“What are you making?” asked the teacher in Cantonese. “Soup,” answered “Stephanie” as she stirred the sand. “Mmm, what goes in next?” “Shoes!” giggled Stephanie.

Conversations like this in Cantonese are common at the San Mateo College Child Development Center (SMCDC), the program Stephanie attends. Children’s home languages include English, Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, and Tongan—typical in California, where two of five kindergartners are “English Language Learners” (ELLs). SMCDC’s play-based program is staffed by bilingual teachers who help children like Stephanie learn English and develop skills in their home languages—while having fun!

Develop both languages

“Every program should be supporting the home language, whether the program is bilingual or not,” says early childhood education consultant John Gunnarson.

“Language is tied to culture and self-identity. Anything that reinforces an appreciation of a child’s home language leads to a positive sense of self,” says Professor Ofelia Garcia of Cabrillo College. “Young children whose parents speak a language other than English are at risk for losing or not developing the language of the family.”

In addition, recent research shows that developing strong skills in their home language helps children learn English more successfully.

At the same time, “we want to facilitate English readiness so children can participate in the world at large,” says Garcia.

Let play build language skills

Garcia, who specializes in working with children learning English, advocates a play-based approach: “Play is where children invent and expand their language. Dramatic play is ideally suited to language development.”

There’s no need to correct their conversations, she adds: “It’s typical for children in the process of language development to mix languages. At a given time, they might focus more on one language than another, but they decide.”

Children use a variety of strategies for navigating a dual-language environment. For example, Garcia recently watched two friends building a block structure at the Cabrillo College Early Childhood Center. “Mark,” an English speaker, used a combination of English and sign language to tell his friend “Esteban,” a Spanish speaker, what he wanted to do next. Esteban understood—and learned some English at the same time.

Five-year-old Maya, at Chabot College Children’s Center, prefers to spend playtime with other Spanish-speakers, says Ana Gutierrez, bilingual early childhood education specialist. In playing together, they are developing language skills they will use in both Spanish and English.

Model rich language

“Don’t mix languages” though, cautions Gutierrez. She might switch to Spanish to help a child understand, but she is careful to speak sentences completely in one language or the other.

Garcia agrees that “it’s problematic for adults to mix two languages in the same sentence. Adults need to model proper, rich language” so children know which words belong to which language and hear correct sentence structure and pronunciation.

Build vocabulary

“How is a circle different than a cylinder?” wonders Gutierrez aloud as her students construct towers with three-dimensional objects. “How are squares and trapezoids alike?” One child grabs a roll of masking tape and begins to make shapes on the carpet. Gutierrez introduces words for shapes in both English and Spanish.

It’s important to introduce new words in both English and the child’s home language, says Gunnarson. “We need to develop children’s thinking with language. Use ‘rare words’—for example, instead of ‘eat’ you can (say) ‘nibble, feast, dine upon.’ Instead of ‘look,’ use ‘stare, study, peek, scrutinize, examine.’”

Sometimes adults focus on English, but they should also teach children age-appropriate vocabulary in their home language. “We don’t want to see children emerge with a toddler-level vocabulary in either their home language or English,” Gunnarson cautions.

Converse in the home language

To support a child’s first language “ideally, there should be someone (in the classroom) who speaks the child’s home language,” says Gunnarson. “Not just ‘cómo está,’ but advanced vocabulary and complex sentence structure.”

At San Mateo, says master teacher Karen Wiggins-Dowler, it’s important that Stephanie and a Cantonese-speaking teacher “have genuine conversations in Can-tonese that emphasize higher-level thinking, with the teacher asking open-ended questions about her play.”

When programs have no staff that speaks a child’s language, they can invite parents or other community members to come in and talk with the children.

Introduce English slowly

When children speak no English, Wiggins-Dowler introduces them to familiar play areas—the housekeeping area, the sandbox. While the child plays in the sandbox, she can hear other children speaking English in their pretend play: “I’m making chocolate ice cream.” “I’m making cupcakes.” Says Wiggins-Dowler, “They have that time where they’re listening, but the words are not directed at them. They need that quiet time to process that information.”

With Cantonese-speaking Stephanie, Wiggins-Dowler will describe what Stephanie is doing or ask her simple questions using gestures, so Stephanie can gradually progress from one-word answers to simple sentences in English.

Gutierrez observes children’s play and finds opportunities to extend their English vocabulary. Recently a group of kids were playing with toy airplanes. Gutierrez asked, “What other things fly?” That led to a discussion of helicopters and then to looking at a book about different kinds of aircraft.

Tips for building a second language

(from John Gunnarson)

• At first, describe what the child is doing without expecting a response. If a child is cuddling a doll: “I see you are holding your baby. She looks happy.”
  
• When the child can speak short phrases, expand them. If he says, “Baby sick,” you can respond, “Oh, your baby is sick. Shall we get her a blanket?”
  
• When they begin to learn the language, ask them questions they can answer with a word or two.
  
• For children with more skills, ask open-ended questions: “Tell me about your baby. What does she like to do in the morning?”
  

Resources

• One Child, Two Languages: A guide for preschool educators, Patton O. Tabors, Brookes Publishing Co, 2008
  
• Preschool English Learners: A Resource Guide, California Department of Education, Sacramento, 2007
  
• A Guide to Language Development and Communication, Program for Infant and Toddler Caregivers, WestEd (Also available in Spanish)
  
• Creative Play: Building Connections with Children who are Learning English, in Annual Editions, Early Childhood Education, 09/10, McGraw Hill
  
• Expanding Children’s Boundaries: An Approach to Second-Language Learning and Cultural Understanding, Mary DeBey and Darlene Bombard, in Young Children, March 2007