This research-based, highly practical volume presents ways teachers and schools can accelerate literacy achievement with bilingual K–6 students in both English and their home languages. Georgia Earnest García shares innovative instructional strategies for students with different language backgrounds in multiple settings - bilingual/ESL classrooms, dual-language classrooms, or all-English classrooms. She explains key concepts, such as sheltered instruction and translanguaging, and discusses how the science of reading should be adapted for bilingual students. The book offers concrete ideas for conducting unbiased assessments and building core domains of L1 and L2 literacy, including oral language, reading, writing, and academic language and vocabulary. Utility is enhanced by guiding questions, helpful vignettes, and reproducible and downloadable forms.
Georgia Earnest García, PhD, is Professor Emerita in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. She has held appointments at the Center for the Study of Reading, the RAND Reading Study Group on Skillful Reading, and the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Prior to obtaining her doctorate, she was a Peace Corps Volunteer, bilingual education teacher, English teacher, and ESL/EFL teacher. Dr. García has authored or coauthored several books as well as numerous book chapters and journal articles. After retiring, she served on the Educational Testing Service’s Dual Language Assessment Team and the WestED Reading Content Team, which updated the 2026 NAEP Reading Assessment Framework. She was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame in 2019. She continues to collaborate with bilingual teachers and schools and to conduct and publish research on the literacy development, instruction, and assessment of bilingual students.
1. Introduction to Teaching Emergent Bilingual and Dual-Language Students
2. Theories and Theoretical Insights Relevant to Bilingual Students and Bilingual Education
3. Second-Language (L2) Teaching Approaches to Advance Bilingual Students’ Learning
4. Instructional Activities to Promote Bilingual Students’ Oral Language and Literacy Performance
5. The Selection and Use of Texts with Bilingual Students
6. L1 Literacy Instruction and Early Reading Instruction in Spanish and Other Languages
7. Bilingual Students’ Beginning Reading Instruction in English
8. Reading Comprehension Instruction for Bilingual Students
9. Bilingual Students’ Writing Instruction
10. Increasing Bilingual Students’ Vocabulary and Academic Language Knowledge and Use
11. Disciplinary Literacy Instruction for Bilingual Students
12. The Language and Literacy Assessment of Bilingual Students
Conclusion: Pulling It All Together
References
Index
* Much-needed resource–– research-based techniques for accelerating learning for bilingual students ages 5–11 (grades K–6).
* Presents expert ideas for strengthening students' reading, writing, and oral language skills in both their first and additional languages.
* Explains how the science of reading applies to bilingual literacy instruction, as well as its limitations.
* Practical; provides guiding questions, reproducible forms, and vignettes reflecting different home languages, including Spanish, Arabic, and Mandarin.
