Powerful Practices for Supporting English Learners: Elevating Diverse Assets and Identities
About this ebook
Students do better in school when their voices are heard. For English Learners, that means not only supporting their growing language proficiency, but also empowering them to share their linguistic and cultural identities.
This practical guide, grounded in compelling research and organized around essential questions and answers, is designed to help all educators build on their current competencies to authentically harmonize home languages and cultures in the classroom. Inside you’ll find
• The emotional, social, linguistic, cognitive, and academic rationale for incorporating cultural and linguistic assets
• Creatively illustrated powerful practices with concrete examples of successful implementation
• Myth-busting reflections to spark critical thinking about diversity, inclusive education, and family engagement
• Curriculum connections tied to American and Canadian standards
By recognizing and validating every student’s linguistic and cultural assets, you create a supportive environment for academic success.
About the author
Fern Westernoff is a speech-language pathologist with over 35 years of experience at the Toronto District School Board. She served on the Immigrant Assessment Team, which prompted her to pursue doctoral studies regarding bilingualism and second language learning at The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto. She co-instructed in the Kindergarten Early Language Intervention (KELI) Program, where she was also a co-program leader supporting the development of the program. Fern continues to publish and present widely in Canada, the U.S., and Israel regarding cultural and linguistic diversity and communication disorders in education.
Stephaney Jones-Vo is president of Starfish Education, LLC focusing on equity for English Learners. With over a decade of Title III grant directing, refugee sponsorship, and K-12 ESL classroom teaching experience, she served as an English Learner and Diversity consultant at a regional state education agency supporting multiple school districts to increase English Learner achievement. She has designed and facilitated ESL endorsement and cultural competence courses at several universities. A frequent presenter in the U.S. and in Canada, she has co- authored multiple books, chapters, and articles; designed and delivered a variety of adult ESL classes for specific purposes and in the workplace, and advocated widely for English Learners.
Paula Markus served as the ESL/ELD Program Co-ordinator with the Toronto District School Board from 2001-2017. She is currently a sessional lecturer in the Masters of Teaching Program at OISE/University of Toronto, preparing pre-service teachers to support English Learners. Paula is the founder of the annual “Celebrating Linguistic Diversity” Conference, Ontario’s largest professional gathering of K–12 teachers of English Language Learners for the past two decades. She continues to be an invited presenter at school districts and conferences across Canada and the U.S.
