Breaking Down the Monolingual Wall: Essential Shifts for Multilingual Learners' Success

Your guide to culturally and linguistically sustaining practices in your dual language classroom and school.

It s time to set the record straight: Multilingualism is a tremendous asset that must be nurtured and valued and the most effective pathway to multilingualism is dual language education. Despite significant evidence attesting to the cognitive, social/emotional, and economic benefits of multilingualism, the majority of our classrooms and schools are monolingual.

Encouragingly, recent shifts in state policies have increased the demand for dual language programming in our schools. This increased momentum brings new challenges, including the need for more bilingually authorized teachers, high-quality instructional resources, and accurate assessment and accountability in the target languages of instruction. With contributions from ten experts in multilingual education, Breaking Down the Monolingual Wall outlines the systemic and pedagogical approaches necessary for successful multilingual and dual language programs. The book supports educators to: 

• Shift the paradigm from one that is subtractive and deficit-based to one that is additive and assets-based
• Embed culturally and linguistically sustaining practices in their instruction
• Understand how to promote multilingualism in the context of teaching academic content
• Develop assessments as, for, and of learning in multiple languages.
• Lead high-quality dual language schools and programs
• Recruit and retain highly qualified bilingual educators

Offering a comprehensive overview of bilingual policies and historical context all educators should understand, Breaking Down the Monolingual Wall is an invaluable guide to creating dual language learning environments that build on the precious assets of our multilingual students and families.

Ivannia Soto, PhD , is a professor of education and the director of graduate programs at Whittier College, where she specializes in language acquisition, systemic reform for English language learners (ELLs), and urban education. She began her career in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), where she taught English and English language development to a population of 99.9% Latinos, who either were or had been multilingual learners. Before becoming a professor, Soto also served LAUSD as a literacy coach as well as district office and county office administrator. She has presented on literacy and language topics at various conferences, including the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), the California Association for Bilingual Association (CABE), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the National Council of Urban Education Associations. As a consultant, Soto has worked with Stanford University's School Redesign Network (SRN), WestEd, and CABE, as well as a variety of districts and county offices in California, providing technical assistance for systemic reform for ELLs and Title III. Recently, Soto also directed a CABE bilingual teacher and administrator program across California.
Soto has authored and coauthored 12 books, including The Literacy Gaps: Bridge-Building Strategies for English Language Learners and Standard English Learners; ELL Shadowing as a Catalyst for Change, a best seller that was recognized by Education Trust-West as a promising practice for ELLs in 2018; Moving From Spoken to Written Language With ELLs; the Academic English Mastery four-book series; the Common Core Companion four-book series for English language development; Breaking Down the Wall; and Responsive Schooling for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Together, the books tell a story of how to equitably engage and include multilingual learners by ensuring that they gain voice and an academic identity in the classroom setting. Soto is executive director of the Institute for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching (ICLRT) at Whittier College, whose mission it is to promote relevant research and develop academic resources for ELLs and Standard English learners (SELs) via linguistically and culturally responsive teaching practices/

Sydney Snyder, PhD, is a principal associate at SupportEd. In this role, Dr. Snyder coaches ML educators and develops and facilitates interactive professional development for teachers of MLs. She also works with the SupportEd team to offer technical assistance to school districts and educational organizations. Dr. Snyder has extensive instructional experience and has worked in the field of English language development (ELD) for over 25 years. She started her teaching career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea, West Africa. This experience ignited her passion for language teaching, culturally responsive instruction, and ML advocacy. Dr. Snyder is co-author of Culturally Responsive Teaching for Multilingual Learners: Tools for Equity and contributing author to Breaking Down the Monolingual Wall. She served as an English Teaching Fellow at Gadja Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She earned her Ph.D. in Multilingual/Multicultural Education at George Mason University and her M.A.T in TESOL at the School for International Training. You can connect with her by email at Sydney@SupportEd.com or on Twitter at @SydneySupportEd.

Dr. Margarita Espino Calderón is Professor Emerita/Senior Research Scientist at Johns Hopkins University. She has worked on numerous research and development projects focusing on reading for English learners funded by the U.S.D.O.E Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Labor, and collaborated with Harvard and the Center for Applied Linguistics on a longitudinal study funded by the NICHD.

The Carnegie Corporation of New York funded her five-year empirical study to develop Expediting Comprehension for English Language Learners (ExC-ELL), a comprehensive professional development model for math, science, social studies, language arts, ESL and SPED teachers that integrates language, literacy and content. She also developed two other effective evidence-based programs: Reading Instructional Goals for Older Readers (RIGOR) for Newcomers with Interrupted Formal Education. Additionally, the Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (BCIRC) program was developed for dual language instruction and is listed in the What Works Clearinghouse.

Margarita collaborated with George Washington University on a Title III five-year grant to implement and further study A Whole-School Approach to Professional Development with ExC-ELL in Virginia school districts.

She is a consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice and Office of Civil Rights. She serves and has served on national language and literacy research panels. Margarita is also President/CEO of Margarita Calderón and Associates, Inc. Dr. Calderón and her team of 10 Associates conduct ExC-ELL comprehensive multi-year professional development and on-site coaching in schools, districts, state-wide and international Institutes. She has over 100 publications on language and literacy for ELs.

Margo Gottlieb, a staunch advocate for multilingual learners and their teachers, has always envisioned multilingualism and multiculturalism
as cornerstones of education. As co-founder and lead developer of WIDA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, over her career, Margo has been a language teacher, coordinator, bilingual facilitator, director of assessment and evaluation, and an international advisor. Having presented and keynoted across the United States and in 25 countries, she has worked with universities, organizations, governments, states, school districts, and schools in co-constructing linguistic and culturally sustainable educational policy and practice. Margo has been an invited blogger and speaker for virtual seminars, webinars, podcasts, book chats, and videos; in addition, she has enjoyed reviewing books, journal articles, policy papers, and grants.

Over the years, Margo's scholarship has focused on co-designing language development standards frameworks for WIDA, TESOL International Association, Guam, and American Samoa, reconceptualizing classroom assessment, coconstructing curricular frameworks for multilingual learners, and evaluating language policy. Margo has been appointed to national and state expert advisory boards and has been a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Chile, appointed to the US Department of Education's Inaugural National Technical Advisory Council, and was honored by TESOL International Association for her significant contribution to the TESOL profession.

Holding a PhD in Public Policy Analysis, Evaluation Research, and Program Design, Margo has published extensively, having authored, co-authored, or co-edited over 100 publications including monographs, guides, manuals, white papers, technical reports, articles, more than 30 chapters, encyclopedia entries, and 20 books. Joining Assessment in Multiple Languages: A Handbook for School and District Leaders (2022) and its companion, Classroom Assessment in Multiple Languages: A Handbook for Teachers (2021), she is proud to add this 3rd edition of her best-selling book to her Corwin compendium.

Andrea Honigsfeld, EdD, is a TESOL Professor in the School of Education and Human Services at Molloy College in Rockville Centre, New York. She teaches graduate courses in linguistics, TESOL methods, and cultural and linguistic diversity. Before her current position, she was an English-as-a-foreign-language teacher in Hungary (Grades 5-8 and adult) and an English-as-a-second-language teacher in New York City (Grades K-3 and adult). She also taught Hungarian at New York University. Andrea earned a doctoral fellowship at St. John′s University in New York, where she conducted research on individualized instruction. She received a Fulbright Award to lecture in Iceland in 2002. Over the past 20 years, Andrea has presented at conferences in multiple countries, including the United States, Canada, China, Denmark, Great Britain, Italy, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates. She frequently offers staff development, primarily focusing on effective differentiated strategies and collaborative practices for both English-as-a-second-language and general-education teachers.