Using Linguistically Appropriate Practice
The presence of students for whom the school language is not their first language creates unique challenges and opportunities for teachers. This book provides an accessible guide to multilingual teaching using Linguistically Appropriate Practice (LAP) in diverse classrooms worldwide. It is firmly grounded in the latest research on multilingual learners and takes a realistic approach to teaching in linguistically diverse schools today. The author argues that successful multilingual teaching is an option for all teachers, and that it has benefits for every child in the classroom, as well as the wider school community. The book:
- provides profiles of LAP in action around the world;
- explains the relationship between theory and multilingual practice;
- lays out the characteristics of the LAP teacher and the LAP classroom;
- discusses challenges that have been identified by teachers using LAP in their classrooms;
- provides a step-by-step guide to implementing and enriching LAP;
- includes resources to support multilingual teaching and learning.
This book is an invaluable support and inspiration for practising teachers and trainee teachers. It will help them transform their classrooms into multilingual environments where all children have equal opportunity to participate, learn and grow.
Roma Chumak-Horbatsch is an Associate Professor in the School of Early Childhood Studies, Ryerson University, Canada. She has written and presented extensively on her development of Linguistically Appropriate Practice as a response to increasingly diverse classrooms, including Linguistically Appropriate Practice: A Guide for Working with Young Immigrant Children (2012, University of Toronto Press).