Supporting literacy development of multilingual language learners with limited or interrupted education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25071/2564-2855.52Keywords:
multilingual language learners, students with limited or interrupted formal education, sociocultural theory, interactive model of reading, translanguaging pedagogy, literacy developmentAbstract
As more migrants enter Ontario’s education systems, supporting new students learning English becomes increasingly important.
Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs) come from a variety of backgrounds and have diverse needs. Of this group, adolescent migrants
whose families have been forcibly displaced are a particularly vulnerable population who face unique educational challenges in English literacy development, especially if they are students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE). This lack of access to formal education may result in relatively limited literacy skills in adolescent MLLs’ first language(s). This paper reviews literature on relevant frameworks to literacy development; analyzes empirical and conceptual studies on MLLs’ literacy development; and offers pedagogical practices that can help facilitate adolescent MLLs’ reading development in English. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research to optimize adolescent MLLs’ integration and success into the public education system.
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