Optimize Your Interventions with Bilingual Children: Three-Tier Vocabulary Instruction

The Power of Linguistic Exposure

A child's vocabulary mainly grows through the exposure they receive. For bilingual children, this exposure must be adapted and varied across all the languages they are learning. By exposing them to diverse words and contexts, you can greatly expand their linguistic repertoire.

Tier 1: Everyday Vocabulary

The first tier of vocabulary consists of words used daily in familiar conversations. Here are some examples:

• Question words: who?, what?, where?
• Social words: good night, bye-bye
• Spatial/locational words: up, down, inside
• Descriptive words: hot, cold, good
• Action words: eat, sleep, wash, play
• Names of objects and people: teddy bear, doll, car, grandmother
• Words for emotions: happy, sad, tired

These simple words are an integral part of a child's daily life and are reinforced by repeated interactions. As an intervener, it is crucial to repeat these words in different contexts to help children understand and use them correctly.

Tier 2: Literary Vocabulary

The second tier of vocabulary includes more complex words often encountered in written texts. Here are some examples:

• Execute: do
• Cross: pass
• Moved: touched
• Astonished: surprised

These terms require explicit instruction. By using Tier 1 words to explain these more sophisticated terms, you facilitate their comprehension. For bilingual children, it is essential to adapt the explanation and repetition of these words in their developing languages.

Tier 3: Specialized Vocabulary

This tier includes words specific to particular subjects or topics. For example:

• Mathematics: diameter, polygon
• Science: minerals, photosynthesis

By teaching these terms in specific educational contexts, you ensure a better understanding of specialized subjects. For bilingual children, it is important to contextualize these terms in both languages for optimal comprehension.

Strategies to Enrich Vocabulary

Frequent and varied exposure to new words is necessary for their acquisition. According to Eisenberg (2014), a typical child needs an average of 13 exposures to understand a new word and 24 exposures to produce it. For bilingual children or those with language disorders, these numbers can be higher.

Here are some strategies to maximize vocabulary learning:

• Use words throughout the day in various contexts. For example: "I am astonished. I didn't expect this beautiful coloring."
• Involve parents by sending them new words to use at home in daily conversations.
• Write down words and display them: children learn more easily by seeing words written.

Let's Play with Words

Vocabulary learning doesn't have to be a chore. Have fun with words, create games, and use Tier 2 and 3 terms to make learning more engaging and memorable. For bilingual children, including games in both their languages can make learning even more effective.

Learn More

These strategies are at the core of my training, designed to help you better intervene with bilingual and allophone children. By working together, we can offer every child the best chances for academic success and language development.

To learn more about how to enrich children's vocabulary and deepen your skills, I invite you to discover my training courses and tool bundles.

Together, we can make a significant difference in the lives of multilingual children.

Discover my training courses