Developing Biliteracy: What Do Teachers Really Need to Know about Language?

Mariana and her classmates were students in a dual language classroom learning to read, write, listen, and speak in both Spanish and English. This type of instructional context, in which bilingualism and biliteracy are the explicit goals, is one kind of pathway to biliteracy. But this particular pathway is the exception in the United States, not the rule. It is most often the case, in fact, that bilingual students in the United States find themselves in classrooms that do not cultivate their biliteracy and/or in learning situations that rely on the support of family and friends in out ofschool settings, including their homes, to nurture their biliteracy (see Song, this issue).Within schools, transitional bilingual education and English immersion represent the most common pathways to biliteracy for bilingual children. However, because the end goal of these instructional models is not to help students learn to read, write, listen, and speak in two languages, significant obstacles to biliteracy development are necessarily built into such programs. Transitional bilingual classrooms, which exist in states such as Texas and New York, are designed to provide initial literacy instruction in students' primary language, but only as a means of helping them eventually transition into English instruction. And in states like California and Arizona, where bilingual education is currently outlawed, English immersion instructional contexts predominate. While there is certainly variation in English immersion classrooms (sometimes called English as a Second Language or ESL classrooms) the norm is to provide literacy instruction only in English, regardless of students' language backgrounds.Yet, even in transitional bilingual or English immersion contexts, we argue that teachers can support students' biliteracy development not merely by mastering a set of methods or strategies, but by shifting from a monolingual to a bi/multilingual perspective on language. Although English immersion classrooms are not designed to promote bilingualism or biliteracy, we might nonetheless treat bilingualism as a resource for English language and literacy development within these contexts, and we might promote positive dispositions toward multilingualism (Franquiz Reyes, 1998; see also Duran and Zapata Laman, this issue) As some of our previous research has shown (Martinez, 2010; Martinez, Orellana, Pacheco, Carbone, 2008) there is potentially tremendous overlap between the bilingual skills embedded and displayed in children's everyday language practices and the skills articulated in official English language arts standards, such that bilingualism can serve as a pedagogical resource even when monolingualism is the institutional norm and the official goal.Similarly, within transitional bilingual education classrooms, we might devote more attention to cultivating and sustaining Spanish literacy even though the ultimate goal is the transition to English instruction. Even in dual language classrooms, which arguably reflect the institutional pathway that is most conducive to biliteracy development there is room for improvement, as, teachers often believe that there is something wrong with "mixing" languages, and they often convey this idea to their students, insisting on separate spaces for each program language. These monolingual perspectives on language can actually impede the development of bilingualism and biliteracy. Regardless of the instructional context, we argue that rethinking monolingual perspectives on language can help all language arts teachers to more effectively promote bilingualism and biliteracy in their classrooms.We must state up front that, for many language arts teachers in a US context, rethinking monolingual perspectives will require an ideological shift a shift in what we see as the "norm." While monolingualism is considered the norm in most American schooling contexts, it is important to acknowledge that bilingualism is supremely normal.