Responsive Practices for Dual Langugage Learners in Early Childhood Education: Theory and Case Studies

Support Diverse Dual Language Learners through Reflective Practice.Responsive Practices for Dual Language Learners in Early Childhood Education provides educators theoretical background and practical advice as they welcome an increasing number of dual language learners into their programs, to support these children to learn and flourish. Author Jennifer Chen shares case studies from her fieldwork with diverse early childhood classrooms, demonstrating her Four Cornerstones model of responsive practice while offering reflective questions to help educators implement it in their own contexts for children from birth to age eight who speak any language.

Learn to apply the Four Cornerstones model’s tenets of developmentally responsive, culturally responsive, linguistically responsive, and contextually appropriate practice in a variety of real-life situations, including while providing scaffolding for children, while building relationships with parents, and while working with children with a variety of needs.

Jennifer J. Chen, EdD, is an assistant professor of early childhood and family studies at Kean University in Union, New Jersey. She holds a doctorate from Harvard University. Her scholarly publications focus on child development and student achievement. When she immigrated to the United States from China as a teenager, she spoke Chinese and had to learn English.