Welcoming Linguistic Diversity in Early Childhood Classrooms

Edna Murphy, after a short career as a teacher, became head of primary schools first in London and then Brussels. She founded and edited for 22 years the International Schools Journal, a semi-annual publication now in its 30th year. She later conceived of, edited and contributed to a book entitled ESL: A Handbook for Teachers and Administrators in International Schools. She also served for many years on the Board of the European Council of International Schools. In this capacity and well into her retirement she headed accreditation teams to schools in Europe, Asia and Africa, the primary school being her particular interest.

Packed with practical and powerful strategies for educators serving diverse schools, this book makes a strong case for greatly varied, original, creative, and instructionally effective uses of students’ mother tongues as an integral component of the curriculum of English-medium international schools. While presenting the research rationale, the authors from around the world have enlivened their chapters with rich, delightful, and humorous descriptions of real life in early childhood classrooms full of diverse learners from multiple language backgrounds. The book includes compelling messages and should be required reading for all teachers, administrators, and parents of this globally interconnected world of the 21st century.

• SECTION ONE CHAPTER 1 Eithne Gallagher: Young Children Have Stories to Share CHAPTER 2 Denise Sullivan: Using Multilingual Strategies in Monolingual Early Childhood Classrooms CHAPTER 3 Patricia Parker: A Year with Five Beginners: Excerpts from the Journal of a First Grade TeacherCHAPTER 4 Carol Breedlove: Developing the Basic English Language Skills of Young Children in a Linguistically Diverse Classroom CHAPTER 5 Nancy Stauft: An International School Celebrates its Diversity CHAPTER 6 Kalei Brumsickle: An Amazing Journey: Making English Language Learners Successful CHAPTER 7 Anita Hayim-Bamberger: The Importance of Maintaining Mother Tongue and Culture in the Classroom SECTION TWO CHAPTER 8 Maulfry Worthington: Young Mathematicians: Global Learners CHAPTER 9 Frances Bekhechi: Meeting the Needs of Young Second Language Learners who Struggle CHAPTER 10 Dylan Yamada-Rice: The Benefits of Sign Language in the International Preschool Curriculum CHAPTER 11 Debra Rader: Addressing Transition Issues with English Language Learners in the Early Childhood Years CHAPTER 12 Steven Luscomb: Music: The Universal Language CHAPTER 13 Ernestina Meloni: Italiano Si! Si! Teaching Italian through PE CHAPTER 14 Jeffrey Brewster: The Role of the Library in Supporting Young Language Learners and their Families. CHAPTER 15 Angela Hollington: Breaking the Silence: One School’s Response to a Non-Communicative Class CHAPTER 16 Colleen MacDonell: Library Programming for Young English Language Learners SECTION THREE CHAPTER 17 Coreen Sears: Listening to Parents: Acknowledging the Range of Linguistic and Cultural Experiences in an Early Childhood Classroom CHAPTER 18 Jane Scott: Writing and Implementing a Language Policy in the Primary Section of a Linguistically Diverse School CHAPTER 19 Sally Flanagan and Sarah Ford: Maintaining Mother Tongue and Home Culture in a Child’s School Experience CHAPTER 20 Elaine Whelen: Joining the Mother Tongue Conversation from an Administrator’s Perspective CHAPTER 21 Laura Bridgestock: Native Languages and the IB CHAPTER 22 Emily Munyoki: Sometimes if you Ask a Silly Question you get a Serious Answer or How I Learned Five Languages