Embedded Files
The 'How?'
The 'How?'
Academic strategies address curriculum content and competencies, instructional strategies, and linguistic ideology and permit varied forms of doing, being, and belonging. Consider:
How can the student engage in the occupation of learning in French?
Does the task allow multiple modes of participation?
Is meaning-making accessible without full linguistic fluency?
Imbalanced Academic J D-R leads to...
Imbalanced Academic J D-R leads to...
Systemic linguistic and institutional gatekeeping
Occupational marginalization
Occupational marginalization
Balanced Academic J D-R leads to...
Balanced Academic J D-R leads to...
Conceptual access
Meaningful curricular participation
Occupational Access
Occupational Access
Job Demands
Job Demands
High linguistic load in content-based instruction (e.g., learning science through French)
Limited access to first-language scaffolding
Fast pacing of oral instruction in L2
Emphasis on written output over multimodal expression
Translating evidence-based practices into L2 contexts
Differentiating content and language simultaneously
Interpreting whether difficulty is linguistic or neuro-cognitive
Assessment practices that privilege fluency over conceptual understanding
Job Resources
Job Resources
Translanguaging
Access to AFIRM modules
Collaborative planning time
UDL-informed scaffolds (visual supports, sentence frames, graphic organizers)
Strategic translanguaging
Chunked instructions and preview/review structures
Multimodal directions
Flexible assessment formats (oral, visual, project-based)
Explicit vocabulary instruction with visuals and gestures
Non-verbal signals
Graphic organizers (pictures, diagrams)
Manipulatives (concrete to abstract)
Additional time
Less volume
Reconsider mastery expectation
Additional processing time
Front-load vocabulary and language structures
Break down testing time
Consider print appearance and design (font, spacing, margins)
Pare down language for readability
Models of completed work
Collaborative criteria development (shared and posted_
Formative assessment strategies (sample match)
Visual presentation
Student to repeat directions back
Group similar problems
Fewer problems per page
Lists steps in processes(visual anchor)
Audio version of reading
Short oral directions
Decrease pace of instruction (punctuate with practice (individual and guided)
Cognitive stressors
Lesson purpose (know and state essential learning, to avoid creating or widening gaps)
Expect to need to reteach (pacing)
High contrast materials (low visual clutter)
Consider in-class evidence of understanding
Theoretical underpinning
Theoretical underpinning
UDL Connection
UDL Connection
Principle of Action and Expression activates the Strategic Network of the brain: how students navigate the environment, approach learning, and express knowledge
Guideline 4: Options for Interaction
Relevant BC Core Competencies
Relevant BC Core Competencies
Facets:
Creating & Innovating
Generating & Incubating
Evaluating & Developing
Critical and Reflective Thinking
Facets:
Analyzing & Critiquing
Questioning & Investigating
Designing & Developing
Reflecting & Assessing
BC Curriculum
BC Curriculum
Français Langue Seconde - Immersion
Curricular Competencies:
Exploring & Reflecting
Creating & Communicating
Curricular Competencies:
Reasoning & Analyzing
Understanding & Solving
Communicating & Representing
Connecting & Reflecting
Curricular Competencies:
Inquiry
Significance
Evidence
Continuity & Change
Cause & Consequence
Perspective
Ethical Judgement
Curricular Competencies:
Questioning & Predicting
Planning & Conducting
Processing & Analyzing Data and Information
Evaluating
Applying & Innovating
Communicating
Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies (ADST)
Curricular Competencies:
Applied Design
Understanding Context
Defining
Ideating
Prototyping
Testing
Making
Sharing
Applied Skills
Applied Technologies
Alternative Linguistic Ideologies
Alternative Linguistic Ideologies
Without an acknowledgement that ALL learning conditions in a FI context are linguistically mediated, educators run the risk of privileging oral or written language fluency over conceptual understanding and competence. In addition to the more 'classic' Content-Based Language Instruction (CBLI) approach (VanPatten & Simonsen, 2022) there are alternative language acquisition ideologies you might want to explore:
The Neurolinguistic Approach (NLA)
The Action-Oriented Approach (AOA)
Embedding Formative Assessment
Embedding Formative Assessment
William and Leahy's (2015) collection of formative assessment strategies is an excellent resource for adding value to formative assessments. This book is centred around 5 strategies:
Clarifying, sharing, and understanding learning intentions and success criteria
Engineering productive discussions and activities that elicit evidence of learning
Providing feedback that moves learners forward
Activating students as learning resources for each other
Activating students as owners of their own learning
A series of 6 YouTube videos by William that starts here. Each one is about 18 minutes and the description boxes fhave a link to each video's slides.
Wiliam, D., & Leahy, S. (2015). Embedding Formative Assessment: Practical Techniques for K-12 Classrooms. Learning Sciences International.
Language in Autism
Language in Autism
This textbook offers a comprehensive overview of how language functions among autistic learners. It merges clinical insights with linguistic research to examine various components of language:
lexicon (vocabulary),
phonology (speech sound systems),
morphology and syntax (grammatical structure),
semantics (meaning),
pragmatics (use of language in social contexts),
discourse, and
prosody
Of particular relevance is Chapter 13: Multilingualism in Autism. It includes an acknowledgement that there are alternative paths to fluency among those of the Autistic neurotype (i.e., naturalistic acquisition) and that supporting such L2 learners necessitates intentional consideration of exposure, competence, and communicative function.
Schaeffer, J., Novogrodsky, R., Perovic, A., Prévost, P., & Tuller, L. (2025). Language in Autism.
Declarative Language Handbook
Declarative Language Handbook
Declarative Language is a Speech Therapy approach coined by Speech Language Pathologist, Linda K Murphy. She has practiced for over 30 years, and specializes in neuro-affirming support, particularly of demand-avoidant learners.
This easy and practical read explains how small linguistic shifts in addressing social emotional learning opportunities can support the co-regulation of easily heightened learners. For example: instead of "sit down" you might say "here is your chair".
Her website contains downloads that help you map out the language to incorporate this approach into your practice
Murphy, L. K. (2020). Declarative Language Handbook: Using a Thoughtful Language Style to Help Kids with Social Learning Challenges Feel Competent, Connected, and Understood. Linda K. Murphy.
Language Acquisition in a Nutshell
Language Acquisition in a Nutshell
VanPatten and Simonsen's work emphasizes the value of meaningful and comprehensible input, rather than wrote grammar learning. The authors argue that language acquisition starts with meaning first (pragmatic language), and reading (receptive language) and writing (expressive language) are primarily to evaluate and reinforce learning.
L2 teachers should emphasize:
comprehensible input
meaningful interaction
contextualized use
VanPatten, B., & Simonsen, R. (2022). Language Acquisition in a Nutshell: A Primer for Teachers. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).
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