Benefits of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Classrooms

From the earliest known written languages, culture has affected how we communicate, share ideas, and express the deepest, most personal parts of ourselves. As cultures began to merge, mix, and overlap, the stories and traditions of one influenced the other, and vice versa, creating a new “melting pot” of language.

Much of our knowledge is universal; for example, the fact that = 2; however, the way we receive that knowledge is as diverse as the learners in the class, and the manner in which we learn, communicate, worship, and celebrate shapes who we become.

In my own class, I have representatives of multiple cultures and heritage. I know that I must teach and interact with them uniquely, because the ways they learn are diverse. One of my special students this year is an11-year-old fifth grade boy whose family moved here from Mexico last year. His parents came seeking a better life, and a higher education for their son. The father works as day laborer, and the mother cares for six children at home. They are not wealthy, but they are rich in love for each other.

The boy’s parents speak Spanish exclusively, which makes it difficult for them to communicate with his teachers. The child is working to become fluent in English, and while he can speak conversationally, he struggles with reading and writing, in part because there is no one to help him with these skills at home. It was also discovered during a recent diagnostic screening that the child appears to have dyslexia, which was not recognized by his teachers in Mexico. Steps are currently being carried out to develop an RTI and 504 plan for the student to provide the support services he needs to become more successful.

According to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, fifth grade students should be able to: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. Use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding. Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings (CCSS, 2010).

While the child is able to meet the first two CCSS criteria successfully, he struggles with reading fluently, which in turn causes his ability to read for meaning, or with appropriate expression, to suffer. It is our goal to help the child achieve near a third- grade level reading and writing proficiency level in English by the end of the year. If he can achieve these fundamental skills, it may be possible for him to match his peers’ literacy by the close of the school year.

In order to help the student meet these standards during the academic year, his teachers and administrators are developing an RTI plan based on employing his funds of knowledge to help him learn and be successful. His linguistic strengths are located in his native language. The fact that so many Spanish and English words share common Latin roots can help bridge the fluency gap. For example, the child knows in Spanish, the word “sol” refers to the Sun, so he can learn English terms with the same Latin root, such as “solar” and “solstice.”

The child’s heritage should also be considered a fund of knowledge, as the Hispanic culture is one that prides itself on the value of hard, honest work, and creating a final product that shows careful craftsmanship and devotion to excellence. We often see this in Mexican architecture, woodworking, and colorful art, but it can certainly be applied by the child to his reading and writing proficiency as well (Mazur, 2010).

At first glance, it may not seem that the child’s family is a fund of knowledge; after all, his parents do not speak English, and he is the oldest child so there are no siblings to help him develop his skills in reading and writing; however, his family is indeed a tremendous resource in helping the boy succeed academically. His parents chose to leave everything they knew and loved because they hoped they could provide a better life for their children here. That drive and motivation will help the student pursue success in the classroom, so that he can make his parents proud and hopefully provide for them one day as an adult. We might also explore the option of encouraging his parents to attend adult education classes in order to learn English at the same time as their son, so they can help each other study.

This child, like his classmates, is bright, respectful, and good-natured. He has the desire, motivation, and ability to be as successful as his peers. Now that his learning needs have been discovered, and plans to develop an IEP providing support for his dyslexia are underway, I am confident we are putting the resources in place to help his literacy advance from emerging to intermediate within the course of the year, which will hopefully help bolster his self-confidence and enthusiasm toward ELA.

References Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2010). Common Core State Standards for English language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. Washington, DC: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Mazur, A., & Doran, P. (2010). Teaching diverse learners: Principles for best practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.