This is the second of a two-part article on supporting culturally and linguistically diverse students in the classroom: Social support | Academic support

English learners, like all students, face the pressure of achieving in school, and they hope to learn the content being presented in the class. Additionally, like all of the other students in the class, they want to make friends with their classmates and other students in the school.

These social and academic pressures that all students face, though, can be compounded for English learners. They may be learning the social norms of a new culture, while they are learning English — both in terms of the social English that students use with each other, as well as the academic language used in classrooms and schools.

What then, can we as teachers do to support culturally and linguistically diverse students in our classrooms, both socially and academically? In Part 1 of this article, we looked at four ways we can support students socially. In Part 2, we will examine three ways teachers can support culturally and linguistically diverse students academically.

All students must master the content knowledge and skills outlined in the standards for that grade level and subject area. For English learners, there is the added challenge of learning English while they learn content.

Of course, all students must master the academic vocabulary of the subject area. In addition, English learners need to learn syntax, or the order of words, for both social and academic English. To support our students, and especially English learners, more effectively, teachers can consider a variety of topic and incorporate several helpful strategies.

Teach language along with content

There has been much discussion in the last several years about teaching language and content simultaneously. Research and practice have validated the importance of teaching content and language simultaneously, and the benefit of teaching and emphasizing language given their inextricable link.

When teachers in all content areas help English learners improve their language skills while they are learning language, everyone benefits. Students will have a deeper understanding of the content they are learning, and will be learning important language skills as well.

Scaffold instruction

Scaffolding is the process of providing the needed support for students to be successful, based on their current level of success. Scaffolding comes in numerous forms, including providing visual supports, breaking information down into smaller components, providing or reviewing critical background information, and providing English learners with language supports such as sentence frames and starters, to name a few.

It is important to remember that when incorporating scaffolding with students, we should consider the "Goldilocks principle" — not too much, not too little, but just right. For more information and ideas on scaffolding, see this article on the topic: "Scaffolding: Helping all students reach academic excellence."

Use Active Engagement Strategies

There are multiple strategies that teachers can use to help students practice content and language skills in a low anxiety environment. For example, instead of calling on individual students to read aloud in class, use choral reading. In choral reading, all students read aloud at the same time, and the teacher models the appropriate pace and prosody of the reading. This allows students, including English learners, to practice reading the text aloud without being on stage. Partner reading strategies are also effective, as several students can practice reading at the same time with just one other person listening and potentially providing feedback.

Similarly, rehearsal strategies such as having students talk to each other greatly benefit students. Students should interact with each other often regarding content, as this practice helps students to clarify key concepts as well as practice their responses to teacher questions with another student, before responding to the teacher in a whole class format or setting. When asking questions in class, simply have students turn to a partner to discuss the answer, then call on one or more students to share their responses with the class.

By continuing our practices of creating warm and welcoming environments for all students, and continuing our focus to help all children in our classes learn, we will help to decrease anxiety of our students. With a few added measures or adjustments, our culturally and linguistically diverse students will also feel like valued members of our community who are given the support they need to succeed socially and academically.