Building Biliteracy in a Dual Language Immersion Classroom

By Dr. Olga Grimalt, Bilingual Educator

What is a Dual Language Immersion Program?

Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs are instructional programs where subjects are taught in English and a target language. Despite obstacles in access, staffing, and implementation, dual language programs are increasingly offered in PreK-12 schools across the U.S.

Dual Language Immersion programs offer instruction in English and a variety of target languages, such as Spanish, Mandarin, French, and Portuguese; for this article, we will refer to Spanish/English DLI programs.

How do Dual Language Immersion Programs deliver instruction?

Dual language Immersion programs are commonly implemented in one of two instructional models: Successive literacy, also called a 90:10 model, or simultaneous literacy, also called a 50:50 model. 90:10 programs begin with a focus on Spanish literacy in grades K-2, and transition to Spanish and English literacy in grade 3. In 90:10 programs, 90% of instructional minutes are delivered in Spanish and 10% in English. Each grade thereafter typically increases instruction in English by 10% until reaching a 50:50 distribution of instructional minutes in each language in grades 4 or 5.

In 50:50 programs, students learn literacy in both languages from the start of the program, and the distribution of instructional minutes in each language is 50% in Spanish and 50% in all grades. In both 90:10 and 50:50 program models, students learn content in subjects such as math, science, and social studies, in Spanish and English throughout the program.

At the start of my career as a dual language teacher, the development of literacy in Spanish and English was purposefully treated as two separate instructional blocks. Spanish instruction strictly excluded any English because it was believed that allowing English during Spanish instruction would negatively impact the development of Spanish. But as we’ve learned more about the process of becoming bilingual-biliterate, it has become clear that there are opportunities for connections between languages. Although Spanish and English literacy continue to be taught during their own instructional block, we approach biliteracy now through a holistic lens, where making connections across languages serves as a tool for language learning across languages.

What does an approach to holistic biliteracy mean?

Approaching biliteracy through a holistic lens means that teachers approach literacy instruction as a whole system across languages. Literacy is viewed as complementary processes, where some standards are addressed in Spanish, while other standards are addressed in English. Students learn the literacy skills necessary at their grade level across both languages. This works well because of the bi-directional nature of teaching in two languages, particularly languages that have a high level of transferability, such as Spanish and English.

What is Bi-Directional Teaching in a Dual Language Immersion Program?

Spanish and English literacy share similar literacy standards. For example, standards for reading comprehension are typically the same in both languages. Spanish and English literacy have many opportunities for positive transfer of skills, moments when the skill being taught works the same way in Spanish and English. Cummins's (2021) construct on the linguistic interdependence of languages has long informed dual language educators of the common underlying proficiency that allows for the transferability of skills. When a skill is transferable across languages, it is unnecessary to teach the skill twice. It is more effective to teach the skill in one language and then review and apply the skill to the other language. It is not necessary to teach transferable skills twice; however, it is important for teachers to address the skill in the other language and show students how it transfers.

Connections across languages may occur organically, and when they do, the connection noted by a student can be addressed in the moment. Teachers can also select a short segment of their instructional day where students can purposefully engage in metalinguistic and metacognitive awareness across their instructional languages. Since students may not naturally make connections between their instructional languages, it is recommended that teachers explicitly show students how the skills transfer. This may happen in the context of a lesson or during a dedicated instructional segment that we call Building Biliteracy.

What does it mean to build biliteracy?

Dual language immersion programs are supported by three foundational pillars for success. The pillars are Bilingualism & Biliteracy, Academic Achievement in two languages, and Sociocultural Competence. The pillar of Bilingualism & Biliteracy calls for the implementation of effective instruction that builds language and literacy in both English and Spanish across the curriculum. Building biliteracy refers to how we, as dual language immersion leaders and teachers, provide planned opportunities for students to engage in metalinguistic awareness, where students are intentionally engaged in the analysis of how their two instructional languages work. Students can connect the unit topic when learning shared themes, make cross-linguistic connections, build vocabulary in both languages, and simply analyze how their instructional languages work.

The term bridging is often used to describe this instructional time of the day to make connections across languages. Bridging helps students to connect their learning from one language to the other, but let’s take it a step further. I’d like you to stretch your thinking and invite you to not only bridge the languages, but also use the connections being made to build bilingualism and biliteracy. Purposeful bridging creates a third space in the process of developing biliteracy where students make connections, and the connections then help student build their literacy skills in Spanish and English, in other words the bridge helps student to build their bilingual and biliteracy skills.

Image Credit: Olga Grimalt

Why should we build biliteracy?

Developing bilingualism & biliteracy is the principal goal of a dual language immersion program. Research on language development has helped dual language educators see that students come to the classroom with existing linguistic resources that are an asset, not an impediment, when developing a new language. Garcia (2017) brought translanguaging to the forefront when focusing on multilingual learners' use of the linguistic resources they brought to the monolingual classroom. This pushed dual language immersion educators to consider dynamic communicative practices and move away from the strict separation of languages. Teachers should allow and encourage students to use all of their linguistic resources when participating in a lesson. It’s important to note that this does not mean that lessons are translated or that they are taught in both languages. As noted previously, this is not an effective use of instructional time and is completely unnecessary.

For a deeper dive into the research, I recommend reading Cummins (2021) on linguistic interdependence and Garcia (2017) on dynamic communicative practice.

How do you build biliteracy?

Effective dual language immersion programs maintain a separate instructional block for each language; however, the addition of a third space, the building biliteracy space, allows students to engage in metalinguistic awareness. The process of being aware of how languages work strengthens and deepens Spanish and English proficiency across all domains of language. Languages of instruction should be seen as partners, that complement each other, as students travel on the path of becoming bilingual & biliterate.

The building biliteracy instructional segment should function as whole-group instruction, be student-led, and oracy-driven. For upper grades in 90:10 or 50:50 program models, this should only take about 10–20 minutes. For 90:10 lower grades, building biliteracy can serve as your English instructional minutes. Rather than waiting until a unit of study is completed in one language before making connections, building biliteracy occurs every week as students build knowledge and comprehension around a shared unit topic across their instructional languages.

Here are a few tips for building biliteracy in your classroom:

• Building biliteracy approaches are particularly impactful when used to transition between knowledge building lessons in one language and writing lessons in another language.
• You can help students prepare to make connections with a consistent routine, such as beginning with a shared essential question. This helps students process what they learned in one language and express it in another.
• Dual language immersion classrooms should never be quiet classrooms! Building biliteracy exercises should be rooted in oracy, with plenty of opportunities for peer-to-peer discussion.
• Create biliteracy vocabulary anchor charts to help students analyze linguistic connections across languages. Vocabulary analysis should be student-led. Teachers can prompt students to compare and contrast unit topic vocabulary words by asking: What do you notice about these words? Choosing vocabulary words that relate to the unit topic will help students develop the ability to speak, read, and write about the unit topic in both languages. Use visual aids as well.
• Student discussion during building biliteracy time can happen in any language. It is during this time that teachers can lean into translanguaging and encourage students to leverage all their linguistic tools.

What does Building Biliteracy look like in a dual language curriculum?

Any strong dual literacy curriculum will be structured to ensure teachers have the resources they need to draw out cross-linguistic connections, foster transferrable skills, and highlight students’ linguistic repertoire.

Dual language curricula should designate specific instructional time for building biliteracy. It should be flexible to fit a 90:10 (successive literacy) or 50:50 (simultaneous literacy) program model. For grades where content is divided 50% in English and 50% in Spanish, the building biliteracy segment serves as the transition when switching from one language to the other. For 90:10 models, where early grades have no English literacy block, curricula should work on building biliteracy practices into their English instructional time, giving students plenty of tools to draw upon when they add English Literacy in third grade.

Beyond a specific instructional segment for metalinguistic analysis, curricula should also flag connections for word structure and grammar lessons, so that teachers can readily identify meaningful connections between languages in the context of a lesson.

Your Biliterate Learners

Ultimately, devoting classroom time to building biliteracy is a celebratory act. Building biliteracy acknowledges that your students are doing something incredible: They’re learning two languages! It’s a celebration of the language, experience, knowledge, and culture that they bring into the classroom every day. In building biliteracy, you honor your students’ remarkable abilities and give them valuable opportunities to experiment with their language skills.

Dr. Olga Grimalt has been a bilingual educator for over 25 years. Dr. Grimalt served as the Coordinator of Multilingual Services at Long Beach Unified School District. Before returning to her local district, Dr. Grimalt was Director of Bilingual Education and professor at Loyola Marymount University (LMU). In addition to teaching courses related to bilingualism and second language acquisition, Dr. Grimalt was the administrator of the Spanish and Mandarin bilingual teacher preparation programs. Prior to joining LMU, Dr. Grimalt was an elementary bilingual teacher in both transitional and dual immersion bilingual programs in Los Angeles Unified School District and Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD). She was a founding member and Vice President of the Association of Two-Way and Dual Language Educators (ATDLE) and is currently an advisory board member. She is a member of the California Association for Bilingual Education and the National Association for Bilingual Education. For more dual language immersion best practices, subscribe to her free weekly newsletter ¡Viva ser bilingüe!