children who speak other languages at home. Helping these children learn school subjects in the language of instruction at the same time they are learning the language presents a set of challenges and opportunities for our schools and education systems that can benefit from dialogue across our contexts. Although we are focused here on infusing a focus on language into all subject, there is of course still a role for language teachers to teach the language of instruction as a separate subject, as children learning a new language will continue to need support for learning about that language from a specialist teacher. We still need classrooms where children coming without much proficiency in the language of instruction have opportunities to learn the language well enough to participate in mainstream classrooms. The state of California, where half of the children in elementary schools come from homes where a language other than English is spoken, offers an example of the policy approach being taken in this regard. A recent initiative there has resulted in a new Framework for English Language Development. In a letter sent to school administrators across the state (see Figure 5), the school superintendent and the president of the state board of education [English “recognize learners’] unique challenge of learning English as they are also learning grade-level content through English,” and introduce the policy that English learners at all levels and be supported with integrated specialized attention to their language at all ages both and learning needs; what they call English language development. The integrated designated attention comes in mainstream subject area teaching contexts and the specialized or designated attention comes from work with English as a Second Language teachers. Figure 5: Letter from Superintendent Torlakson and School Board Chair Kirst to County and District Superintendents and school administrators
children who speak other languages at home. Helping these children learn school subjects in the language of instruction at the same time they are learning the language presents a set of challenges and opportunities for our schools and education systems that can benefit from dialogue across our contexts. Although we are focused here on infusing a focus on language into all subject, there is of course still a role for language teachers to teach the language of instruction as a separate subject, as children learning a new language will continue to need support for learning about that language from a specialist teacher. We still need classrooms where children coming without much proficiency in the language of instruction have opportunities to learn the language well enough to participate in mainstream classrooms. The state of California, where half of the children in elementary schools come from homes where a language other than English is spoken, offers an example of the policy approach being taken in this regard. A recent initiative there has resulted in a new Framework for English Language Development. In a letter sent to school administrators across the state (see Figure 5), the school superintendent and the president of the state board of education “recognize [English learners’] unique challenge of learning English as they are also learning grade-level content through English,” and introduce the policy that English learners at all levels and at all ages be supported with both integrated and specialized attention to their language learning needs; what they call designated English language development. The integrated attention comes in mainstream subject area teaching contexts and the specialized or designated attention comes from work with English as a Second Language teachers. Figure 5: Letter from Superintendent Torlakson and School Board Chair Kirst to County and District Superintendents and school administrators