Supporting Multilingual Learners with Vocabulary

I remember as a little girl stepping into the classroom and looking around at all the bright posters, letters of the alphabet, and charts I could not yet read in English. Although my teacher was very friendly and never made me feel out of place, I could barely understand her words. Then, something wonderful happened. She started using visuals to help me make connections between Spanish and English. Not only did this help build my confidence in learning a new language, but it also helped build my vocabulary. 

For multilingual learners, mastering vocabulary is a crucial step toward academic success. A strong vocabulary foundation supports reading comprehension, writing, and effective communication across all subjects. However, like myself, multilingual learners often face unique challenges when acquiring new words.

Effective vocabulary instruction includes the following: 

• Introducing the vocabulary with a definition and example
• Asking students to rephrase the definition in their own words
• Asking students to include a picture representation of the word
• Engaging students in interactive activities to add to their knowledge of the word

So how can we support multilingual learners? Below are four strategies to help support our students in the classroom.

1. Word Collection Notebook

Multilingual learners benefit from explicit vocabulary instruction that goes beyond word lists and definitions. Teaching words in context and using student-friendly explanations ensures better comprehension. One way you can do this is by encouraging students to start word collection notebooks. This is a notebook in which students create a personal collection of new or interesting words. It allows students to build word awareness. Below is an example of how students can set up their pages. 

TIPS:

• Students can set goals for themselves around how many words to collect each week. 
• You can encourage students to share a favorite word or two with a partner.
• Students can use some of the words in their word collection notebook in their own writing.

2. Semantic Mapping

Semantic mapping is a visual representation of words that helps show the meaning-based connections between words. It helps support students’ ability to understand and recall the meaning of words. One common way to support students is using the Frayer Model. This allows students to map the word by including a definition, characteristics of the word, examples, and nonexamples. Below is an example of a translingual Frayer Model. 

3. List-Group-Label

This brainstorming instructional strategy can be used as an introductory activity for a lesson or unit to activate prior knowledge about a specific concept.  It helps students build background knowledge, which is key when reviewing and reinforcing word meanings. 

First, you need to identify a key concept of the lesson or unit and find five to seven vocabulary words you think might be unfamiliar but essential to understanding the concept. You can then ask students to create vocabulary cards for these words that include both a definition and a picture. Once students have created vocabulary cards, they can organize the words into groups or categories. You can then ask students to create a label for each group. Here is an example. 

4. Heads Up

Language development flourishes through interaction. Creating opportunities for multilingual learners to use new vocabulary in fun and interactive ways makes learning vocabulary much more engaging. When learning feels like play, retention improves. 

Heads Up is one way you can gamify vocabulary instruction. To play, you can divide students into small groups of four or five. The student who will be going first can place the stack of vocabulary words face down in front of them and grab a card. The goal is for the rest of the students to be able to see the cards, but not the focal student. Group members start giving clues to help the student guess the words. Students can then describe the words or use related words but cannot spell the words. 

Remember that supporting multilingual learners with vocabulary development is not just about teaching words. It’s about creating a language-rich, inclusive environment where students feel empowered to communicate and succeed. By making vocabulary instruction engaging and interactive, we can help multilingual learners thrive academically and linguistically. 

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