Inclusive Early Literacy Practices for Emergent Bilinguals

Literacy and language development are essential to the social-emotional and academic development of young, emergent bilinguals. Yet an increased focus on the science of reading emphasizes reading, specifically decoding without a focus on language comprehension, a crucial component of reading for young, emergent bilinguals. Recent National Association of Education Placement fourth-grade tests point to a persistent gap in reading achievement between children identified as English language learners in schools and white, monolingual children. To address this gap, the National Literacy Panel (August & Shanahan, 2006) and National Reading Panel (2000) emphasized the importance of phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension for all learners and additionally, meaning, culturally relevant practices, and oral language development for emergent bilinguals in their home and English languages. In the following chapter, we review evidence-based and recommended early literacy and language research and learning strategies with a specific focus on inclusive literacy and language practices for young, emergent bilinguals. These practices include literacy components emphasized in the science of reading but also sociocultural dimensions of literacy and language development.