Building Early Literacy for Multilingual Learners
Supporting Language Development Through Interactive Read Alouds
Christina M. Budde and Christy Tirrell-Corbin
Developmentally appropriate early childhood programs provide children with joyful, play-based learning opportunities focused on the whole child( NAEYC 2022). Critical to this focus is the combination of practices responsive to children’ s cultural and linguistic diversity. Multilingual learners, sometimes referred to as dual language learners or English learners, are children who live and study in two or more languages; for example, speaking Spanish at home and learning English in early learning programs and schools. However, many multilingual learners do not receive access to the evidencebased instruction necessary to acquire the skills and knowledge to thrive in educational settings, especially at the level of their non-multilingual
76 Young Children
Fall 2026