Reflections on language and literacy: Recognising what young people know and can do

This chapter illustrates the importance of being responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. The chapter also highlights strategies to support inclusive student participation and engagement in classroom activities. The tensions and complexities that play out in teaching and learning for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) student communities around the world are highlighted in this chapter. The standards above are considered in the offering of explicit research-informed ways to acknowledge and build on the broad language resources students already possess. Practical applications for knowing CALD students and how they learn and evidence of how classrooms can maintain a creative and supportive environment that facilitates student participation and engagement are detailed. Being open to the idea that students do bring myriad knowledges, skills and understandings to school, and that these associated knowledges are easily revealed and can be explicitly connected to school curriculum, is a crucial starting point for teaching and learning. This thinking and related practice is fundamental to becoming a reflective practitioner, one who prepares young people to lead successful and productive lives by acknowledging and building on their linguistic potential.