Discussion 14 response 2

Students who have strong first language skills are able to acquire the second language more easily due to language transfer. Having Spanish and English teachers work in parallel ways is a key factor in ensuring complete second language acquisition and, thus, cognitive development. Creating a supportive environment is also about cultivating an appreciation of diversity it’s critical that both the curriculum and the classroom environment honor and reflect the lives of the students. English language learners should not be learning the fundamentals of English in isolation; they should be applying their developing language skills to rich academic content in all subjects (Kaplan, 2019). All kids learn better when they engage with material in multiple ways: Lessons that involve writing, speaking, drawing, and listening, for example, give students four opportunities to deepen their understanding of the work. For ELLs, those additional engagements also provide a little breathing room so they can work through the language barrier. Teachers could learn to embrace technologies that students find helpful, like Google Translate. Translation technology means you can say it once (or twice) and let the students use the technology to translate key words and phrase (Kaplan, 2019). Teachers play a critical role in supporting language development. Beyond teaching children to read and write in school, they need to help children learn and use aspects of language associated with the academic discourse of the various school subjects. They need to help them become more aware of how language functions in various modes of communication across the curriculum. They need to understand how language works well enough to select materials that will help expand their students' linguistic horizons and to plan instructional activities that give students opportunities to use the new forms and modes of expression to which they are being exposed. Teachers need to understand how to design the classroom language environment so as to optimize language and literacy learning and to avoid linguistic obstacles to content area learning (Robertson, 2014). Regular, open and friendly communication from the teacher can make a big difference in ELL parent participation. It can feel daunting for an English speaking teacher to call a non-English speaking parent, but usually there is someone in the family who speaks enough English to interpret the message for the parent, or the parent speaks enough English to understand a simple message. It may also be possible to get help from a bilingual school staff member to assist in making a quick phone call (Robertson, 2014).