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France to introduce compulsory language tests for migrants

French lawmakers are increasing efforts to make it harder to stay in France long term if you don’t speak French.

A new immigration bill presented on February 1st, outlines measures to introduce a compulsory language test for anyone applying for a ‘Carte de séjour pluriannuelle’ multi-year residency permit in France.

At present, there is not currently a language test for Cartes de séjour, however the application process and informal interviews are all carried out in French, and a ‘Contract of republican integration’ must be signed- requiring applicants to have a moderate working proficiency of the language already.

Language tests are required for those applying for citizenship, and applicants will need to demonstrate an intermediate DELF B1 level of spoken and written French throughout the interview process.

In July of last year, the Interior Minister of France, Gérald Darmanin announced plans to make this change, at the request of the Prime Minister. He said “At the request of the Prime Minister, we will double the credits for integration, and we will condition in particular the multi-year residence permit for a foreigner who spends several years on the national territory (to master) the French language, either for naturalization or for a regularization examination.”

Until February 2023 the bill had not been debated and as it stands, does not seem to be winning the approval of the right or left.

Although the proposed test comes with intent to toughen immigration processes, the Interior Minister has also said renewal processes will be easier for long-term residents.

An ‘automatic’ renewal for those holding multi-year Cartes de séjour will be carried out for residents who “cause no problems and have no criminal record” to eliminate the need for queuing at the prefecture.

It is unclear when the changes will take place.


Tools for Teaching Transfer between Spanish and English


Sound–Spelling Transfer Kits are now being used in schools across the US to accelerate the progress of emerging bilingual students in grades K–2 and to facilitate the work of their teachers. These unique resources were created with NABE Leadership Award–winner Silvia Dorta-Duque de Reyes, based on key principles of cross-linguistic transfer:

  • Building on students’ knowledge of their original language
  • Providing systematic instruction about both languages
  • Showing students how to transfer their knowledge and skills
  • Including practice and application with engaging resources

The teaching of language foundations, such as letters and the sounds they make, occurs in the students’ native language as well as the new language the students are learning, to ensure there is a detailed understanding of both languages. This is accomplished in part by the use of sound–spelling letter cards, which show familiar objects and the words that represent them, along with the letter of the alphabet that starts the word.

The cards are color-coded to show whether the words are in English or Spanish, and also whether or not the sounds can be transferred between languages. Other instructional resources include online articulation videos, which demonstrate how letters and words should be pronounced, and picture word cards, which show additional images and related words in English or Spanish, to improve conceptual understanding and vocabulary development.

Illustrated lap books in English and Spanish use enjoyable rhymes to support shared reading and engage students in applying what they are learning in both languages. There are also home connection activities that extend students’ learning and encourage family involvement. Detailed instructional support for educators includes teacher’s handbooks, which organize and support the implementation of lessons, and routines and strategies cards, which outline the instructional sequence used with key types of sounds and spellings.

The combination of all these resources into surprisingly affordable Sound–Spelling Transfer Kits makes them an effective way to teach foundational skills and vocabulary in English and Spanish while maximizing transfer, language acquisition, and biliteracy. For more information or to request a free sample, visit:
www.benchmarkeducation.com

Reading Strategies 2.0

The Reading Strategies Book 2.0 is a new, expansive, extensively researched edition of author Jennifer Serravallo’s trusted literacy guide for teachers. Written with today’s teachers and literacy landscape in mind, the skill progressions that organize each chapter make it easy to find strategies to target individual needs, supplement curriculum aligned to standards, and monitor progress. Each strategy page also provides classroom-ready prompts, lesson language with updated mentor texts, teaching tips with advice for differentiation, and hundreds of new classroom charts. Research links and citations woven throughout provide an evidence base for every idea and suggestion.

A True Research-Based Classroom Resource
The updated edition features over 700 unique citations from fields such as cognitive science, neuroscience, linguistics, education, and psychology. Research citations can be found on every page of the book. Each strategy page now includes a new Research Link feature that summarizes applicable and relevant research findings that inform the strategy.
The book opens with a robust, all-new “Getting Started” chapter, which leans on more than 150 studies to provide a crucial foundation and review of key topics relating to effective literacy instruction, including the research base for strategies, important research-based frameworks for reading instruction, how strategies fit alongside other important aspects of reading instruction such as phonics and knowledge-building, and how to provide effective feedback to readers.

New If–Then Skill Progression Organization
Strategies within each chapter in the new edition are now organized by skill progressions. Using an “if–then” structure, the new organization simplifies finding the right strategy, saving preparation and planning time and ensuring teachers choose a more targeted, effective strategy for each learner. Skill progressions also help teachers identify skills aligned to grade-level standards to use strategies to supplement curriculum, target skills for whole-class lessons, or help teachers identify patterns of need within the class to facilitate small-group instruction.
“I’m so excited to bring this new version of Reading Strategies to teachers, classrooms, and parents across the country,” said Jennifer Serravallo.

New Lesson Language and Teaching Resources
The Lesson Language feature is incorporated throughout the book to show how a teacher might offer an explicit demonstration aligned to a strategy. These sections were completely rewritten for The Reading Strategies Book 2.0 and feature a set of inclusive, diverse children’s, middle-grade, and young-adult expository and narrative texts. New and revised Teaching Tips in each chapter offer advice for differentiation or provide background information to support teacher effectiveness. The new edition also features a classroom-ready chart for each strategy, and over 200 charts are brand new. The charts are clear, streamlined, easily replicable, and designed to be effective for a wide range of grade levels.

Higher-Level Strategies
Reading Strategies 2.0 also includes new, higher-level strategies across chapters to support middle school students, advanced readers, and their teachers. These new strategies support skills such as analysis and critique and content such as evaluating the validity of a source, understanding satire, and using allegories and archetypes to interpret a text and find its deeper meanings.
hein.pub/rsb2

Seesaw Adds Spanish

Leading learning development platform Seesaw has launched an innovative expansion of its supplemental curriculum to include content in Spanish. With 70% of English learners in the US identifying Spanish as their home language, the expansion aims to increase access to engaging, grade-level content for students and families. By April 2023, over 260 lessons will be translated and added to the Seesaw Library. Seesaw’s supplemental curriculum engages pre-K–5 students with interactive activities that build foundational skills across subjects. Each lesson leverages Seesaw’s intuitive multimodal learning tools to promote student voice and creation, build meaningful connections to learning, and develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Every lesson is built on research-backed pedagogy such as gradual release of responsibility, and the resources are designed to supplement any existing curriculum. 

Making its high-quality content available in Spanish creates true access points for students and helps build meaningful school–home relationships. Seesaw’s Spanish lessons cover a range of foundational content—including math, literacy, and phonics—to support students at various levels of language acquisition, including newcomers. Seesaw has ensured that all parts of lessons in Spanish, including demos, videos, activities, and lesson plans, are truly ready to assign. “We are so excited to now offer curriculum resources in Spanish to increase access to high-quality learning experiences in bilingual and dual language settings, where there are often gaps,” says Sara Romero-Heaps, chief product officer of Seesaw Learning. The lessons have been translated with the support of native Spanish speakers and professional translators. Using a transadaptive and culturally sustaining lens throughout the process, the content goes far beyond simple translation so as to resonate on multiple levels with native Spanish speakers. Over 80 lessons are available now, and the remaining will be gradually released over the next few months. To explore Seesaw’s subscription-required Spanish content, visit: https://app.seesaw.me/#/activities/library?seesaw&subject=LessonsSpanish

What to Avoid When Publishing Student Writing

Writing is hard, and teaching writing is even harder. In an attempt to optimize their writing assignments, teachers often give students bad advice. While well-intended, these patterns lead to less motivation to write (boring tasks), lower quality (grammatical errors), and diminished audience (fewer readers). 

The following is a list of the top ten mistakes teachers make when their students are publishing online. If any of these mistakes personally apply, we’ve also included ideas for remedying them.

  1. Requiring generic titles
    Mandating titles like “Journal Entry #4” makes it easy to know which assignment is which. But it also makes it impossible for readers to know what an article is about. When presented with 25 pieces titled “My Reflection,” the reader simply skims over the thumbnails and moves on.
    The fix: Every title of every article should be unique. Encourage students to choose the most compelling or controversial phrase from their article and copy-paste it into the title bar. “Can we trust Canada?” is much more clickable.
     
  2. Naming your class space like a door placard
    “Room 3A” might be great for a visitor finding your classroom in the school hallway, but it’s as impersonal as the doorknob.
    The fix: Teachers can make their publishing space more inviting by describing their community of authors more meaningfully. “Writers with Attitude” is a space I want to belong.
  3. Using comments instead of actual articles
    The fix: Save the one-liner responses for Google Classroom or Blackboard or Moodle (or whichever of the 283 available LMS platforms your district mandates you use twice a week). Flip the script: give students the agency to publish their own articles, then the teacher responds via comments. To unleash your students’ full potential, they must publish real articles in their own voices (not just cookie-cutter responses to the teacher’s questions—for more, see #4).
  4. Using writing prompts
    Writer’s block is real. But the solution is not to dictate what everyone will write about during a particular session. Nowhere but the writing classroom are 30 people simultaneously asked to start an essay with the same sentence and write for three minutes. Writing prompts are poisonous to motivation for the writer and reader.
    The fix: Instead of asking everyone to answer the same question or start their article the same way, ask them to consider something that makes them feel angry, or motivated, or scared, or smart. Encourage young authors to collect ideas in a “writer’s notebook,” building up a self-generated list of thoughts and topics from which to choose. Help the author understand that they are writing for a reader—not the teacher. 
  5. Never publishing publicly
    Out of fear or uncertainty, teachers often prohibit students from publishing publicly. Not all articles need to be fully public (i.e., sometimes it’s fine to publish only for their classmates or the teacher). But arbitrarily restricting the audience for students’ efforts will decrease motivation and authenticity. 
    The fix: Audience is everything. Publishing publicly provides a sense of accountability for students’ quality of writing. Knowing that someone will read their writing is a powerful motivator.  
  6. Correcting grammar via comments
    “Reread the second paragraph and fix your spelling errors.”
    “You forgot a period at the end of the last sentence.”
    Could anything be more depressing to see as an author? Responses to student articles are often the equivalent of the dreaded red pen.
    Nitpicking grammar or punctuation mistakes will kill creativity. Teachers shouldn’t memorialize mistakes via comments when the comments will remain long after the errors are corrected. 
    The fix: Comment on content, not conventions. Instead of pointing out misplaced commas, celebrate insights and request elaboration on specific ideas. Use a live editing session to point out mistakes and fix them in the moment. The power of digital publishing is that editing is easy, and young authors will start to care about getting it right when they know there’s an actual audience (see #5).
  7. Omitting a header image
    In the interest of efficiency, teachers often discourage students from locating images to include in their articles. As a result, the article previews look too plain, and readers aren’t compelled to open them to read further.
    The fix: Include an image (or video) in every article. Spending five minutes browsing Unsplash for the perfect visual complement to a student’s article can mean the difference between a cavalcade of readers and responses and a ghost town.
  8. Insisting on commenting on every article
    Teachers often feel obligated to comment on every article from every student. This is a holdover from the days when students handed in assignments on paper and the only way to offer feedback was notes in the margins from the teacher. With online publishing, teachers are no longer the sole source of commentary.
    The fix: When students write great articles, quality comments from all readers will follow. Let students lead the way. Give up the compulsion to comment on every post, and focus thoughtful attention on the authors who need your specific feedback. Article responses are the engine of a dynamic community of authors. Invite everyone to contribute. And the dirty little secret is that students would rather hear from their peers than their teacher anyway.
  9. Grading everything
    The only thing worse than correcting grammar via article comments (see #6) is grading a writing assignment there. “Good work; 8/10” is a lame response to a student’s hard work.
    The fix: There is no more authentic formative assessment than articles published by students. Teachers can surmise grades around content knowledge, specific writing skills, and general participation. Put these scores in the gradebook, not the comment section.
  10. Fearing the unknown
    Teachers often project their own uncertainty about tech tools on their students. If something is confusing, we assume students won’t get it either. But students are fearless and will figure it out. 
    The fix: When publishing online, give students the freedom to explore and find their voices. Tools like Fanschool give students space to be themselves—and teachers peace of mind knowing they can moderate conversations for safety and quality. 

    Matt Hardy has a BA in computer science and an MEd from the University of Minnesota. He was a classroom teacher for eight years before founding an edtech company, Fanschool, in 2012. He lives outside the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul with his wife, three-year-old son, and one-year-old daughter.

Celebrate International Mother Language Day 2023

On the 21st February, International Mother Language Day is observed globally, promoting the awareness and importance of linguistic and cultural diversity.

This year, UNESCO focuses on the fight against “a global learning crisis,” calling on all countries to ensure children are taught in their mother tongue. 

Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO explains, “To help fight the current global learning crisis, while preserving the linguistic diversity which is an essential cultural element, UNESCO urges governments to embrace multilingual education based on the mother tongue from the earliest years of schooling. We know it works—there is empirical evidence to prove it helps children learn.”

First announced by UNESCO in 1999, International Mother Language Day was acknowledged by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002 and has since brought awareness to linguistic ethics in relation to politics, education, indigenous rights and cultural preservation.

UNESCO’s statement ahead of this year’s celebrations draws on the movement to support African countries with the intent to develop multilingual learning. 

A recent report from UNESCO entitled Born To Learn, shows that at best just one in five African children are taught in their mother tongue, despite the continent maintaining the highest linguistic diversity in the world. Consequently, this factor is continuously detrimental to learning outcomes. Correlating education data also shows that only one in five pupils master the basics of reading, writing and mathematics even after completing primary school.

Mozambique recently increased its bilingual education to 25% of schools and has introduced a new teacher training curriculum. Hailed as a success by UNESCO, the country has since seen a notable performance change in students studying at these schools, with an average of 15% higher grades achieved. In contrast, several African countries including Nigeria and Timor-Leste continue to debate the need for mother tongue education above official and colonial languages. 

Leading the Indigenous Languages Decade 2022-2032, UNESCO also reminds the world of the importance of Indigenous language preservation on this International Mother Language Day. 

There are more than 6,700 languages spoken worldwide and at least 40% are threatened with extinction due to a lack of speakers. UNESCO is committed to safeguarding endangered and indigenous languages, using the Indigenous Languages Decade to bring global attention to critical language loss and revitalization efforts. 

Despite working independently to UNESCO and each other, initiatives like the Endangered Languages Project (ELP) and the Endangered Languages Documentation Program (ELDP) are working towards the same goal. Both projects celebrate and support global linguistic diversity with resources and cultural preservation projects. In 2022, the ELDP successfully documented two endangered sign languages Iscendo and Islabali in Java and Bali. To celebrate International Mother Language Day, the (ELP) is launching a unique language revitalization mentorship scheme to support global communities working to strengthen their languages. 

International Mother Language Day is truly celebrated worldwide. In Manchester, England—designated a UNESCO city of literature in 2017—over 200 languages are spoken including Urdu, Arabic, Chinese, Bengali, Polish, Punjabi, and Somali. Ivan Wadeson, executive director, Manchester City of Literature notes that as this day is about celebrating all languages and therefore this year’s celebrations will include languages such as Roma, Kurmanji, Italian and Lingala. He explains, the day “is about celebrating all languages present in our city, not just the more prevalent”. Workshops, multilingual museum activity trails, games in different languages and story sessions will take place throughout the city of Manchester in February and March.  

For Bengali speakers, International Mother Language Day 2023 brings an exciting technological development. The United Nations Development Program has launched a Unicode version of the UN Bangla font—complete with seven different iterations—easing access to the internet for Bengali language users. A day of remembrance for some, the 21st of February also brings an atmosphere of reflection to Bangladesh. With flags flying at half mast, many Bangladeshis are paying homage to those who sacrificed their lives for the right to Bangla as a state language in 1952. 


The theme of the 2023 International Mother Language Day is “Multilingual education—a necessity to transform education.” Summarized by the UN, this aligns with recommendations made during the Transforming Education Summit.

Winter-Themed Minecraft World for Learning English

Experts from Cambridge University Press and Assessment have collaborated with Microsoft to launch a new winter-themed Minecraft world to help children learn English. Gormi’s Winter Wonderland is Cambridge’s second foray into using Minecraft as an English language-learning resource, following the success of the award-winning Adventures in English with Cambridge, Episode 1. Gormi’s Winter Wonderland is designed to encourage children aged eight and above to learn English by solving puzzles and tasks that are focused on real-life communication skills. It’s suitable for beginners at level A1 and above of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), the international standard of language-learning ability. The in-game challenges encourage students to practice a range of new language skills that focus on new words, words in new forms, spelling, word formation, visual clues, and critical thinking skills. The game has been developed by the same Cambridge experts who produce the world’s leading range of English language-learning and assessment products. Gormi, a character from 2021’s award-winning Adventures in English with Cambridge, Episode 1, now takes center stage in this new adventure. Players are tasked with helping Gormi prepare for a winter party and progress through the game by solving challenges and puzzles along the way.

Alex Martin, product manager at Cambridge, said: “We wanted to create a compelling English language-learning experience and Minecraft was the perfect platform, because it’s loved by millions of children all over the world. Gormi’s Winter Wonderland presents in-game challenges that encourage children to improve their English by learning and using relevant language and real-life communication skills. Players are encouraged to process the meaning of the language they encounter and then use it to progress through the game. It’s a really fun experience that I’m sure will resonate with children and parents all over the world.”

Players are free to explore and complete the puzzles in any order they like, with hints provided in “weather reports” that can be found all around the igloo. They are encouraged to persevere and try an activity more than once in order to succeed.
Read a blog about the game here: https://education.minecraft.net/en-us/blog/english-cambridge
www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/games-social/adventures-in-english

CT Lawmakers Seek to Ban the Term ‘Latinx’

Five Democratic Hispanic lawmakers in Connecticut are seeking a ban on the gender neutral term Latinx from official documents, calling it “offensive to Spanish speakers.”

An inclusive gender-neutral alternative for Latino or Latina, Latinx has been adopted in response to gender bias and to support people who do not identify as either male or female. 

The proposal follows Sarah Sanders’ decision to ban the term in the state of Arkansas and lawmakers are arguing it is particularly offensive to Connecticut’s Puerto Rican population. 

Geraldo Reyes Jr, a CT state representative and one of five Hispanic Democrats piloting the Connecticut bill, said Latinx was not a Spanish word, instead a term rooted in wokeism largely offensive to the Puerto Rican population of the state.

He said “I’m of Puerto Rican descent and I find it offensive.”

Last month, the state of Arkansas, by the direction of Governor Sarah Sanders, outlawed the use of the term Latinx by government officials and in formal documentation. Sanders, a former White House press secretary to Donald Trump, made these changes within hours of becoming Governor. 

Sanders cited research by Pew to support her order, claiming “the term is not well known among the population it is meant to describe. Only 23% of US adults who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino have heard of the term Latinx, and just 3% say they use it to describe themselves.”

In Connecticut, Geraldo Reyes Jr says his reasons for seeking a ban on the term are ultimately different to Sanders’, but supports her decision. He said “The Spanish language, which is centuries old, defaults to Latino for everybody,” Reyes said. “It’s all-inclusive. They didn’t need to create a word, it already exists.”

In 2021 The League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest Latino civil rights group in the US, announced in an email statement that it would no longer use or encourage the term Latinx, suggesting it is “very unliked” by almost all Latinos. 

Explaining the etymology of the word, Maia Gil’Adi, an assistant professor of Latinx and Multiethnic Literature at Boston University, said the word was born from Latino and Latina youth and queer subculture in the 1990s. The “x” is an acknowledgement of indigenous heritage. 

She said “The word Latino is incredibly exclusionary, both for women and for non-gender-conforming people,” she said. “And the term Latinx is really useful because of the way it challenges those conceptions.”

Others, including David Pharies, a Spanish language professor at the University of Florida, feel the ‘x’ sound following an ‘n’ is unnatural for Spanish speakers. He suggests an ‘e’ to replace the ‘o’ and ‘a’ in gender neutral terminology would be easier for Spanish speakers to pronounce. 

Reyes expects the bill to soon receive a hearing before the government administration and elections committee as part of the Democratic-controlled Connecticut legislature.

February Marks the tenth anniversary of Hawaiian Language Month

For the tenth consecutive year, February marks Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi or Hawaiian Language Month.

Established by the University of Hawaii in 2013, each February commemorates the native language of Hawaii – its preservation, Hawaiian culture and learning efforts to strengthen the language.

The allocation of Hawaiian language month came after Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed Act 28 and was the first of its kind to be transliterated in both Hawaiian and English and states:

“Mahina Olelo Hawaii. E ike mau a e kapa ia ana ae ka mahina o Pepeluali o ia ka ‘Mahina Olelo Hawaii’ i mea e hoomaikai a e paipai aku ai i ka Olelo ana o ua Olelo makuahine nei la.

Translation: Olelo Hawaii Month. The month of February shall be known and designated as ‘Olelo Hawaii Month’ to celebrate and encourage the use of Hawaiian language.”

‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i – the Hawaiian language, was officially banned from public school systems three years after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, leaving the language facing extinction. Many native people were forced into assimilation into a newly colonized nation.

In the 1970s, a revitalization of Hawaiian culture reignited interest in language learning efforts and ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i was reintroduced into public school curriculums in 1978, after the language became officially recognized in the state of Hawai‘i.

As of 2023, Hawai‘i’s public education system offers K-12 Hawaiian language immersion programs and students of the University of Hawai‘i Mānoa can choose ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i as a major.

The celebratory events – largely hosted by different faculties and student groups at the University of Hawaii, offer everything from language classes, yoga sessions, swing dance classes, historical lectures and games.

Malia Nobrega, director of strategic partnerships at UH Mānoa Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge reflects ““Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi is a time for our community to pause, reflect and assess where we are and where we are going.” She adds “We celebrate our successes and progress and we fortify ourselves to normalize and strengthen Hawaiian language for all the generations to come.”
Many of the events are free and some will also be offered online.

The Hawaii State Public Library System is also an active participant in Hawaiian Language Month, and various locations host their own celebrations in addition to year-round services.

Using Artificial Intelligence to Support Emergent Bilingual Students in the Classroom


Artificial intelligence (AI) can promote equity for emergent bilingual students in two ways: 1) by creating powerful, individualized learning pathways and 2) by quickly producing data that has historically been absent or extremely delayed. AI can create personalized learning for each student based on their current language level and deliver on-time data that educators can use to make informed instructional decisions.

This is important because educators typically have had to rely on data collected from a time-consuming one-to-one exchange between a proctor and the student, and the results of that test were not immediately available.

Thus, an educator likely had to begin teaching emergent bilingual students without knowing their true language proficiency level or which language standards had been mastered. But with individualized learning pathways, AI, and data, those educators can use their valuable time to make academic decisions that will move the needle for their students.

Celebrating Emergent Bilinguals

Emergent bilinguals (also known as English learners) are students who are developing skills in their heritage languages while also learning a new language. Using a term like emergent bilingual celebrates the linguistic knowledge of the heritage languages that learners bring with them to school. Those funds of knowledge can and should be leveraged to help the students become bilingual (in this case, by adding English to their repertoires).

Those students’ heritage languages and cultures are assets to focus on as deep knowledge, and something that can be built upon.
Currently, about one in every ten students in US public schools is an emergent bilingual; that number is growing. Thanks to technological advancements, we can now use AI to help support bilingual and multilingual students.
In fact, if you have a program that individualizes the student experience and provides data based on what learners have done online—or that pushes information to you in some other way—you’re probably already using AI in your classroom.

Five Ways AI Promotes Equity and Supports Emergent Bilinguals

Defined as a computer’s ability to complete tasks normally performed by humans, AI can be used to listen to speech and respond as well as to collect and aggregate data. Because AI also helps machines learn from experience and adjust to new inputs, it’s the perfect tool for helping emergent bilinguals in the classroom.
Here are five ways that an AI-enabled language program helps promote equity and supports emergent bilingual students:

  1. Continually adjusts to the students’ needs through personalization.
    Excellent AI will determine the language level of the student and start them on a pathway that meets them right where they are. The algorithm will systematically move the student along an upward trajectory of learning. However, if a student makes a mistake, there should be scaffolds in place to provide corrective feedback. The student experience should also be coded in a way that alerts the educator whenever a learner is facing difficulties. All activity that the learner engages in online (e.g., when the student speaks, makes selections via multiple choice, or inputs answers on a keyboard) should be captured as data for the educator. Using this data, the AI can continually learn and adjust to individual students. For example, a speech recognition engine can “listen” as the learners talk and get to know the way they speak, including their individual accents. All this data can readily be pushed out to the educator in a usable and actionable way. In the best case, the AI should provide offline support in the form of standards-based lessons and help the educator group students according to their needs.
  2. Helps educators prioritize instruction with current, accurate data.
    Teaching emergent bilinguals an entirely new language is not a “set it and forget it” exercise by any means. The data is constantly changing based on how the student progresses. Using an AI-enabled platform, educators, principals, and district leaders can all monitor how well this student demographic is doing. This is a far cry from the past, when educators had to wait for an annual language proficiency test to find out if a learner was making progress (or not). Now, they can log in and check progress year-round. Better yet, the embedded progress monitoring and offline resources help educators prioritize and target instruction to meet the individual needs of all the students.
  3. Works in tandem with educators and their knowledge.
    Early on, there was concern over whether AI would somehow “replace’’ human beings. We’ve always known that when it comes to the classroom, there is no replacement for a human educator who understands the art of teaching and has the expertise and skill set to make instructional decisions with the data that the AI is providing. In the best-case scenario, an equity-focused program will provide offline lessons that are connected to the online experience. It should also help educators continue the personalization in face-to-face environments by providing suggested groupings of students based on their online performance. Indeed, educators can use their discernment to deliver meaningful lessons.
  4. Provides speaking practice.
    Aided by AI, embedded speech recognition technology can be coded to listen to students and determine whether they’re mastering the language proficiency standard they’re being taught. This is important because other programs may only look at and factor in reading standards. While reading comprehension is a main goal, the fact is, oral language comprehension will set the foundation for both reading comprehension and proficiency in writing. Oral language is the bedrock for the other domains, and speaking practice is essential to oral language proficiency.
  5. Embeds equity into the curriculum.
    At our company, we’re constantly thinking about how to proceduralize equity in the language-learning classroom. We spend time thinking about creating infrastructure around the concept of equity and how to embed equity into the curriculum versus having it just be an afterthought or an add-on. If we start from this point of view, every subsequent decision will follow suit. One of the ways that we aim to proceduralize equity is through an algorithm that includes AI, speech recognition, human intelligence, and data.

There’s More to Come

At a fundamental level, AI uses computers and machines to mimic human decision-making, perception, and other processes needed to complete tasks.

It also creates individualized learning pathways for students, gathers data on their performance, and presents that data to the educator in a way that makes sense. Artificial intelligence should also correlate and connect with the state standards and objectives, show educators what a student has mastered, and reveal what work still needs to be done.

As we begin to see more AI make its way into educational technology, there’s no doubt that its positive impacts will continue to materialize—both for emergent bilinguals and for all learners.

Maya Valencia Goodall, MEd, MA, is senior director of emergent bilingual curriculum at Lexia Learning (www.lexialearning.com).

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