When a child must learn to read for the first time and do so in an unfamiliar language, we should not be surprised that the process will be slow and difficult. However, there are also many linguistic minority children who speak languages for which there can be no home language instruction, because of practical limits. It is quite common that small elementary schools will include children from dozens of language backgrounds. Only a few of these schools might reasonably provide opportunities for home language instruction. Thus, it is also essential to recognize that English immersion literacy instruction will be the only option for many children, and must therefore be approached in the most culturally and linguistically sensitive manner possible.
All teachers have to be trained to teach English to all children.
That is, they have to know what the necessary conditions for second language acquisition and early literacy development are, which include maintaining meaningful communication, establishing a nurturing environment conducive to risk taking, and fostering positive expectations from teachers and other classmates. Moreover, the children were on or above grade level in their first language as well. However, when there was no schooling in the home language, the children would need seven to ten years to reach those levels of performance. The theory of linguistic interdependence states that instruction in the home language promotes higher level cognitive and academic skills that are necessary for the development of literacy in both languages. BICS is not directly related to academic achievement and can be attained after two years in a host country.