Language and Learning in Multilingual Classrooms: A Practical Approach

by Elizabeth Coelho

This book is a research-based practical guide for educators who work with students whose linguistic and cultural background is different from their own. Illustrated with many practical examples of classroom activities, projects, and teaching strategies, the book is also an introduction to immigrant education for school administrators and educational planners in communities or regions that are in the process of developing plans and programs for newcomer students. Although the focus is on first-generation immigrant children, many of the recommended approaches and instructional strategies described in this book can be used or adapted for use with second-generation children and historical linguistic and cultural minorities, such as children from Aboriginal communities in North America or children of Roma background in Europe.

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 25, 2012

Reviews

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a rough business to get an educational textbook ready that truly prepared and inspires teachers to do as their told while still allowing them to bring their own creativity into their practice. In Coelho’s case, she get the fine balance mostly right by front-load the theory and supportive statistics leaving latter chapter for more or the nuts and bolts of ELL students in the classroom. Both a step up and a fall back from the Gunderson textbook used the last time I taught Classroom Discourses, as Coelho’s brings a more unified purpose to her practical guide, but drops the technological ball with only a couple references to websites and Word features when the Internet can be found in so many more interesting places, including the students’ pockets, purses and backpacks. Great that so much of content is geared towards Canadian schools, yet every now and then it felt like she was writing a personal travelogue about her many trips to Spain. Much that can be improved for the next edition, but knowing that I am not really the one who would pull it all together, I will leave it for the Coelho/Gunderson mash-up.

[Lara Hoffmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting introduction to language and learning in multilingual classrooms. However, it is indeed more of a practical approach and some claims should be backed up with scientific evidence. As someone from another discipline than teaching, although I do have some teaching experience, I found this book very accessible. I believe this book will be very encouraging for teachers, parents with multilingual kids and anyone curious about this topic.