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.

This path-breaking book provides a convincing argument for the importance of children's home languages and the benefits of dual- and multi-language learning. A new classroom practice known as Linguistically Appropriate Practice (LAP) offers guidance for those working with young children who arrive in childcare centres and schools with little or no proficiency in the classroom language. Linguistically Appropriate Practice details over fifty classroom activities that can be adapted to match both the developmental level of the children and the classroom curriculum. Intended for childcare staff, health care providers, settlement workers, speech and language pathologists, kindergarten and primary grade teachers, family resource workers, and literacy specialists, this book is an essential resource for preparing young children for the complex communication and literacy demands of the twenty-first century.