is a precious do need to know is what is good for do not understand their students’ resource for the school community. language learning—environmental home languages cannot assess their The reality of many mainstream print in the different languages, lan- language proficiency in those lan- classrooms is that teachers are al- guage use for authentic purposes, guages. It is not necessary to know ready making efforts to include mul- using authentic materials with au- Hebrew in order to be able to assess ticultural literature in their language thentic audiences, taking risks, etc. whether or not a child can read flu- arts curriculum while providing cul- Misconception #2: The classroom ently in Hebrew. If the child stum- turally relevant themes (Norton, teacher is the only person who can bles over every other word, looks for 1990; Tway, 1989). However, native teach languages in the classroom. help, or sounds like a monotonous languages continue to be overlooked Teachers do not need to be the only reader, these are likely signs that the as a crucial aspect of multicultural ones teaching in the classroom. child is not comfortable reading in education (Nieto, 1992). Very few They can create, with the help of the home language. Of course, teachers use students’ native lan- students, parents, siblings, elders, sometimes children may look like guages as a resource to enhance clergy, and other community mem- they are reading while they are “in- their multicultural curriculum bers, a multiliterate learning com- venting” meaning from the printed (Reyes, 1992), in part because of munity. Since we know that literacy page. These creative inventions in JUL-LA3.QXD 5/23/2003 11:57 AM Page 456

the native language are also a posi- guages. Many teachers in the United to the school from all around the tive sign of literacy development! States come from families born in world, bringing 17 different lan- Biliterate community members can different countries (e.g., France, guages. Alexia typically had four or help teachers assess students’ native literacy proficiency. Dong (1999) This cross-cultural literacy awareness benefits makes the case that second language both students and teachers in building a community teachers need information about stu- dents’ native literacy learning in of learners since their native literacy and 456 order to tailor their curriculum to native cultural backgrounds are considered students’ needs. In doing so, teachers Fostering Multiliteracy are sending a message to students rich resources instead of obstacles. that their home languages are ac- knowledged and valued, instead of Germany, Poland, Italy, etc.). Teach- five languages other than English dismissed or ignored. Moreover, this ers can look up their last names on represented in her classroom. cross-cultural literacy awareness the Internet and see what languages Many of Alexia’s students were chil- benefits both students and teachers and countries appear on the search dren of graduate students at a local in building a community of learners engine. They can also interview university that attracts large num- since their native literacy and native family members about their lan- bers of international students. Many cultural backgrounds are considered guage backgrounds and construct a came to Alexia’s school because rich resources instead of obstacles. Family Language Use Tree to trace their families lived in the graduate their family history of written, read, The teacher can ask students ques- married housing complexes nearby. and spoken languages through sev- tions about the readings they have The children were in the unique and eral generations (Schwarzer, 2001). done in their native languages such somewhat difficult position of as, What is the story about? Who is Teachers can learn how to write their coming to live in the United States the main character? For example, if own names in the home language at a young age without knowing for the teacher does not know Chinese writing system of their ancestry certain how long they would be and the child is reading a book like (Cyrillic, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, staying, since families were as likely Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do etc.). Additionally, teachers may to remain in the U.S. as return home You See? (Martin, 1992) in Chinese, want to explore simple phrases such after the parents received graduate the teacher may be able to recognize as: “How are you?” and “My name degrees. For this reason, those in- the same Chinese character for is ______.” in their own heritage volved with the children’s education “bear” in two different places and languages. This may seem to be a were highly invested in helping the ask the child to point to the word for strange activity to do in classes with children to both learn English (to “bear.” If the Chinese character does multilingual students and a monolin- function in the United States) and not look the same each time, the gual teacher, but we contend that maintain their first language (be- teacher can ask the student for an teachers can also be learners and cause of the prospect of returning to explanation. It may become appar- model this voyage into multiliteracy. the home country). ent that the child is not able to read Alexia was unsure about how to ALEXIA’S PERSONAL the conventional text. In that case, meet the needs of this diverse the teacher can also utilize parents JOURNEY OF INVENTING A group of children. During her first or other community members to MULTILITERATE CLASSROOM year in this new position, she fa- help in assessing the student’s profi- After teaching for four years, miliarized herself with her sur- ciency in the native language. Alexia, a white middle class bilin- roundings. She loved the diversity Misconception #5: Monolingual gual English/Spanish teacher, found of the class, but it was not until the teachers can help children become herself in a different school and in second year at the school that she multiliterate even if the teachers do a new situation. Alexia had previ- felt ready to utilize this unique sit- not learn their own heritage lan- ously worked with native Spanish- uation to its full potential. guages. Monolingual teachers can speaking students. In her new It was during this year that Alexia help children appreciate the value of school, however, there was a much and Charla met in a university-level their native languages if they show more diverse and international stu- bilingual education class and found an interest in their own home lan- dent population. The students came that they were both interested in

Language Arts, Vol. 80 No. 6, July 2003 JUL-LA3.QXD 5/23/2003 11:57 AM Page 457

native language maintenance. They 3 Spanish speakers, 1 Turkish tween the oral utterance and the then began working with David, a speaker, and 2 native English- written sentence (Goodman, 1993). professor from that university who speaking children. On this particular After going through the usual daily was also interested in fostering mul- day, when the students arrived at calendar rituals, the class was ready tiliteracy in the classroom. Together school, they found more adults to begin the new activity. The cul- they decided to explore how a present in the classroom than usual. mination of a “creepy crawlies” unit teacher who does not speak all of the A special language project had been was going to be a field trip to a languages represented in her class planned that required help from par- local nature center to take part in a can still promote literacy in those ents, other teachers, and members of program called “Six Legs, Eight 457 languages. Alexia, David, and Charla the community who spoke the lan- Legs, Many Legs.” In preparing for

saw that this classroom was a perfect guages of the children. the day’s activities, Alexia had Fostering Multiliteracy place to start putting their ideas into This was the first time that we had chosen four main concepts that she action, and for a full semester, Charla attempted to implement a structured wanted the children to learn: a) in- conducted her M.A. thesis research in activity relying on parents as teach- sects have six legs, b) insects have this classroom (Lorenzen, 2001). ers. David and Charla were present, three body sections, c) spiders have Alexia began with changes that were along with three Korean-speaking eight legs, and d) spiders spin webs simple. She labeled students’ cubbies parents, two Chinese-speaking par- to trap food. with their names in English or Span- ents, a mother who spoke Spanish, In the days preceding this experi- ish as she had always done, but she and a father who spoke Turkish. The ence, these concepts were explained also had the students or parents school principal also came to enjoy to the parents who were going to write their names underneath in Chi- the day’s activities. help with the activity. The volun- nese or Korean (two languages rep- The children were seated on the teers wrote the concepts in their resented in the class with writing carpet in front of the calendars and native language so that the class systems other than English). Alexia would have them as written models enlisted parents to help her acquire This was the first time to be read to the children. Alexia posters of all the different alphabets had prepared sheets of paper with represented by students in the class- that we had attempted the words for insect and spider writ- room. One Korean mother, who was to implement ten in all of the different languages. an artist, hand-painted a beautiful Each group of adults had enough alphabet in her native language for a structured activity copies of “insect” and “spider” in display on a classroom wall. Fur- relying on parents the applicable native language for thermore, Alexia got special funds all the students. from the school administration to as teachers. Alexia also decided to have the buy books in Chinese and Korean. alphabets that had been collected in class sing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” in As the year progressed, our collabo- the different languages. The class all of the languages. Korean and rative team took on more challenges began the school day by saying, Spanish versions of the song al- by asking, “How can we incorporate “Good morning” and “How are ready existed, but there was no Chi- the native languages of the children you?” in all five languages. Earlier nese or Turkish equivalent. Two of to a greater degree in the class, espe- in the semester, Charla had tape- the Chinese mothers and the Turkish cially in written form?” The follow- recorded the phrases from various father translated the song into their ing narrative of a special day in this parents and a Chinese-speaking respective languages. The songs classroom illustrates how progress teacher at the school. Each phrase were written ahead of time on large toward the possibilities of a multilit- in each language was repeated pieces of chart paper. eracy curriculum were evident in the three times with pauses in between Alexia divided the children into five day-to-day activities of the class. so that everyone could practice. groups according to their native lan- Alexia had written out the different guages (Spanish, English, Korean, A SPECIAL DAY phrases in the different languages Chinese, and Turkish). There was at IN THE CLASSROOM and she pointed to them as the least one native-speaking adult in There were 16 four- and five-year- class recitation proceeded. This charge of each group. All of the old students in Alexia’s class: 6 was an important strategy since adults had the four concepts written Korean speakers, 4 Chinese speakers, it helped students’ connections be- out in their native languages and a JUL-LA3.QXD 5/23/2003 11:57 AM Page 458

copy of the “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” in the lan- and noted that the letters looked song hanging nearby. guage of each one of the groups. very different from English. The children prepared for their At the end of the day, the children Alexia noted that students asked hour-long language experience by took home all of their writing. “The each other more frequently than in getting into groups according to Itsy Bitsy Spider” songs were hung previous years how to say words in their own native languages. The in the classroom in all of the lan- each other’s native language. One adults discussed the four concepts guage variations, and the class con- Chinese-speaking boy asked a of the lesson with the children in tinued to practice every day until Korean friend to write the word 458 their native language. Each child each version was learned. Alexia “Mom” in Korean on the envelope then received a sheet of paper that found that in order to remember the for a letter he wrote to his mother. Fostering Multiliteracy had the word “insect” written at the pronunciation of the songs in all of Two Chinese-speaking girls loved to top in his/her native language. The the languages, she had to write out listen to a Spanish recording of the the words phonetically in English, story “Snow White,” as it was one It became common to which became an effective learning of their favorites in Chinese. When strategy. Alexia always made sure the Turkish-speaking student joined see children writing that she pointed to each word while the class in October, the other stu- both in English and in the children sang the songs. After a dents asked Alexia to get books and their native languages few weeks of practicing the songs, songs in Turkish like the ones in the Alexia had children volunteer to other languages. in her class throughout point to the words in their native We found that our results contrasted the school day. languages as everyone else sang with prior case studies that noted along. This strategy was extremely decreased use of home languages important in helping the students children attempted to write the by multilingual children over time. understand the relationship between word in their native language and Prior studies documenting multilin- oral and written language. The class to draw a picture of an insect incor- gual children in monolingual early went on to have other similar days porating the characteristics they had childhood classes found that there is during the course of the school year. discussed using their native tongue. a shift towards English use at home Finally, the students were encour- (Fillmore, 1991), and that less than INCREASING USE aged to write a sentence in their ten percent of the overall writing of native language related to the pic- OF NATIVE LANGUAGES these children was produced in lan- ture. The same was done for During this journey, several times we guages other than English in both “spider.” The native language ses- asked ourselves “How do we know the home and school settings. In sion ended by singing “The Itsy that we are going in the ‘right’ di- most instances, writing in languages Bitsy Spider” in that language. rection?” Following kid-watching other than English appeared in only After singing the song in their strategies (Goodman & Wilde, 1996), the home setting (Schwarzer, 2001; native language, the children we recorded anecdotal records of lit- Kim, 2000). The students in Alexia’s switched tables. At this point, the eracy events that shed light on the class, in contrast, wrote much more students were working with lan- learning that was occurring. For ex- in one day in their native languages guages that were not their first, or ample, one day a Korean-speaking than the overall amount reported by even their second language, so the student asked Alexia why the names other researchers in longitudinal sessions were shorter. By the end of the Spanish speakers were not case studies in early childhood of the hour-long experience, each written in English and Spanish like classes (Schwarzer, 1996, 2001; Kim, child had rotated through their own the names that were written in both 2000). Alexia had noticed almost native language and at least one of English and Korean or English and none of this the previous year, but it the other languages represented in Chinese. This observation prompted became common to see children the room. The children learned how Alexia and the students to look at writing both in English and in their to say the words for insect and the Spanish alphabet and discuss native languages in her class spider in the other languages and at- that even though it sounded differ- throughout the school day. tempted to write the words by using ent than English, most of the letters Alexia was able to foster the native the models provided by the parents. were the same. They then examined language literacies of the students in They ended each rotation by singing the Korean and Chinese alphabets her class despite not being a profi-

Language Arts, Vol. 80 No. 6, July 2003 JUL-LA3.QXD 5/23/2003 11:57 AM Page 459

cient user of all of the languages. ents or family members in the 8. Involve community members as Furthermore, her students showed home country. active participants in the class. Par- signs of increased awareness of and ents, community activists, clergy, 4. Create predetermined and relevant interest in others’ home languages. volunteers, and staff personnel are curricular language centers that Based on our experiences in Alexia’s valuable resources for appreciating are supported by multiliterate classroom, we created a list of ten language diversity as an asset. Stu- community members. Invite ways monolingual teachers in main- dent awareness of language can be multiliterate people from the stream classrooms can start their encouraged, for example, by creat- school or community to help teach own journeys to foster multiliteracy. ing a Family Language Use Tree 459 relevant class themes in other (Schwarzer, 2001) for each child. A languages. Clearly communicate

TEN BEGINNING IDEAS school language tree could show Fostering Multiliteracy the expected outcomes to commu- which class has the most lan- FOR MONOLINGUAL TEACHERS nity members. TO FOSTER MULTILITERACY guages, which child or family 5. Assess students’ literacy in their speaks the most languages in the 1. Create a multiliterate print envi- first language. Teachers need some school, etc. ronment in your classroom. Place idea of students’ linguistic levels 9. Find ways to translate environmen- multilingual posters throughout in their native language. If a child tal print as well as school letters the class to illustrate the alphabets can read independently, challenge into all of the languages available of the languages spoken by class that child to read some of the in the learning community. Stu- members; the names of the chil- books in the classroom library. dents should see authentic uses of dren in their own language and in However, if a child is just begin- their native languages even if not English; or phrases in all of the ning to read in his/her native lan- required by law. It is important to languages, such as hello, good guage, having a community have some signs written in differ- morning, good afternoon, goodbye, member read a book with the child ent languages (e.g., Exit, Principal’s good job. Use some kind of may be more beneficial. Office, Welcome to Memphis Ele- transliteration so the teacher can 6. Start learning some words in the mentary School, etc.). point at the written words while students’ first languages as well as 10. Use the students’ culture and expe- using them with students. your own heritage language. riences as a catalyst for multiliter- 2. Use literature in students’ native Simple phrases such as: “How are acy development. Use students’ languages. Create opportunities you?” “Good job!” and “See you to- backgrounds and cultural assets as for students to share children’s lit- morrow” may have a profound a resource by inviting students to erature in their first language. Ask impact on students’ understand- share issues related to their cul- a parent or a sibling to read a ings of the importance of their tural background throughout the book in the first language for the native languages. Teachers can en- year. When students talk about class, or to read to children who courage this feature by making the their cultural traditions, they often speak that language. Books in all effort to learn their own family use native language words in their the languages spoken by the chil- heritage language as well as that English presentations (e.g., Bar dren should be included in the of their students. Mitzvah, Quinceñera, fajitas, Pow- classroom library for silent sus- 7. Create audiotaped cassettes with wow, etc.). Children can translate tained reading or as resources for greetings, basic conversations, the words by explaining their a project. Audiotaped versions of songs, stories, etc. in the students’ meaning, but it may be cumber- the books can be included in a lis- first languages. Students should some, and the native language tening center. hear other people using their word is usually still required within 3. Create a multiliterate project to be native tongue in the classroom. the English explanation. conducted by a community member Teachers can start a collection of Using native language words creates in the native language. Multiliter- community-produced audiotapes a wonderful multiliteracy learning acy projects could include dialogue or videotapes of parents telling a opportunity. Ask students to write a journals, weekly individual literacy story in another language, a list of words in their home lan- meetings in the native language, brother reading a book to his sister, guages, followed by the English ex- translation projects for the com- or other situations involving a planation, so that the words can be munity, or letters to the grandpar- native language speaker. posted for class. This simple tool JUL-LA3.QXD 5/23/2003 11:57 AM Page 460

may enhance students’ literacy de- Freeman, Y. S., & Freeman, D. E. (1991). Ten diverse students. Harvard Educational velopment in their home languages. tips for monolingual teachers of bilingual Review, 62, 427–446. students. In K. Goodman, L. Bird, & Y. Reyes, M. L., Laliberty, E. A., & Orbanosky, FINAL THOUGHTS Goodman (Eds.), The whole language J. M. (1993). Emerging biliteracy and catalog (p. 90). Chicago, IL: American cross-cultural sensitivity in a language As a collaborative team, we ob- School Publishers. arts classroom. Language Arts, 70, served many wonderful things over Freeman, Y. S., & Freeman, D. E. (1992). 659–668. the course of the year. The lessons Whole language for second language Ruiz, R. (1991). The empowerment of learned from Alexia’s classroom learners. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. language-minority students. In C. 460 give us hope that mainstream Goodman, K. (1993). Phonics phacts. Ports- Sleeter (Ed.), Empowerment through teachers can indeed foster language mouth, NH: Heinemann. multicultural education (pp. 217–227). Fostering Multiliteracy sensitivity, tolerance, interest, and Goodman, Y., & Wilde, S. (Eds.). (1992). Albany, NY: State University of New even literacy in languages in which Literacy events in a community of York Press. they are not proficient. Ideally, young writers. New York: Teachers Samway, K., & McKeon, D. (1999). Myths many people and institutions College Press. and realities: Best practices for language minority students. Portsmouth, NH: would come together to make Goodman, Y., & Wilde, S. (1996). Notes Heinemann. such a project successful, but it from a kidwatcher: Selected writings of Schwarzer, D. (1996). Parallel development all starts with the teacher. It is Yetta M. Goodman. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. of writing in Hebrew, Spanish, and English our hope that other teachers, in a multilingual child. Unpublished doc- Hudelson, S. (1987). The role of native liter- principals, researchers, and toral dissertation. The University of Ari- acy in the education of minority stu- policy makers can continue zona in Tucson. dents. Language Arts, 64(8), 827–841. the work of creating classrooms Schwarzer, D. (2001). Noa’s ark: One child’s Kim, S. J. (2000). Early biliteracy develop- and schools that truly value the voyage into multiliteracy. Portsmouth, ment in and out of school: A case study NH: Heinemann. cultural and linguistic diversity of a Korean child. Unpublished master’s of our children. thesis. The University of Texas in Austin. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1990). Language, liter- acy and minorities. Clevedon, England: Krashen, S. (1999). Condemned without a Multilingual Matters. References trial: Bogus arguments against bilingual Tway, E. (1989). Dimensions of multicul- education. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Dong, Y. R. (1999). The need to understand tural literature for children. In M. K. ESL students’ native language writing ex- Lorenzen, C. (2001). Inventing a multiliterate Rudman (Ed.), Children’s literature in the periences. Teaching English in the Two- pre-K classroom. Unpublished master’s classroom (pp. 109–138). Norwood, MA: Year College, 26(3), 277–285. thesis. The University of Texas in Austin. Christopher-Gordon. Faltis, C., & Hudelson, S. (1994). Learning Martin, B. J., & Carle, E. (1992). Brown bear, English as an additional language in brown bear, what do you see? New York: K–12 schools. TESOL Quarterly, 28(3), Henry Holt. 457–468. Moll, L. C., & Greenberg, J. (1990). Creating Fillmore, L. W. (1991). When learning a zones of possibilities: Combining social second language means losing the first. contexts for instruction. In L. C. Moll Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 6(3), (Ed.), Vygotsky and education 323–347. (pp. 319–348). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Fishman, J. A. (1980). Minority language Author Biographies maintenance and the ethnic mother Nieto, S. (1992). Affirming diversity. White Plains, NY: Longman. tongue school. Modern Language Jour- David Schwarzer is assistant professor in nal, 64(2), 167–172. Norton, D. N. (1990). Teaching multicultural multilingual studies at the University of Freeman, D. E., & Freeman, Y. S. (1993). literatures in the reading curriculum. The Texas, Austin. Alexia Haywood holds a Strategies for promoting the primary lan- Reading Teacher, 44, 28–40. Master’s degree in bilingual education guage of all students. The Reading Peyton, J. K., Ranard, D. A., & McGinnis, S. from the University of Texas and currently Teacher, 46(7), 552–558. (Eds.). (2001). Heritage languages in teaches in Austin, Texas. Charla Lorenzen Freeman, D. E., & Freeman, Y. S. (2001). America: Preserving a national resource. is a graduate student in foreign language Between worlds: Access to second McHenry, IL: Delta Systems. education and is assistant instructor of language acquisition. Portsmouth, Reyes, M. L. (1992). Challenging venerable Spanish at the University of Texas, Austin. NH: Heinemann. assumptions: Literacy for linguisitically

Language Arts, Vol. 80 No. 6, July 2003