Teaching Multilingual Learners: Monolingual Teachers’ Perceptions and Strategies

The increasing linguistic diversity in early childhood education (ECE) settings presents distinct challenges for predominantly monolingual, English-speaking teachers working with multilingual learners (MLs). This population of MLs poses unique challenges for mainly monolingual, native English-speaking teachers. The study investigated three primary areas: 1) the specific challenges faced by monolingual early childhood educators; 2) the researchers sought to understand how teachers perceive their preparedness, the strategies they employ, and the types of support they believe would enhance their ability to effectively teach MLs; and 3)by examining the challenges in their local and geographical context that insights into broadersystemic issues would be uncovered that could inform teacher training programs and policydecisions. The findings indicate that, despite facing significant challenges, teachers adapted tonew, demanding environments by employing equitable multi-literacy teaching strategies suchas translanguaging. Teachers reported rewarding experiences in observing language acquisition,content understanding, and cultural exchanges, but also highlighted challenges such aslanguage barriers, cultural gaps, and a need for more bilingual resources. The interview results emphasize the importance of teacher preparedness in supporting bilingual education and targeted professional development to enhance inclusive practices.