In order for bilingual families and school to work together, they have to both understand two different cultures.

1. Bilingualism and Home Language Use.
Presented by
Fred Brandt

2. Sociocultural aspects for bilingual students
Two types of sociocultural factors that can influence language learning:
Intrinsic - is a personal matter the learner has internally.
 Extrinsic - is an external matter that surrounds the learner.

3. Sociocultural aspects for bilingual students
• Intrinsic Factors:
▫ Student Motivation – reasons why a student wants to learn English.
 Obtaining a job in the future (economical status)
 Being able to interact with native speakers (social conversation)
 To be a part of the English speaking community, where they now live.
 Personal motivation increased by praise for their learning accomplishments
▫ Age of Students:
 Pair students together
 Cambridge English Language Assessment recommends
 8 to 12 words for students who are past puberty
 10 to 15 words for students under puberty
 Choosing specific activities for the student will keep them intrigued
▫ Learning disabilities - need to have an understanding of the students abilities
▫ Previous Education - cannot assume students have a previous knowledge about a specific topic.
 Students background has to be used to keep them engaged in the classroom

4. Sociocultural aspects for bilingual students
• Extrinsic factors:
▫ Class Motivation
 The environment that surrounds the students in class can affect their learning ability
 Posters with positive messages in the classroom
 Teach students to respect each others level of ability
▫ Social Motivation
 Life outside the classroom can affect their ability in the classroom
 Families who are here illegally (these children may show some resistance in the classroom)
 Current events
 Anything (in the news) concerning their heritage
▫ Cultural Environment
 Students with different cultures in the classroom
 Teacher needs to teach each of the students about all of the classroom cultures

5. Cultural impact of bilingualism and home language use
• Fluency in the home language allows the child to socialize in the community, in both the United
States and the home country.
• Parents may not allow the use of English in the home
▫ Parents may fear the child’s cultural identity being lost.
• The use of home language keeps the student connected to the family and community
▫ The parents may not want the child to become to antiquated with our way of life
 Video games, style of clothes, holidays, and other cultural beliefs
• Parents/families believe their home Language is a symbol of cultural and personal identity
▫ Parents fear the child will sight of who they are and where they come from.
• Encourages students to see the connections between their language and to better understand how
all languages are structures and organized

6. Strategies and resources for cultivating home and
school partnerships
• Strategies:
▫ Family night for ELL families
 family movies can be played for the families.
 potluck meals can be brought (students can sample another cultures meal)
▫ Field trips with invited parents
 field trip to museums, zoo, or cultural landmarks
▫ Invitations for parents to visit and participate
 volunteering during school or at after school activities
▫ Send students homework home with a note in the parents native language and English
▫ Positive teacher-student relationships
▫ Connect new families with a contact person who speaks their language as soon as they enroll in
the school for guidance and information

7. Strategies and resources for cultivating home and
school partnerships
• Resources for parents and families:
▫ https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/what-research-says-about-parent-involvement
▫ http://www.nea.org/
▫ https://www.edutopia.org/home-school-connections-resources
▫ https://www.pta.org/home/run-your-pta/National-Standards-for-Family-School-Partnerships
▫ https://www.ed.gov/

8. Strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of the home and school
partnerships
• Survey the parents “How family-friendly is your school?”
▫ Survey can be used to make nay needed adjustments in the school.
• Create a cultural council of ELL parents to be involved in the school
• Have a mentorship program in place to keep new parents engaged.
▫ Parents whose student has moved to the next level will help the new parents.
• Build partnerships with the local community.
▫ Invite community members to inform parents on their services.
 Tutoring, daycare, interpretation
• Parental conferences to not only discuss their student (can discuss the benefit of
home/school partnerships)
• Have parents and families fill out a questionnaire (in their home language) asking
how the school and teachers can better help them.

9. The role of leadership in cultivating a positive home and school
partnership for ELL students
• Teachers and schools have to display a positive attitude to parents and students
• Learn how to advocate for and allocate resources on behalf of ELL families
▫ If new informative material is available to be used, the school needs to have it available to them
• Schools can have bring your culture to school week
▫ The students can do art work from their culture and hang it on the walls
▫ The students can do reports on famous/important people from the country
• State Board of Education, School Districts, Schools, and Teachers have to learn and
understand the different cultures in their schools.
• School liaisons - Assign each family a school contact who speaks their language and
guides them through the enrollment process

10. Resources
• Barzallo, Y. R. (n.d.). Sociocultural Influences on ELL Students. Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/sociocultural-
influences-on-ell-students.html
• Breiseth, L. (2015). Connecting with ELL Families. Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/connecting-ell-
families
• Cavaluzzi, M. (n.d.). Promoting cultural and linguistic diversity: Supporting bilingualism in the early childhood
classroom. Retrieved from https://www.childcarequarterly.com/spring10_story1.html
• CORNERSTONE Home-School Partnerships. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://firstschool.fpg.unc.edu/sites/firstschool.fpg.unc.edu/files/FirstSchool_Home-School_Partnerships_Brochure.pdf
• Engaging ELL Families: 20 Strategies for School Leaders. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.adlit.org/article/42781/
• Genesee, F. (n.d.). The Home Language: An English Language Learner's Most Valuable Resource. Retrieved from
http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/home-language-english-language-learners-most-valuable-resource