Strategies Teachers And Families Can Use To Support Home Language Maintenance For Early Elementary Students

The primary research question for this project is: What are strategies teachers and families can use to support home language maintenance for early elementary students? This capstone project presents literature about the benefits of multilingualism, the impact of language loss, factors that support home language maintenance or loss, and strategies for teachers and families to support home language maintenance. The project following the research is two resources: one for teachers and one for families. The resource for teachers has two learning targets: teachers will be able to describe why home language maintenance is important and teachers will be able to list strategies to support home language maintenance. There are two versions of the resource for families: one with strategies for families of all language backgrounds and one with specific strategies for Spanish-speaking families. The goal of the resources is to educate teachers and families about the benefits of multilingualism and the impact of language loss. This project provides concrete strategies to support students in home language maintenance at home and in school, including suggestions for teacher-family collaboration