Serving Multilingual Learners in Career-Connected Learning [Webinar Recap]
Catalyze teamed up with Katie Brown, founder and chief education officer at EnGen, to host a community learning event centered around serving multilingual learners in career-connected learning (CCL) programs.
It is critically important to develop effective CCL programs that are inclusive of the needs of multilingual learners and prepare them for a fulfilling career. According to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report, almost one in five Americans speak a language other than English at home. As of 2020, there were more than 4.9 million English language learners in U.S. public schools, nearly 10% of all students.
Multilingual learners often face many barriers to accessing CCL opportunities and, for practitioners, serving these learners effectively poses unique challenges. But, with the right practices in place, CCL programs can increase access to high-quality career pathways for language learners.
Here are the top three takeaways from the webinar that will help CCL practitioners and educators of all kinds better serve their multilingual learners.
Adjust the monolingual mindset
In K-12 and post-secondary environments across the U.S., multilingual learners are often viewed as being at a disadvantage in a traditionally monolingual system. In reality, speaking one or more additional languages is an asset and a huge advantage in our society. In an increasingly global and digital world, it is highly likely that workers and learners will need to interact with speakers of other languages in the workplace.
CCL practitioners are uniquely positioned to integrate inclusive practices that celebrate bilingualism for all language learners and empower multilingual learners to access fulfilling careers. When programs integrate inclusive practices effectively — like Catalyze grantees Cultivate Pathways and the City University of New York (CUNY) — they benefit not only multilingual learners, but also employers and communities at large.
Learning a language is mastering a skill
Brown compared learning a language to learning to ride a bike — in either case, it is extremely difficult to learn by watching lectures and videos alone. But oftentimes, Brown explained, lectures and videos are the primary tools used to teach English language skills. Learning a language isn’t just about memorizing the vocabulary and learning the grammar. Learners need to hear and see language, have opportunities to produce and practice language with others, and receive immediate feedback.
Especially for young adult learners in CCL programs, it’s important to approach language learning by starting with the language needed to accomplish a task — an approach called task-based learning. With this approach, multilingual learners acquire the language skills they need to be successful in contextualized settings. In CCL, this can look like integrated education and training or pre-apprenticeship programs where learners acquire language skills alongside workforce skills.
Go beyond translation to make intentional language connections
Education and service providers often fail to translate critically important policies and information into multiple languages. For example, the FAFSA has only been made available in two languages — English and Spanish — and will be translated into more languages for the first time for the 2024-2025 school year.
But translation alone isn’t enough. Translation is a one-way flow of information; even when documents and instructions are translated, students and parents don’t have a way to ask clarification questions, clear up confusion, or ask about special circumstances. Important processes should account for cultural differences and systemic barriers that multilingual learners are more likely to face, such as access to types of identification and financial resources dependent upon their residency status.
Another common translation mistake is to offer a CCL curriculum only in learners’ first languages. When CCL programs translate their programming and do not integrate English learning, they fail to develop learners’ full capabilities. As Brown said in the webinar, “If you are training a workforce in the U.S., they will need to have English skills to access the types of careers that have family-sustaining wages and that have the potential for career mobility.” While translation of curriculum and materials can be helpful to language learners, educators must make intentional language connections and engage students in task-based learning.
Multilingual learners offer a myriad of strengths to education and workplace settings — multilingualism is truly a superpower. Educators can unlock their agency and earning potential by creating opportunities that integrate language and workforce skills training and remove barriers for multilingual learners within career-connected learning programs.
