We’ve talked about strategies you can use to effectively support children who are multilingual learners. Now we’re going to take an even closer look at specific interactions you can engage in on an everyday basis to support language development.

Before we begin, what do you already do to support children’s language development, especially that of multilingual learners?

Joint and Shared Attention

What do you know about the terms “shared” and “joint” attention? How do you think they relate to children’s language development?

In joint attention, the educator and child focus on the same thing, such as a book or an art project.

In shared attention, the educator and child focus on each other.

Children can engage in shared attention as early as their first few months of life. In contrast, joint attention is usually developed by age 1. Children are more likely to learn new words in the context of engaging interactions (shared and joint attention) and interactions that interest them. It takes a lot of cognitive effort for children to redirect their attention, so it is especially important to capitalize on interactions and social opportunities that engage children’s attention and interest.

Follow a Child’s Lead

Another way educators can support language development with children who are multilingual learners is to follow the child’s lead. Instead of having a prescribed idea about how children should respond to your questions and comments, accept what they say and build upon it to further the conversation. It will help keep them engaged and allow for more practice using language in a way that is relevant to them.

Let’s watch an example (1:51) of following a child’s lead. As you watch, think about the following questions:

• What were the teacher and child doing at the beginning?
• What happened next?
• Did the teacher redirect the child’s attention right away? If not, what did she do?
• How did the child react?

A key takeaway of this session is to follow the child’s lead in everyday interactions. When adults focus on the child’s interests, the child will engage readily and successfully.

Conversing with children who are multilingual learners is a great way to build their language skills, especially their vocabulary skills. Here are tips to do this effectively.

The CAR Strategy

One way to both follow a child’s lead and engage in conversation with children who are multilingual learners is to use the CAR strategy:

• Comment and wait.
• Ask questions and wait.
• Respond to extend the conversation.

Educators can encourage young language learners to engage in longer conversations by following the child’s lead. Comment on what interests the child. Ask questions. Respond to the child by adding more to extend the conversation. With each step, allow adequate wait time so the child can participate in the conversation. The general guideline is 5 seconds. This depends on each child, because children with disabilities and children who are multilingual learners might need more time to process what you said in English. They might be making sense of it in their home language.

Comment and Wait

The first step in using the CAR strategy is to comment and wait at least five seconds. Comments are usually easier to understand than questions, because in English the noun and verb often switch places in questions and are therefore less familiar to listeners. For example, we can make a comment about what a child is looking at, “The dog has four legs,” instead of asking, “How many legs does the dog have?”

Here’s an example. The process goes like this:

1. Comment on what the child says, points to, or does. For instance, a child points to a ball or says, “Ball.”
2. Wait 5 seconds.
3. Offer your own comment. For example, “It’s a ball!”
4. Wait 5 seconds, which provides an opportunity for the child to say more.

Ask and Wait

When educators ask children questions, they should try different types with each multilingual learner to see which type the child best understands. Meanwhile they should give children different language models. For example, an educator may ask a simple “yes” or “no” question, a question that requires a simple response, and open-ended questions, all at different points throughout a conversation.

Asking open-ended questions is crucial to helping children develop their vocabulary. Educators can engage in this strategy when reading to the child or engaging in other types of activities, such as pretend play. If reading a book, educators can ask about what is happening based on the pictures, or they can ask about the child’s own experiences that are similar to what is happening in the book. Ask questions about what interests the child and ask questions at the right level for the child.

Here’s a continuation of the previous example using the next component of the CAR strategy: Ask questions and wait.

5. Adult: What games do you like to play with a ball?
6. Wait.

This question is open-ended and encourages the child to talk about their interests.

Respond to Extend the Conversation and Wait

This strategy could also be known as expanding or elaborating on what the child has said or done during the interaction. It promotes a back-and-forth, or reciprocal, interaction. It also helps the child think more critically about the topic as well as provides an opportunity to introduce new vocabulary.

It is important for educators to match their response to a child’s developmental level. Too much information can overwhelm and confuse a child. Here’s an example of an adult response that is a good match to a child’s developmental level based off our previous example:

Child: “I play catch.”

Adult: “You like to play catch with your friends.”

When interacting with children, educators need to talk with children rather than at children. Creating meaningful, reciprocal, and positive interactions is the cornerstone for building trust and promoting children’s engagement.

Examples

Watch a series of videos and identify strategies the educator uses during conversations. Pay attention to the use of CAR strategies.

Also watch for areas where the educator could improve or where you notice differences between the adult-child interactions in both video examples.

• The Using CAR Strategies- English (0:39)
• The Using CAR Strategies- Spanish (1:34)

What did you notice?

references

Cultivate Learning, University of Washington. (2019). Following a Child’s Lead. [Video]

Cultivate Learning, University of Washington. (2019). Using CAR Strategies – English Example. [Video]

Cultivate Learning, University of Washington. (2019). Using CAR Strategies – Spanish Example. [Video]

Lebedeva, G. (2018). Lesson 6-1: Language Development: 3 Key Principles that Families Should Know. In ECFS 419 Class.