Episode 7: Asset-Based Approaches to Teaching Multilingual Learners

Dr. Ali Yaylali talks with us about turning misconceptions about multilingual learners into asset-based teaching approaches. 

Transcript

Albrecht, Sarah: 0:02

Hello, everyone welcome to the 7th episode of the language educators Exchange. Podcast I'm Dr. Sarah Albrecht.

Aniqa Shah: 0:10

And I am Dr. Anika Shah.

Albrecht, Sarah: 0:13

And we are your hosts. In this podcast. Series we dive into the fascinating world of language, teaching and learning, offering expert insights, practical tips and engaging stories from polyglots, language educators and researchers. Our episodes are packed with the latest techniques and language teaching ideas for turning research into practice and motivational stories. Our podcast is meant to be a platform for language educators anywhere in the world to exchange knowledge and ideas. As you know, we have guest speakers every week, and the guest speaker for today is Dr. Ali Yaylila. Dr. Ali Yalala is an assistant professor of teaching learning and educational leadership at Eastern Kentucky University with a Phd. In language, reading, and culture from the University of Arizona. His research and teaching interests include multilingual writing, educational linguistics, genre and corpus pedagogy and transformative teacher education. His scholarship has been published in leading academic journals, and he actively contributes to professional organizations serving as a journal reviewer and Tsol committee member. Today Anika will be leading our conversation with Ali about empowering teachers through asset-based approaches to teaching multilingual learners.

Aniqa Shah: 1:27

All right. 1st of all. Welcome, Ali, thank you so much for making time. We are so happy to have you on our podcast.

Ali Yaylali: 1:34

Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.

Aniqa Shah: 1:38

Okay, so let's start. And I know that you have a lot of experience working with pre-service language teachers. So I would like to. I would like us to start by talking about the perceptions that these teachers come in with when you work with pre-service teacher candidates as they come into your classroom. What are some common misconceptions that you notice about multilingual learners.

Ali Yaylali: 2:09

Well, this is a great question I have been working with with pre-service teachers who will be working with multilingual learners when they exit the programs. And one of the one of the misconceptions that I sometimes see is that they should only use English or multilingual learners should use only English in the classroom to learn it faster, quicker, and to succeed in it. And and similarly, teachers themselves should only use English. and this could be understandable from different perspectives. But it doesn't really use multilingual learners, language repertoires, or it doesn't necessarily consider how they learn and how they think when they process language. So that's something that I try to address and and discuss with them, and engage in reflections with them about. And also sometimes we might see multilingual learners who are, who can. who can be fluent in English. And in that case, you know, teachers might think that they are. They are doing fine, and they might not need extra support. and I think multilingual learners can show different levels of proficiency or abilities in different aspects of language, but being able to speak fluently doesn't necessarily guarantee that they will be able to succeed in all aspects of language, learning, or classroom tasks. So that's that's another, you know, common idea or misconception I see, and also just from my own teaching background. When multilingual learners come into classrooms. Of course their proficiency level will be different, therefore, until they they reach a certain like minimum level of proficiency. Sometimes educators might think that they shouldn't be in other classrooms, or they should be placed in maybe some lower level classrooms or classes. So that's that's another common idea or misconception that I have a conversation about with teachers.

Aniqa Shah: 4:52

All right. Thank you so much for for sharing that. I am thinking that the 1st step in inside situations has to be raising awareness right. Did I get that right?

Ali Yaylali: 5:09

That's right. Yes, awareness about multilingual learners, awareness about their language, the language, learning process, or just awareness of language. That's right. I think you express it very well.

Aniqa Shah: 5:25

So after you, after you notice that you know there are some misconceptions, and then you start talking about it and do reflective exercises. How would you say the conversations change? What change change do you see? In in the way these these teachers talk about instruction, or how? How do they start talking about multilingual learners? I hope my question is not too abstract.

Ali Yaylali: 5:56

No So pre-service teachers, you know, can can bring different ideas, perspectives to the classroom, and they might show a high level of respect and great intentions to support multilingual learners. I think, when we have conversations about different misconceptions, or just about multilingual learners and their experiences, teachers that I work with seem to have a more nuanced understanding of the population and how they can work with them. I think different examples, like lived experiences, stories, personal experiences that I share, and I try to just elicit in the classroom discussions show some help them see some changes in themselves which can be in different forms. Again. As I said, they can just understand the learner populations, and whether they can appreciate the challenges they go through when learning, language and content, and they might just be a little more willing to work with them and support with them for social justice purposes and more effective teaching. So I think I can say that the change happens in their understandings, and also what they would like to do with them, and how they want to work with them.

Aniqa Shah: 7:34

So Ali, following up of on the I mean going back to what you said about how the 1st step has to be raising awareness, and then the conversations change. So I am guessing that the next step would be, you know, coming up with strategies to support multilingual learners. And I'm sure the question teachers ask once they are aware that they are misconceptions that exist. and they're able to see those misconceptions clearly. The question they I'm sure they must ask, what can we do about it in in small ways? What can they do about it? So could you speak a little about that?

Ali Yaylali: 8:23

So When when teachers become more aware of the population, or or or how English language works, and how it can be challenging to multilingual learners. They can try to incorporate, let's say, activities, more activities to support multilingual learners. or they can try to engage them in different ways, or they can try to vary their teaching activities or styles. They can engage more with multilingual learners in the classroom. They can try that, you know, these are important in just designing instruction overall. so they can. They can be more attentive to the kind of support that multilingual learners might need. So this awareness can open them up to like more observational data or more reflection. So they can be, they can maybe use the data from their students. And when I say data. I mean classroom instruction students, formative assessments, or what they see in students, writing or language use. So they can be. They can just follow up on these and just design and and address what students might need more effectively. So I think it can inform the kind of activities they do. That's what I'm trying to say, and they can also be more engaging with students, so they can look for ways to engage with them in the classroom and outside the classroom. So I think this is this is an important way to be able to close to students, to their, you know, classroom materials and artifacts, and also them as as human beings, to, to tailor their instruction.

Aniqa Shah: 10:42

Could you give a few examples of how this support might might look like like practical strategies? what? What do teachers start doing? And and again as per steps.

Ali Yaylali: 10:58

Sure. So teachers can. For example, something that I I do is for example, looking at students, artifacts or students writing. That's something I really enjoy. So teachers can, for example, look at how multilingual learners are writing and what is coming up in their writing that can inform instruction, so there might be some patterns or areas where they might need more support to accomplish. So looking at, and they can give feedback more intentional feedback on on different language. You know, language structures they can give. They can have more conversations with them about it, or they can try to integrate activities like, how can I get to know my students so they can ask them to, for example, provide some information about themselves like it could be some kind of a simple biography type of thing, or they can try to just engage them more in the classroom they can think about, for example, create different ways to engage them. It can be, you know, by writing, it can be by speaking, drawing. So just using multiple ways to engage them. So again, teachers can probably do different things related to you know how they can get to know in the classroom and understand their their learning, how they can engage them again. This can be integrated into the planning process intentionally, and also you know what they do in their in their writing. So these are some like 3 examples. But of course there could be different ways to do this.

Aniqa Shah: 13:11

Alright. Thank you. So, Ali. The the activities that you just mentioned are they more suited for the whole class? Or are we talking about one on one instruction head.

Ali Yaylali: 13:30

I think these can be suitable to just whole class. So I guess what you mean by whole class is, are they applicable to other students, maybe mainstream students, right.

Aniqa Shah: 13:41

Yeah,

Ali Yaylali: 13:41

Awesome for love. I think these practices are very useful, for you know, for all students, because, you know, teachers want to learn more about their all of their students, and they want to be able to provide feedback and do follow up instruction with. For all other other students, too. However, I think what I'm trying to say here is that being a bit more intentional about this process and that. That sometimes. maybe my mainstream students needs might be different from them, and multilingual learners might need more intentional support and time, because it it definitely necessitates more patience on the teacher's side and and a little more effort and intentionality. So I guess what works for multilingual learners definitely can work for all other students.

Aniqa Shah: 14:51

Got it. Got it? Thank you so much, Sarah, do you have a question.

Albrecht, Sarah: 14:56

I do have a question. So I guess what I what I'm hearing, and and just tell me if I'm wrong, is it just sounds. It sounds to me like like this is differentiating, so differentiating in terms of students, cultural backgrounds in terms of their interests and in terms of their the instructional needs. So it looks like. So so when we talk about, does it apply to everybody? Then I I'm wondering if if we're thinking in terms of what kind of differentiation are we doing, and what kind of differentiation do the students need? Does that? Yes.

Ali Yaylali: 15:38

Yes, that's a great question. So I guess when we think about multilingual learners, we are differentiating, based on their language proficiency. I think that's 1 of the important characteristics of multilingual learners. You know, teachers can see different levels of proficiency that can manifest itself in what students write or what students say or can say in the classroom, or how they do, how they show their learning, or what they should show in their in their learning and classroom tasks. So yes, I think this this kind of differentiation is very much related to the language proficiencies we see in the classroom or literacies. and this can probably drive other aspects of the instruction, like how much feedback you want to give give to your students, what kind of conversations you want to have with them to support them. So that's going to, of course, inform other types of differentiation as well. So if if some students can just understand, let's say, a classroom text or reading text just fine. Maybe other students will need maybe more visualizations or more conversations about it, or some background about it. So I think that proficiency in the language is one of the important forces or factors influencing what teachers do.

Albrecht, Sarah: 17:29

Okay. Thank you.

Aniqa Shah: 17:32

Okay, Ali, my next question would be. there are situations where teachers are just handed lesson plans. You know, the lesson plans are scripted and they don't have a lot of choice in those situations. What can teachers do to understand the needs of multilingual learners and cater to their needs as well.

Ali Yaylali: 17:55

Yes, I think there is a variety in terms of how teachers, what kind of resources teachers are provided, and how different schools and school districts work with teachers in terms of these resources in the case that you know, they have scripted lessons. I think teachers can can be a little reflective on their lessons and try to just create space where they can integrate some small or bigger steps or tasks that can. Or let's let's call them moves in the classroom that can still help them support multilingual learners. So, for example, they can, they can try to maybe make more multimodal supports. even if they're scripted lessons or resources don't have. Let's say they can try to find ways to make it more multimodal, or they can. They can create space for student voices. Let's say, more interactional activities. Or they can try to just modify certain processes, to ask multilingual learners to share more about their experiences, or or they can just listen to them, and teachers can listen to multilingual learners a little more critically. Or in their own talk that I usually call it teacher talk so when they talk with students, especially multilingual learners, they can be more acknowledging and affirming their experiences or their responses or knowledge, so these can be, some of them sound like very like, very simple and easy to do things or moves for teachers. And and of course, if I think another great way to do is this is more like an organizational skill for teachers, they can probably collaborate with their peers or colleagues, as well to to see how others are doing this effectively. So I think collaboration gives a lot of ideas when it comes to again working around different scenarios in the teaching context.

Aniqa Shah: 20:30

My next question would have been about collaboration. But you already addressed that. Thank you. And I love a few of those ideas, especially the importance of using multimodal materials. and I can see how how doing so can go a long way. Thank you so much. So I know that since I know you in a personal capacity as well. I know that you place a lot of importance on collaboration. and you just mentioned that collaboration can help teachers, too. Can you be a little specific? About that? In what? In what ways can collaboration help? What kind of collaboration can can teachers engage in. I'm I mean, it's not only language teachers, right schools have a lot of different kind of professionals. So what kind of collaborations do you see? Or or would you advise for teachers to address multilingual learners? Needs.

Ali Yaylali: 21:36

Yeah, thank you. I think this is another great question. I see collaboration as an asset based approach in the teaching profession. So, and and the reason is that collaboration 1st of all shows that teachers or educators are willing to learn from each other and to mentor each other, that collaboration also shows their commitment to multilingual learners. If this is regarding multilingual learners, I think it so. It has the benefits of learning from each other, and also using each other as resources and mentors. I'm sure teachers listening will have different forms of collaborations in their own educational settings and and and it could be in different forms, such as like it could be co-teaching. It could be pulling students and collaboration more around how to support them when they are pulled from the classroom or or push in when they are in the classroom, how they want them to be able to work, or how they can support multilingual learners in language. So talking and planning about that and there is also other types. There are other types of collaboration, too, and one thing that I like to mention is is not necessarily related to co-teaching in a classroom, but more about how teachers again find a set time or a block of time in different ways and work on their students. Learning experience, reflect on their students, learning experiences, and maybe on their writing, because writing provides a window into what students can do or can use language. So a form of collaboration is is being able to look at multilingual learners writing samples together, and being able to analyze those and look at what kind of patterns they see, and just make. Some come up with some ideas to teach or follow up on their writing needs in the classroom, so it can be more like call planning. But it's more. It's not necessarily it doesn't have to be a co-planning, but being able to just collaboratively think about it, and and reflect together to tailor their instruction again to multilingual learners. So what am I going to do, based on how my multilingual writers just produce the artifacts, or how they are writing. And what can I do in the classroom? Just brainstorming together collegially, and then acting upon those reflections that way. They are both listening to others suggestions and their expertise experiences, and they are also adding to their own repertoires, you know, different ways to address multilingual writing. So I think, again, collaboration is, I think, very important, but I am also aware that teachers can have concerns about finding a common time for this. I'm I'm sure that I think teachers are very capable of accomplishing that as well, because this kind of collaboration, if done consistently, can be a form of professional development for them. A Plc, a professional learning, community activity, or it can be integrated into their own. Let's say, grade level or department level practices. So you know, as as short as you know, 30 to 1 h. Maybe every other week, or when, whenever there is a major writing assignment, for example, they can. They can integrate such practices and just start collaborating there. Just more consistency is what I am trying to say. That collaboration will will allow consistency of support across, you know, different classrooms where student multilingual learners might be taking classes, but also how teachers approach in their teaching, approach their teaching or approach, supporting multilingual learners. So it's like, there are multiple ways and directions in this, so I hope these are some good ways, and there might be some others out there.

Aniqa Shah: 26:36

Got it that that is really valuable advice. And when I was listening to you I kind of felt like you're talking about another mindset mindset shift. I mean, I see it as a mindset shift that in instead of, you know. teaching alone working together as a team to help multilingual learners? Is my understanding correct.

Ali Yaylali: 27:02

Yes, I would, I would say so. Yes, it's a it's a change in in our understanding or in our mindset when it comes to collaboration. That's right. And and instead of being just doing solo teaching like just being independent in everything. Sometimes collaboration will be will will just committing to collaboration can be a big growth indicator for teachers.

Aniqa Shah: 27:29

Yeah, I and I can. I can definitely see that. Okay, I guess we don't have a lot of time left. Sarah. How are we doing on time?

Albrecht, Sarah: 27:39

Yes, it's time to start wrapping up.

Aniqa Shah: 27:41

Okay? All right. So, Ali, my second last question would be, do you see? Any role of families and communities in shifting teachers, perspectives. How can families and communities help in in a mindset change about multilingual learners and enhancing the classroom experience for the students and teachers, both.

Ali Yaylali: 28:10

I think families and communities have a lot of resources that teachers can explore. And in this, again, through some intentional communications or intentional engagements with those communities. Teachers can learn about those communities and families, and at the same time families by engaging in different school processes. They can also have this opportunity to to, you know, influence educational practices. So I think it's like a bi-directional influence. I can say, like impacting each other. I think on the teacher side especially. it might be just engaging with families and taking some steps like communications. Or, you know, having some discussions about some topic to address student learning. They can learn more about their multilingual learners and and the families, cultural cultures or ways of knowing and doing so. I think there can be ways. For example, exploring those communities. And because family and community context can be. can give teachers a lot of insights into what they look like. One thing, for example, I would probably suggest, is to be able to just go into those communities and or walk into those communities and just be observant, just be like a participant in what they do in terms of celebrations, in terms of cultures, so that you can gain so that teachers can gain some insights. It takes. It takes time, of course, but I think with small steps, teachers can accomplish that. And and I think this can. This can really transform educational practices once, and teachers, for example, can be, can find ways to become, make their their instruction more culturally responsive, and they can. Bring more insights from those communities into their classrooms.

Aniqa Shah: 30:46

All right. Thank you. Thank you. That was very helpful. So Ali, teachers, let's say there are teachers listening to this. and they realize that. Yes, there are misconceptions. and they kind of feel like they should do something about those those misconceptions every day in small ways. So can you. Can you suggest a few small changes that they can make in in their everyday instruction. I know you spoke a little to that earlier in the in the episode, but just to give something to our teachers to take away something concrete. What would you say.

Ali Yaylali: 31:33

I would say, being intentionally thinking about maybe starting with one student. Of course, teachers, I'm sure, have multiple multilingual learners. But I think starting with one student and being an advocate and trying different ways to be an advocate, and then applying it to all other students as much as possible. I think just being an advocate in different ways, because we always encounter some concerns and issues that multilingual students can face in the school, and and these can be some good moments. So, for example, just trying to spend more time, maybe with a student who needs a little more support, just being intentional about it or trying to be more available to students. Not just during the classroom. Maybe in other ways. Thinking about availability is another way, or maybe trying to incorporate. Maybe one thing from a student's culture or linguistic background. So just showing how, how. how, for example, how that culture looks like or how a student has maybe linguistic repertoires or knowledge. So just trying to share about one student or just trying this to be like a practice for themselves. Again, this is like a way of being an advocate for them, so they can be a voice for students. And these small moves or small moves in the teacher. Talk can be very influential, and even if these are not visible to teachers, I would say that these are noticed by students. you know, even if they are very young students, they will notice, and and by their parents as well.

Aniqa Shah: 33:50

All right. Great, thank you so much. This was a very, very helpful discussion before we close out. Did we miss anything, or would you like to share anything else, any final advice.

Ali Yaylali: 34:06

Well, I would like to say that teaching the teaching profession puts us in a learning role learner role every day. And it's it's quite challenging. And I think we can alleviate this by creating opportunities to collaborate with teachers and our colleagues. So just being just humbly, humbly approaching the process of teaching and just trying, finding ways to to do, to be more effective, to be better. and I think this is going to help teachers alleviate their their workload and their their stress or concerns. When it comes to supporting multilingual learners. Among all other students, I think this would be something to think about and something to be intentional about. And I have seen so many great examples as I work with teachers so kudos to those teachers definitely. And this is a profession of growth, and I think there's a lot to celebrate about this. Everything that teachers do is, I think, worth celebrating. So thank you so much again for the opportunity here.

Aniqa Shah: 35:34

Oh, well, thank you so much for sharing your time and expertise. This was. I enjoyed our conversation a lot. I'm sure that people who are listening. Teachers were listening. They are going to enjoy it, too, and I'm sure they're going to find the practical tips and the advice that you shared, they will, they will find it helpful. and I hope they're all able to implement it. So again, this has been a wonderful discussion on addressing misconceptions about multilingual learners. I am going to pass it back to Sarah, and she will close this out.

Albrecht, Sarah: 36:10

Yes, and thank you so much again, for my part, and thank you to all of our listeners. We highly encourage everyone to tune into our next episode of the language. Educators exchange Podcast on March 15, th and transform your language teaching journey into an exciting adventure.