English: Linguistically Appropriate Practice. A guide for working with young immigrant children

As immigrant children are in all the urban classrooms in Canada, US and Europe, EC practitioners have to understand their needs, to be able to work effectively with them. These children arrive in the classroom not as novices with blank language slates, but as language users with language and literacy experiences. They often arrive in monolingual classrooms and are seen as learners of the classroom language. Their home language and literacy skills often remain overlooked and unrecognized. They are at risk of loosing their home language, feelings of loneliness and uncertainty lead them to silence, and they try to hide all traces of their home languages. ‘Linguistically appropriate practice‘ (LAP) builds on inclusive classroom practices that bring home languages into the classroom and promote multilingualism and multi-literacy. It is in line with the principles of childhood bilingualism and meets the needs of language and literacy needs of immigrant children. It was developed in response to the widespread use of monolingual classroom practices, which fall short of meeting the language and literacy needs of immigrant children, and to the numerous requests from EC practitioners for guidance.

The book chapter gives insight in working with children that migrated from another country or place. It invites practitioners to understand and reflect.