On Monday January 14, 2013, Ryerson University’s Department of Early Childhood Studies held a luncheon to celebrate the publication of Associate Professor Dr. Roma Chumak-Horbatsch’s new book, Linguistically Appropriate Practice: A Guide for Working with Young Immigrant Children.
Published by the Higher Education Division of the University of Toronto Press, Linguistically Appropriate Practice (affectionately known as LAP) combines both scholarship and practical advice. In doing so, it stresses the importance of children’s home languages and the benefits of dual- and multi-language learning, offering guidance for those working with young children who arrive in childcare centres and schools with little or no proficiency in the classroom language.
With over 30 scholars, practitioners, and students in attendance, the launch was well attended with “I ♥ LAP” buttons on every lapel. The overarching sentiment amongst the afternoon’s speakers was that Linguistically Appropriate Practice is a valuable new resource for educators of immigrant children; not only does this book provide leading-edge thought, it also serves as a conduit for social change.
Jim Cummins, Professor and Canada Research Chair in multiliteracies at OISE, described LAP as one of the most important contributions to pedagogical and social change in the last fifty years. Everyone talks about accommodating diversity in the classroom, he noted, but few people actual provide a roadmap to change, and that is what LAP does. He cautioned that cities like Toronto, even though they reflect incredible cultural diversity, are at risk of becoming linguistic graveyards without programs like LAP to ensure that home languages thrive.
As Charles Pascal, Professor at OISE, argued, the key importance of Chumak-Horbatsch’s work is that it brings together the three elements that are essential to change: research, practice, and policy. As author of the 2009 report, With our Best Future in Mind: Implementing Early Learning in Ontario, Pascal argued that as demographics change, so too must the very approach to educating young learners. LAP, he suggested, is the perfect example of teaching the whole child and of how to approach differentiated learning effectively.
This point was reinforced by Denise Gordon, Coordinator of ESL and English Literacy Development with the Toronto District School Board, who stated that as the most ethnically and linguistically diverse school board in the country, its primary teachers can embrace LAP as the perfect tool. The TDSB has committed to using it as a key part of their primary teacher language training program.
As the final speaker, Dr. Chumak-Horbatsch described how personal experience both informed and motivated her research and subsequent writing of Linguistically Appropriate Practice. Growing up as a bilingual immigrant child, she described how language acted as a powerful cultural divide between life with her traditionally-minded Ukrainian parents and the English-speaking Canada outside the home.
Yet, Chumak-Horbatsch came to understand that home languages should be viewed as powerful tools to be actively incorporated into an immigrant child’s curriculum. She hasn’t turned back since, devoting her career to researching and building curricula that support and encourage bilingual learning.
Note: If you are scheduled to teach a course that would benefit from having this book on the required reading list, please email requests@utphighereducation.com to request an examination copy. We would be more than happy to give you the opportunity to review this excellent text for yourself!
