25-12-Annual Report 2025_FINAL no bleed pages-1 - Flipbook - Page 17
ANNUAL REPORT 2025
Researchers’ support
of multilingual learners
shows positive impact
The first cohort from a research project designed to
improve student achievement among multilingual learners
has wrapped up its work with Clemson researchers. Now,
educators and caregivers involved in the project have
had the time to put tools and best practices to use in the
classroom and the living room and the results have been
overwhelmingly positive.
The U.S. Department of Education Office of English
Language Acquisition awarded funds to Clemson
University researchers in Fall 2022. Researchers sought
to increase early multilingual learner instructional capacity
in South Carolina by preparing literacy leaders to deliver
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) instruction
and support families of multilingual learners.
According to Emily Howell, principal
investigator on the project, the impact on
teachers, students and caregivers is proving
to be career- and life-changing for many
involved.
“Our work focuses on improving many aspects of learning
for students, but one of the primary ones is self-efficacy,”
Howell said. “We want teachers, their students and the
caregivers of multilingual learners to feel capable toward
literacy learning so that they can respond to academic
difficulties and use learning strategies to succeed. By
working with teachers and family members, we see
success in that vital area of the student experience.”
Interventionists said program material immediately
benefited them in their day-to-day work. Taking lessons
learned back to the workplace also benefited their
coworkers because solutions in assignments involved real
issues or challenges from the workplace that affected
entire classrooms.
Caregivers also positively rated the coursework designed
to extend learning to the home. Researchers measured
a significant increase in caregiver knowledge of best
practices for multilingual learner literacy across all items
throughout the course. Caregivers said they created or
maintained daily reading routines and acquired strategies
for oral language, writing and reading development.
“The most important thing I have learned is how to help
my child grow in her native language,” one caregiver
said. “I also learned how to help her with her reading and
writing and make it fun to do it with her.”
The project team includes Howell as principal investigator,
Lindsey W. Rowe and C.C. Bates as co-principal
investigators, Hazel Vega as project manager, and Katie
Crook as graduate research assistant.
Teaching Tips for ML Literacy:
Caregiver Tips for ML Literacy:
• Teach important words through texts and
experiences that integrate children’s languages
and lives.
• Prioritize oral language by giving children daily
opportunities to talk, listen, and make meaning
together across subjects.
• Provide regular opportunities for writing and
small-group collaboration, explicitly connecting
to children’s languages, to support literacy and
language development.
• Encourage the use of your home language(s)
because this maintains your child’s cultural and
linguistic heritages, affirms their identity, and
supports healthy socio-emotional development.
• Promote speaking opportunities for your children
through storytelling, games, questions and
conversations; intentionally make your home full of
spaces to talk, read and write in multiple languages.
• Choose picture books and materials that incorporate
all of your languages and connect to your culture.
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