Safe, Seen and Challenged in Practice
Welcoming home languages into phonemic awareness activities
By Liz Jameyson
At the beginning of a phonemic awareness lesson on the /m/ sound, the teacher asks children:
“What’s a word in your home language that starts with the /m/ sound?”
Children excitedly share words from their home languages.
Why it matters
When multilingual learners see their languages reflected in the lesson, they feel more like what they bring into the classroom is valued. This sense of belonging helps build the trust and confidence needed to take academic risks—and it deepens their phonemic awareness, too.
Pitfalls to avoid
Pitfall 1: Overlooking phonemic differences across languages
Asking children to identify sounds that don’t exist in their home language—or assuming they hear them the same way—can lead to confusion or frustration.
Try this instead
Learn the basics of your children’s home languages, especially which phonemes overlap and which don’t. For example, some languages may not distinguish between /b/ and /v/, or may not have final consonant sounds. When needed, acknowledge these differences explicitly and frame the lesson as an opportunity to “train our ears” for English sounds—without implying anything is wrong with the home language. See these Contrastive Analysis Resources by the Reading League that show the similarities and differences between phonemes in English and several languages.
Pitfall 2: Encouraging home language use only infrequently
Inviting children to share words in their language once and rarely or never returning to the practice won’t make much of an impact.
Try this instead
Make it a regular part of your instruction, including during structured literacy routines (but also in other subjects). Show that children’s linguistic knowledge is not just welcome—it’s part of how learning happens here. Children can discuss ideas in their home language in any subject, and encouraging this frequently helps show children that their home language is valued in school.
We look forward to sharing our next post in the Safe, Seen and Challenged Series by Liz Jameyson!