Linguistic variety amongst our multilingual college students in grades pre-Okay–12 has been steadily growing during the last 15 years, and with altering classroom dynamics, we want sturdy, intentional instruction to satisfy their distinctive wants. But, all too usually, novice and skilled academics could educate as if they’re working with college students who come from monolingual, English-speaking American backgrounds, regardless of as we speak’s lecture rooms being way more culturally and linguistically numerous than ever earlier than. To really assist each learner, begin from an asset-based strategy—recognizing and valuing the wealthy linguistic and cultural sources multilingual college students convey to the classroom. How can educators create a assist system that empowers multilingual learners to grasp language and content material concurrently with simply the fitting helps? Scaffolding!
Though academics really feel they’re assembly the wants of their college students by means of varied types of differentiation, we all know instruction must be extra structured and deliberately deliberate to satisfy the distinctive wants of our multilingual college students. However, many well-intentioned methods could fall brief if they don’t tackle the tutorial challenges multilingual learners face every day. As a result of multilingual learners require focused scaffolding that goes past one size-fits-all approaches, integrating helps throughout the 9 dimensions of scaffolding (see Determine 1)—together with tutorial, linguistic, multimodal, multisensory, graphic, digital, social–emotional, interactive, and environmental (Honigsfeld and Dove, 2022)—could do the trick. Let’s discover scaffolding by means of every dimension.
Determine 1: 9 dimensions of scaffolding
Dimension 1: Educational Scaffolding
Educational scaffolds present intentional, momentary helps that assist college students entry and interact with educational content material, no matter their language proficiency or prior information. Lecturers create classes that embody embedded assist methods like dividing duties into manageable elements, offering specific instructions, demonstrating strategies, and incorporating visible helps to assist all college students—notably multilingual learners—have interaction efficiently in studying. As college students develop comprehension and confidence, this help could stay in place or be slowly withdrawn to advertise elevated autonomy and self-reliance. For multilingual college students, tutorial scaffolds are important bridges between their current expertise and the calls for of grade-level lecturers.
These helps assist learners join new materials to what they already know, construct each language and content material information, and develop the arrogance to take educational dangers. Recognizing and valuing college students’ numerous linguistic and cultural backgrounds, tutorial scaffolding helps and fosters a way of belonging and empowerment within the classroom.
Dimension 2: Linguistic Scaffolding
Linguistic scaffolding is the intentional helps academics use to assist college students develop their language skills throughout talking, listening, studying, writing, and interacting. These helps are designed to make educational content material extra accessible and to supply college students with significant possibilities to make use of and increase their language expertise. Methods would possibly embody providing sentence starters, modeling using educational vocabulary, clarifying advanced phrases, and inspiring college students to attract on their house languages as a useful resource for making sense of latest and tough materials. By weaving these practices into each day instruction, academics create an surroundings the place all college students, particularly multilingual learners, really feel assured utilizing language to speak and be taught.
Linguistic scaffolds are important instruments for bridging the hole for multilingual learners as they develop and strengthen their present language expertise and work to satisfy the calls for of educational studying. These helps assist college students join new concepts to their prior information and language experiences, making it simpler to know and use educational English throughout varied topic areas. By embedding linguistic scaffolds into classes, academics allow multilingual learners to take part extra absolutely, construct their confidence, and develop each their language and content material information concurrently.
Dimension 3: Multimodal Scaffolding
Multimodal scaffolding invitations college students to be taught and categorical their understanding by means of a wide range of communication kinds. This strategy acknowledges that college students comprehend and share concepts in numerous methods. Some multilingual learners desire to talk or write, whereas others would possibly excel at drawing, appearing, or utilizing expertise. Multimodal scaffolds can embody creating diagrams, making movies, appearing out eventualities, or utilizing music and motion. By offering choices that faucet into expressive (talking, writing, visible creation) and interpretive (listening, studying, viewing) expertise, academics be certain that each learner can have interaction with content material in ways in which align with their strengths and preferences.
Utilizing varied types of tutorial assist creates totally different routes for college kids to know ideas and categorical their studying, which notably advantages those that communicate a number of languages by serving to them have interaction with content material and present what they know.
Providing numerous communication strategies proves particularly useful for college kids who’re nonetheless constructing their English language expertise. Incorporating visuals, audio (or parts of), initiatives (hands-on), and motion, academics make classroom actions extra accessible and interesting.
These scaffolds assist language improvement and assist multilingual learners construct confidence, take part extra actively, and really feel included within the classroom group.
Dimension 4: Multisensory Scaffolding
Multisensory scaffolding is a instructing methodology that comes with a wide range of sensory experiences, resembling seeing, listening to, touching, and transferring, to make studying extra participating and memorable. This strategy acknowledges that college students take in and retain info higher when a number of senses are concerned. For instance, academics could incorporate footage or charts to clarify new phrases, manipulative objects to analyze mathematical ideas, or songs and bodily actions to strengthen understanding of scientific or historic matters. By weaving collectively totally different sensory experiences, academics assist college students grasp tough ideas, making them extra tangible and simpler to know— an particularly supportive strategy for multilingual learners.
Educational approaches that make the most of varied senses create expanded alternatives for multilingual college students to interact with each vocabulary and subject material. When academics incorporate visible, auditory, hands-on, and bodily parts, they set up a number of avenues for learners to course of new ideas. Multisensory methods not solely promote academic progress however enable college students to construct particular person relationships with the fabric, making it extra significant and memorable.
Dimension 5: Graphic Scaffolding
Graphic scaffolding entails utilizing visible instruments—like charts, diagrams, timelines, and graphic organizers—to assist college students manage and make sense of advanced info. These visuals break down huge concepts into smaller, extra manageable items, making it simpler for college kids to see relationships and connections. Anchor charts created throughout classes will be useful references, supporting college students as they assessment materials or work on their very own. Graphic scaffolds not solely support in understanding however give college students methods to specific their pondering and concepts visually. Finally, these instruments assist bridge what college students already know with extra superior ideas, supporting deeper comprehension and studying.
Graphic scaffolds are particularly precious for multilingual college students as a result of they provide versatile and accessible methods to course of new and difficult content material whereas constructing English expertise. Visible representations make summary concepts extra concrete and supply a number of entry factors for participation, no matter a scholar’s language proficiency. Graphic scaffolds assist multilingual learners acquire confidence, have interaction extra absolutely, and clearly exhibit what they know by supporting understanding, expression, and reminiscence.
Dimension 6: Digital Scaffolding
Digital scaffolding harnesses expertise to assist and enrich scholar studying. Integrating sources resembling interactive shows, e-books, language apps, digital whiteboards, translation sources, and synthetic intelligence, academics can create participating and personalised studying experiences. These digital sources provide a wide range of methods for college kids to work together with content material, catering to totally different studying preferences and educational wants. Know-how can present speedy suggestions, facilitate collaboration, and make classes accessible to college students at totally different phases of language and literacy improvement.
Digital scaffolds are precious at any level in a scholar’s language-learning journey and throughout all grade ranges. For multilingual learners, expertise affords multimodal and multilingual experiences that assist them entry content material, follow language expertise, and take part in real-time studying. When college students develop familiarity with these instruments, they acquire independence and confidence, getting ready them to reach as we speak’s digital and interconnected world.
Dimension 7: Scaffolding Social–Emotional Studying
Social–emotional scaffolding facilities on making a classroom environment the place college students really feel emotionally safe, valued, and included. This methodology focuses on establishing routines that assist college students’ emotional well being and interpersonal improvement. Strategies would possibly contain constructing a way of classroom belonging, providing constant suggestions, implementing each day wellness conversations, serving to college students set private targets, and creating clear behavioral pointers. These helps encourage self-reflection, emotional regulation, and constructive relationships, that are particularly vital for multilingual learners adjusting to new environments.
A robust social and emotional basis helps multilingual learners really feel protected to specific themselves and take educational dangers. These scaffolds give college students alternatives to share their views, mirror on their experiences, and construct significant connections with others. By fostering a way of belonging and selling autonomy, social–emotional scaffolding empowers multilingual learners to develop confidence and resilience, each out and in of the classroom.
Dimension 8: Interactive Scaffolding
Interactive scaffolding facilities on creating possibilities for college kids to rehearse language and educational skills by means of purposeful exchanges with classmates and instructors. This assist system could embody organized dialogues, group initiatives, peer help applications, mutual instructing strategies, or small-team conversations. Educators can provide steering by means of dialog starters or inquiry prompts to direct scholar exchanges and modify help as required throughout instruction. These experiences encourage college students to actively make use of language in sensible conditions and to reply to the altering necessities of their studying group.
For multilingual college students, interactive scaffolding is crucial for constructing communication and collaboration expertise. Collaborating in real conversations and collaborative actions permits multilingual learners to develop talking, listening, studying, and writing skills by means of sensible software. These interactions not solely improve language acquisition but additionally construct self belief, create classroom unity, and equip college students to use their communication skills in real-world settings.
Dimension 9: Environmental Scaffolding
Environmental scaffolding is how we design the bodily and cultural surroundings to assist scholar achievement and collaboration to construct conceptual information and language proficiency. Such a scaffolding consists of creating inviting areas with versatile seating preparations for particular person, small-group, and whole-class work. Inclusive environments are print-rich, protected, and comfy and set excessive expectations for all college students. To extra deliberately make these environments heat and alluring for our multilingual learners, it is very important embody cultural reflections, resembling displaying scholar work and phrase partitions in college students’ house languages, so that each learner feels represented and a part of the group.
A well-designed classroom surroundings helps multilingual learners really feel protected, included, and able to be taught. When college students see their cultures and languages mirrored within the house, they’re extra more likely to take part and join with their friends. Such environments encourage collaboration, assist language improvement, and assist college students develop a way of possession and self-awareness throughout the studying group.
Placing It All Collectively
The 9 dimensions of scaffolding present a well-rounded toolkit for academics aiming to satisfy the numerous wants of multilingual learners and all college students. We invite you to mirror in your present scaffolding practices as they relate to every of the 9 dimensions (see Determine 2).
Determine 2: Reflections of the 9 dimensions of scaffolding
| Dimension of Scaffolding | Self-Reflection |
|---|---|
| Educational | How do you propose for and combine tutorial scaffolds all through your classes to maximise scholar entry and engagement? |
| Linguistic | How do you encourage college students to make use of language and construct literacy in numerous classroom conditions? |
| Multimodal | How will you increase the methods college students exhibit their studying past conventional writing and talking? What inventive choices may you provide to assist all learners, notably these creating English expertise, showcase their understanding by means of their particular person strengths? |
| Multisensory | Which multisensory methods may you add or improve in your classroom to higher meet the various wants of your multilingual college students? |
| Graphic | How will you use graphic scaffolding in your classes to assist multilingual learners higher perceive and talk advanced concepts? |
| Digital | How would possibly you thoughtfully weave digital instruments into your instructing to higher have interaction and assist multilingual learners? |
| Social Emotional Studying | What routines or actions do you utilize to nurture your multilingual college students’ social emotional development? |
| Interactive | How do you choose and modify interactive scaffolds to match the wants of your multilingual learners throughout totally different actions? |
| Environmental | As you study your classroom surroundings, how successfully does the bodily house welcome and assist all learners? What particular adjustments may you make to seating preparations, visible shows, and cultural representations to make sure each scholar—particularly these from numerous linguistic backgrounds—sees themselves mirrored and valued within the studying group? |
To start incorporating these dimensions, attempt easy methods resembling modeling a brand new course of (tutorial), introducing vital vocabulary earlier than a lesson (linguistic), utilizing each photographs and sound (multimodal), including tactile actions (multisensory), providing graphic organizers (graphic), leveraging academic expertise (digital), encouraging peer collaboration (interactive), beginning class with a check-in (social–emotional), or arranging the classroom to assist totally different studying preferences (environmental). When contemplating your instructing strategies, think about asking, “Which new assist technique can I attempt implementing this week?” Constantly reflecting on and modifying these strategies will enable you to develop a extra welcoming and vibrant studying surroundings. Adopting well-rounded tutorial assist creates significant change—it promotes equity, will increase scholar participation, and enhances academic success for each learner.
References
Dove, M. G., Honigsfeld, A., and McDermott Goldman, C. (2025). 9 Dimensions of Scaffolding for Multilingual Learners. Corwin.
Honigsfeld, A., and Dove, M. G. (2022). Co-Planning: 5 Important Practices to Combine Curriculum and Instruction for English Learners. Corwin.
Dr. Carrie McDermott Goldman, affiliate professor at Molloy College, brings 20+ years of instructing expertise. She has co authored grants and earned awards for on-line course design, and she or he evaluates programs for High quality Issues. A broadcast writer, speaker, {and professional} developer, she champions fairness and innovation in multilingual learner training and instructor preparation.
Maria G. Dove, Ed.D., is a professor at Molloy College in Rockville Centre, NY, specializing in multilingual learner instructor training. With over 30 years of expertise instructing Okay–12 and grownup multilingual learners, she steadily publishes, co-authors best-selling skilled books, and collaborates with faculties to advance multilingual training.
Andrea Honigsfeld is a professor at Molloy College, NY, the place she teaches graduate programs associated to cultural and linguistic variety. She is an writer/marketing consultant and sought-after worldwide speaker whose work focuses on instructor collaboration in assist of multilingual learners. She is the co-author/co-editor of over 30 books, twelve of them bestsellers.
