Bring languages into school life
Make multilingual participation useful, visible and normal throughout the year.
Use translanguaging purposefully
Name the learning purpose: retrieving prior knowledge, clarifying a concept, comparing meanings or planning a response. Offer a route into shared discussion and the intended final product. Give learners choice; sharing a language does not guarantee shared literacy or a preferred partnership.
Build multilingual resources
Create bilingual glossaries with examples, dual-language reading options and labelled diagrams. Invite learners to compare technical terms and notice where meanings do not map neatly. Check entries with a knowledgeable person or reliable resource before reusing them.
Extend beyond classrooms
Include multilingual library displays, student-created audio readings, welcome signs and language clubs. Choose languages represented in the community and review the range over time. Keep essential directions clear and consistent.
Give students agency
Invite learners to contribute a phrase, text, recording or explanation if they wish. Let them choose what to share and how it is credited. Avoid making one student the routine interpreter for adults or the representative of an entire culture.
What this can look like
Before writing a science explanation, learners annotate a diagram in any language they know, compare one key term with a partner and rehearse the English causal link. The final explanation communicates the same scientific reasoning with progressively fewer prompts.
Responsibilities and review
The EAL lead, librarian and departments coordinate resource trials. Review whether familiar-language use helps learners understand, contribute and complete the task; visibility on a wall is only one part of inclusion.
When the task requires English production
In an English-medium lesson, especially where many learners share one familiar language, agree where and for how long a clarification or planning window will run. Name the return to English: useful terminology, a rehearsal or an independent response. Check every learner’s understanding so the strongest bilingual speaker does not complete the task for others.
Use the controlled translanguaging cycle and staff examples →
Plan purposeful translanguaging within a lesson →
Plan one action
Choose a manageable action, give it an owner and decide how you will hear from learners before reviewing it.