Designing Learning Experiences that Embrace Multilingualism in the PYP

This blog post will provide context and suggest possible answers to the three questions from the #pypchat about fostering multilingualism in the PYP framework.

Question 1: Designing Learning Experiences

The PYP framework recognizes the importance of honoring and utilizing each student’s unique linguistic and cultural background. This begins with understanding students’ language profiles. Schools can use the “student language portrait” tool to capture a learner’s language background, experiences, and goals. This information allows teachers to leverage the student’s existing linguistic knowledge and strengths to facilitate their language development.

Here are some ways to design such learning experiences:

• Activating Prior Knowledge: Teachers can explicitly activate prior knowledge using students’ home and family languages. This strategy not only helps students access their existing knowledge but also affirms the value of their linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
• Personalized Learning Engagements: Teachers can use their knowledge of students’ prior language skills and understandings to personalize learning engagements. This might involve differentiating instruction, providing access to resources in multiple languages, or creating opportunities for students to share their linguistic expertise with their peers.
• Creating a Multilingual Learning Environment: PYP schools should create environments where multiple languages are visible and celebrated. Displaying alphabet charts in different languages, using labels and signs in multiple languages, and incorporating songs, poetry, and games from various cultures can create a rich and inclusive learning atmosphere.
• Encouraging Translanguaging: Teachers can intentionally incorporate translanguaging strategies into their planning. This can involve encouraging students to make connections between their languages, use bilingual dictionaries and resources, and discuss concepts in their home languages before presenting them in the language of instruction.
• Collaborative Goal Setting: Teachers can co-construct learning goals with students, taking into account their linguistic backgrounds and needs. This collaborative approach helps students feel ownership over their learning and encourages them to use their languages as resources.

By designing learning experiences that respect and leverage each student’s linguistic and cultural background, PYP classrooms can become spaces where all learners feel valued, empowered, and able to thrive.

Question 2: Modeling and Facilitating Multimodal Communication

The PYP framework recognizes the importance of multiliteracies, which encompass different ways of making meaning beyond traditional print-based literacy. These include digital technologies and other multimodal forms of communication that allow for diverse modes of expression. Recognizing the multimodal nature of communication allows students to explore their unique strengths and preferences in expressing themselves.

Educators can model and facilitate multimodal communication in the following ways:

• Using a Variety of Texts: Teachers should expose students to a wide range of texts in different modes (print, digital, visual, auditory, kinesthetic) and in multiple languages. Using diverse texts allows students to see different ways of communicating and helps them develop a broader understanding of literacy.
• Encouraging Creative Expression: Teachers can provide opportunities for students to express themselves creatively using multimodal tools and platforms. This might involve creating digital stories, composing music, designing visual art, or developing multimedia presentations.
• Modeling Multimodal Communication: Teachers should model the use of multimodal communication in their own teaching. They can use visual aids, incorporate multimedia elements into their lessons, and communicate with students using different modes.
• Providing Technological Tools: Schools should provide access to a variety of technological tools and resources that support multimodal communication. This includes software for creating digital media, interactive whiteboards, and online platforms for collaboration and sharing.
• Facilitating Student Collaboration: Teachers can facilitate student collaboration using multimodal tools. Collaborative projects can allow students to use their diverse linguistic and communicative skills to create a shared understanding.

By embracing and fostering multimodal communication, educators can create dynamic learning environments that cater to diverse learners and prepare them for a world where communication transcends traditional boundaries.

Question 3: Understanding Language as a Dynamic System

The PYP framework understands language as a dynamic and context-dependent system, meaning language development is influenced by various factors, including personal experiences, social interactions, and cultural contexts. It also emphasizes that each of a student’s languages may be developed to different levels and within different contexts. Assessment in the PYP framework should reflect this understanding by taking a holistic view of students’ language development and avoiding standardized tests that focus solely on one language or mode of communication.

Here’s how this understanding of language can shape assessment and support:

• Using Multiple Assessment Methods: To capture the dynamic nature of language development, assessment should employ a variety of methods, including observations, conversations, performances, portfolios, and self-assessments. These methods provide a more comprehensive and nuanced picture of a student’s language abilities than standardized tests.
• Focusing on Individual Progress: Assessment should focus on individual progress rather than comparing students to one another. Recognizing that each student’s language journey is unique allows teachers to set personalized learning goals and provide targeted support.
• Valuing All Languages: Assessment practices should value all of a student’s languages and avoid prioritizing the dominant language of instruction. All languages are assets, and students should be encouraged to use all of their linguistic resources to demonstrate their learning.
• Providing Feedback that Feeds Forward: Feedback on language development should focus on the process of learning and provide students with clear guidance on how to improve. This involves providing specific and actionable suggestions, celebrating progress, and encouraging risk-taking.
• Collaboration and Reflection: Assessment should involve collaboration between teachers, students, and parents. Teachers can work with students to co-construct success criteria, involve parents in monitoring language development, and engage in regular reflection on assessment practices to ensure they are effectively supporting language growth.

By embracing the understanding of language as a dynamic and context-dependent system, the PYP framework can help create a more equitable and effective approach to language assessment and support. This approach recognizes the unique strengths and challenges of each learner, values all languages and modes of communication, and empowers students to take ownership of their language development journey. #pypchat