These resources from the Head Start Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center offer information and guidance on the needs of children who are acquiring two or more languages at the same time or are learning a second language while developing their first.
Selected Resources
Brilliant Bilingual Language Development in Infants and Toddlers
Infants and toddlers have an amazing capacity to learn multiple languages. In this podcast, learn about early language development and discover strategies to support dual language learning.
Individualizing Instruction for Children with Disabilities Who Are Also Dual Language Learners
Explore what current research says about strategies to individualize instruction for children who are dual language learners (DLLs) who also have a disability.
Code Switching: Why It Matters and How to Respond
Virtually all children who are learning English while also learning their home language will code switch. In other words, they mix two or more languages in the same sentence while speaking. It is important that teachers, home visitors, and other staff understand what code switching is, the role it plays in language development, and how to respond to it.
Specific Strategies to Support Dual Language Learners (DLLs) When Adults Do Not Speak Their Language
Find tips classroom staff and home visitors can use when they do not speak the languages of the children in their care.
Source: Head Start Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center | Dual Language Learners, https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/browse/tag/dual-language-learners | public domain. Retrieved January 2024.
