Teaching Communication and Language to Diverse Learners

This study explores the different approaches for teaching communication, language, and literacy to diverse learners. It discusses the importance of inclusive teaching strategies and the impact of diverse learners on language learning. The study also highlights the advantages and disadvantages of diverse learners in the classroom.

Teaching
Communication
Language And
Literacy For a
Range Of Diverse
Learners

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
The contemporary approaches for teaching communication, language and literacy to diverse
learners........................................................................................................................................2
Required inclusive teaching strategies to support young children’s cultural languages.............3
Importance of diverse learners on the optimal language learning of all children.......................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Teaching communication language and literacy is the ability of communicating as well as
Learn to express different languages themselves by making an effective use of words and
approaches Davidson & Koppenhaver, (2017). A learner that learns differently from the majority
is called diverse learner. This study is going to show about some teaching communication and
languages approaches like play based, learning environment that can help teachers as well as
students to learn different languages effectively. This study will also show different inclusive
teaching strategies that supports teachers in understanding needs of students that come from
different background. Further, it discusses some advantages and disadvantages of diverse
learners within an environment that is inclusive for all students and children. It makes all
students able to concentrate and work with people and students of other background.
The contemporary approaches for teaching communication, language and literacy to diverse
learners
There are several approaches that can help teacher in teaching communication and
languages to diverse learners in a classroom. All approaches provide a framework for thinking
about human behaviours and needs. It allows them to teach students more effectively and make
them understand the importance of having knowledge of different languages and culture. Some
theoretical approaches for teaching to diverse students are being described as follows:
Constructivist Learning: This approach believes that all students from different cultural
and background try to make their own learning environment. They take an active participation in
all activities and knowledge they ingest. By creating own learning environment they make
several mistakes and try to resolve on own basis. It is not as much appropriate as like play based
and learning environment Keith, (Ed.). (2019).
Behavioural Child Development: According to this theory, behaviour of all students
can be described in terms of environmental influences. It focuses that how environmental
interactions can impact on behaviours of students.
Tiered Intervention Approaches: In this learning approach, teachers and educators try
to identify that which student have learned a particular skill as well as which student might
benefit from additional support. It makes teachers as well as all students more flexible, dynamic
& continuous focused Learning approaches, (2015).

Play-based approach: Play is a powerful and interesting activity that every child from
different culture wants to do. It is stated that children can learn oral language in childhood by
imitation but for teaching written language there is a requirement to become more specific. This
approach makes able to learn written language in an effective manner by combining emotional
and analytical learning. Students and children can learn new skill while having fun and doing
activities in classroom Peterson, Forsyth & McIntyre, (2015). It makes the whole process
interesting and make all students engaged. For this approach it is important for teacher to create
play situation opportunity by using different do exercise. By this theory, children communicate
their ideas and understand others via social interaction.
Learning environment: Learning environment is refers an environment that can support
the development of all young children. It is important to create a learning environment because it
helps teachers as well as learner to prevent their challenging behaviour. With the help of this
approach and by engaging all different cultural students, teacher can implement it successfully.
For engaging all students, teacher can provide them tasks in group and by making a family
engagement activity also, they can build a strong relationship among all students.
So, it can be said that all described approaches along with play based learning approach
play a vital role. All approaches of learning, educator focuses on problem solving skills of each
student. They make homogeneous and heterogeneous small group of students in order to teach
all skills and contents more effectively and give them opportunity to learn from one another.
They do not think that students can not learn but require an appropriate instruction for having
knowledge of different languages and become multilingualism and bilingualism.
Required inclusive teaching strategies to support young children’s cultural languages
Inclusive teaching strategies can be defined as any type of approach that can help
teachers in addressing the requirements of students with a variety of learning modalities. The
main characteristic of these type of strategies is students are valued equally which make them
feel motivated and respected. Children come from different culture and school can not
discriminate against race and culture. So, they face several difficulties initially and
implementation of inclusive teaching strategies remove all barriers and problems related to
cultural languages Nowakowski, Sumerau & Mathers, (2016).

 Teachers can allow students to participate in self reflective exercise for making them
aware about learning preferences.
 By including and implementing a range of assessment and teaching approaches and
providing option to student to choose the best one that can suit to them.
 By providing opportunities to student to reflect their own experience.
Some approaches that can help young children's cultural languages includes and the way of
supporting described as:
Cooperative learning: Cooperative learning seems as an effective strategy of teaching in
which small or different cultural students work together on a common task. This strategy have
some elements that make all students and teacher able to support young children's cultural and
that includes:
Face to face interaction: Group task allow students to encourage one another and eye contact
via discussion.
Group accountability: The group of students tries to accomplish the same goal and for that they
share their knowledge and skills.
Positive interdependence: In this, students from different cultures feel responsible for their own
and team's efforts.
Peer assisted learning strategy: It is a research based instructional program that have
evidence of effectiveness for classroom use. The main aim of implementing this approach is to
support cultural languages learning to students and young children through their peer support. By
making an effective use of this strategy, teachers carefully partners a student with a classmate.
Partners work together on the same project which can increase their learning capacity and have
knowledge of different culture Slavin, (2015). After identifying social behaviour skills of each
student, teacher pairs accordingly and on the basis of their task they rank them. It improves
students reading and writing skills in different languages.
So, it can be said that in the context of inclusive teaching strategies that it plays a vital
role which can help children's cultural languages and make them more able to learn in different
ways. It can also make them able to accept all type of situations and the importance of working
in a team.

Importance of diverse learners on the optimal language learning of all children
Diversity is an important concept for organizations as well as classrooms in order to
understand their practices. Diverse learners or having different background students make all
students able to be global citizen as well as learn different languages Genishi & Dyson, (2015).
Having staff and teachers of diverse background increases the learning environment. There are
several advantages and disadvantages of diverse learners which are being described as follows:
Advantages:
There is an increasing importance of diverse learning and teaching by which schools can
not discriminate against their students on the basis of gender, race and culture. It is benefiting all
students and teachers.
Cultural awareness: Having a diverse learner or diverse classrooms lead a variety of
cultures and ethnic backgrounds. This diversity gives opportunity to all diverse students to
become more aware about different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. It also leads positive
attitude and decrease negative attitudes such as racism and sexism. Being in a diverse classroom
also make able to learns to work with different cultural background and show respect towards
them.
Knowledge of different languages: It is state that schools can not discriminate students
on the basis of sex, race and culture. This allows students to learn different languages rather than
their own language. Students may ask questions to another students from different culture about
their background and it encourages them to learn another language that interests them. They also
share their knowledge and tell stories of their own culture to each other which increase their
learning capacity.
Tolerance & acceptance: Initially students face several problems in diverse classroom
and with different cultural students. Activities of classroom requires all students to work in a
group and team. For making task successfully they try to help of each other and in that situation
they accept each others differences. It increases their tolerance and acceptance capacity, and they
become more tolerant Gay, (2018).
Disadvantages:

Each coin has two phases in which 1 shows benefits or advantages and second shows its
disadvantages. Diverse learners have several benefits but it has some disadvantages as well
which are described as follows:
Social alienation: Students always try to make a social group in a classroom on the basis
of similarities. Majority of numbers of students in each social group on the basis of similarities
try to defeat another students. They feel isolated from those students who form social groups.
Sometimes, this problem become the reason of conflicts and dispute.
Teaching bias and teaching standards: Teaching methods are being designed to reach
all students of classroom. However, it becomes difficult because of having diver learners.
Teachers find difficulties in delivering the same standard and message to all students. Some
lessons may unintentionally be insensitive towards a particular student as some students can
easily understand teaching methods because of their language. This problem and situation make
teachers unintentionally biased Manning, Baruth & Lee, (2017). Learning difficulties which
teachers face and language barriers can create biased assumption in teachers.
So, It can be said that from the above discussion that diverse learners have both
advantages and disadvantages. It all depends on students behaviours and teaching methods
because some students do not want to even try to understand other languages and work with
them. While, some students take interest in learning other languages, so they become tolerant.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been summarized that different teaching approaches for
language and literacy for a range of diverse learner played a vital role. It made all learners and
teachers able to increase their learning capacity and the way of teaching ability. Play based
approach, learning environment, theoretical approaches has developed self-confidence, social
and cognitive skills in children in order to engage them in new environment and experience.
Further, this study has also shown requirement of inclusive teaching strategies as with the help of
these strategies teachers has identified needs of students with a variety of backgrounds. Diverse
learners or having diverse classrooms have several advantages and disadvantages which make all
learners able to learn different languages and make them bilingualism and multilingualism.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Davidson, J., & Koppenhaver, D. (2017). Adolescent literacy: What works and why. Routledge.
Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers
College Press.
Genishi, C., & Dyson, A. H. (2015). Children, language, and literacy: Diverse learners in
diverse times. Teachers College Press.
Keith, K. D. (Ed.). (2019). Cross-cultural psychology: Contemporary themes and perspectives.
John Wiley & Sons.
Manning, M. L., Baruth, L. G., & Lee, G. L. (2017). Multicultural education of children and
adolescents. Routledge.
Nowakowski, A. C., Sumerau, J. E., & Mathers, L. A. (2016). None of the above: Strategies for
inclusive teaching with “representative” data. Teaching Sociology. 44(2). 96-105.
Peterson, S. S., Forsyth, D., & McIntyre, L. J. (2015). Balancing Play-Based Learning With
Curricular Mandates: Considering the Views of Northern Canadian Teachers and Early
Childhood Educators. Canadian Children. 40(3).
Slavin, R. E. (2015). Cooperative learning in elementary schools. Education 3-13. 43(1). 5-14.
Online
Learning approaches. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.nap.edu/read/19401/chapter/12#243>.