Primary+Language+Support

=Primary Language Support=

Clarification and Explanation
Clarification and explanation of conceptsin the student's primary language can be done by a teacher, aide, peer, or volunteer. Goldenberg and others warn of the danger of dependency.

Preview-Review
In "Teaching English Language Learners: What the Research Does - and Does Not - Say, Claude Goldenberg advises teachers to "introduce new concepts in the primary language prior to the lesson in English, then afterward review the new content, again in the primary language" He calls this strategy "preview-review". Teachers 'frontload" the new content in the student's primary language and then review the key content after the lesson. After the preview, students hear the language in English, but it is more comprehensible, and students are able to learn more content and more English.

Most instructional materials recently adopted in California include primary language materials (most often in Spanish) that can be used to preview lesson content.

Cognates
Languages have cognates - words with shared meaninigs and etymological roots. Pointing out cognates can extend vocabulary and improve comprehension. See the online Spanish Cognates Dictionary

Jill Mora groups Spanish/English cognates so that patterns of spelling changes can be observed.

False cognates look similar but have different meanings.