Native language support provides short and
long term benefits for
emergent bilinguals.
Native language support can facilitate transition into the new educational environment.
Students can continue developing content
area knowledge while they are learning English.
Knowledge in the native language can support
the learning of English as skills can transfer
from one language to the other.
Bilingual skills will be beneficial for professional goals.
Recommendation:
Gather information about the students' native
language, including the braille code in the native language in which the students are braille
users. Are the students proficient in their own
native language? Are they functioning at grade
level in the native language? Family members
may be able to provide school records from
previous educational experiences that could
provide essential information about native language proficiency and academic levels. Other
support personnel may also be able to help
obtain this type of information and may be
able to provide a source for native language
materials.
Cultural Knowledge will help with teacher, student, and family interactions.
Beliefs and practices, including understandings of disability, vary within cultural groups.
Factors such as number of years in the U.S.,
age, religion, and levels of education can influence the way a specific family may acculturate
to the new community and school environment.
It is impossible to learn everything about every
culture, but we can develop a "framework" that
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