The magic key to multilingual learning lies in transfer. What you know in your first language can transfer to your second language and what you know in the second language can transfer to your first language. For instance, if you know how to add in English, you know how to add in every language because the concept is the same.  4 + 4 = 8 in English, Japanese, Danish, and Spanish. Only, you need the vocabulary to communicate this knowledge.

Transfer is important in all multilingual programs.  In Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) programs, it means that we do not have to teach standards twice. For example, once you have taught context clues, students know it in English and in the Language Other Than English regardless of which language you originally taught it in. When a student in the Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) program comes in, knowing his colors in the Language Other Than English, he already has the concept of colors. He just needs the vocabulary. 

That said, students do not automatically transfer information. They need our help through a process known as bridging. Bridging is well known in the DLBE world. The most common form of bridging in DLBE is the simple bridge. After the lesson, we purposely review the content just taught in the language of instruction, determine translations, engage in metalinguistic analysis, and then, provide our students with an extension activity in the language that was not used for original instruction.

However, in SEI, bridging takes place before, not after the lesson. An early English-proficiency student may be given a short passage to read in their native language or asked questions to activate prior knowledge in the home language during the Language Experience Approach. These would be warm ups so that students can then connect their learning in English to what they already know in their home language.

And in both program models, in-the-moment bridges may involve questions that connect learning across languages such as, “How do you say this in Spanish?” Or students may be asked to identify cognates – words that are similar in more than one language (in our context English and the Language Other Than English). Teaching students to make connections across languages as they read and listen can help students further their language acquisition even when they are not with you.

Bridging is a powerful tool that can help all students grow faster in their content and linguistic knowledge. Becoming comfortable with helping your students make the transfer is key to helping our multilingual students grow.