MLE 541 - Language, Culture, and Equity: From Global to Local

This is the first in a sequence of courses designed to prepare individuals to work with emergent bi/multilingual students in the USA’s P-12 school context. Educational equity and cultural and linguistic sustainability are core commitments that run throughout this course and across the program. This course introduces students to foundational concepts in language acquisition for multilingual students, and the historical, legal, theoretical and policy contexts of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. Students will examine their own cultural and linguistic identity and understand how beliefs and perspectives influence teaching. We will explore theory and research on bilingual and biliteracy acquisition and development drawn from critical, sociocultural, cognitive, and sociolinguistic traditions that inform current practice. Students will consider how language and policy intersect, including an introduction to the WIDA language development standards across domains of reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Credits: 5
Grade Mode: Letter