Listening in Two Languages: A Bilingual Listening Connection to Support Vocabulary Development in English Language Learners

Ellen Peak, Gracemor Elementary, Kansas City, Missouri

Introduction

Although existing programs support our English Learner (EL) students and their families in my school and community, I have received additional questions from families about how to support students at home. These questions have primarily come from families who speak a home language (L1) other than English. When students are immersed in their L1 at home, an important connection to their culture and history is maintained, but there can be a disconnect between parent support and what is being taught in the classroom. This project aims to increase student vocabulary in the target language of English as students check out recorded bilingual books written in both their L1 and English, increasing their families’ opportunity for investment in their children’s literacy development.

Picture books have the inherent ability to support language development and reading aloud is accepted as a means of developing vocabulary (Kindle, 2009, p. 202). The books chosen were selected because there is illustrated support, as well as bilingual text in each book. When vocabulary is connected to the students’ home language and sociocultural constructs, students can appropriately apply vocabulary words across contexts and make meaning. By maximizing participation and leveraging multiple readings of a familiar text, students were immersed in the vocabulary which led to one-on-one conversations to promote strong comprehension and leverage language proficiency (Gillanders et al., 2014, p. 218-219).

The benefits of bilingualism and translanguaging are vast and those conversations were reinforced through the texts and opportunities of this project. Translanguaging itself builds metalinguistic awareness which supports English Language acquisition (García & Wei, 2014, p. 21-23). The unique texts used in this project supported bilingual conversations within the families and students drew on all their language repertoire to build new language (Alongsagay, 2026).

In this project, I wanted to introduce bilingual audiobooks to elementary students who were immersed in their L1 at home. I wanted them to be able to have access to appealing books to check out and take home. My goal was that students would open these books alongside their families and listen, emphasizing the value of maintaining their L1 and providing an opportunity for parents to read and understand a book with their children. For students, this provided another opportunity to hear English outside of the classroom, promoting vocabulary growth.

These understandings culminated in curating a bilingual audiobook read along library. Students checked out texts recorded and printed in both their L1 and English and took them home to share with families. They were prompted to reread them several times and talk about what they read before exchanging them for another title. This practice can be stretched across an entire year or fluctuate based on school and student need. For my project, several students were selected and those students exchanged books throughout the year. Some had books they really enjoyed, and they came back to those after trying a new book or two. Due to the structure, this project was very versatile and able to be adapted to student needs.

Step by Step Plan

Step 1: Identify common home languages of ELs at the site.

Step 2: Acquire bilingual texts in the identified languages. For this step, I utilized Vox Books, as they have bilingual texts in their library in the languages identified at my building, including Arabic, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Hindi. These texts contain a recording which can be played that is housed within the book. This enables students to read along as they are listening to the recording.

Step 3: Identify students within the building who are immersed in the selected L1s at home and would benefit from additional listening and reading practice. This was done using ACCESS scores from the previous year as well as collaboration with an English Language Learners teacher at my building.

Step 4: Send home consent forms with participating students in L1 and English.

Step 5: Label all materials with instructions in both languages to listen to and follow along with the text as many times as they enjoy, encouraging listening with family members and discussing what was read.

Step 6: Begin checking out texts to students and encourage them to return and check out new books as often as they would like.

Step 7: At the end of the year, families can provide feedback and participating students could remain in the program for the following year, or new students could be included.

Timeline

This plan is laid out to begin at the start of a traditional school year in August and end in May but could be modified to fit the needs of any school calendar.

August - early September: Identify common home languages (L1) of the school site and obtain texts in those languages

Late September & Early October: Invite students who would benefit from the project and send home consent forms for participation

October: Label all materials and begin sending them home for students to read with families; Encourage students to exchange texts as often as they would like

November - the beginning of May: Students continue checking out bilingual texts and discussing what was read with their families; Ensure texts remain charged and in good condition as the year progresses

The middle of May: Begin inventorying all titles so the program can be continued the following year

Budget

• Vox Books

• Sophia and Alex Make Friends at School English/Hindi

• Sophia and Alex Go on a Field Trip English/Hindi

• My Footprints

• Vietnamese-English Bilingual Collection

• El niño de maíz/The Boy of Maize

• Still Dreaming / Seguimos soñando

• Waiting for the Biblioburro/Esperando el Biblioburro

• Freight Train / Tren de carga

• My Mind is a Mountain / Mi mente es una montana

• Colores de la vida: Mexican Folk Art Colors in English and Spanish

• Jet the Cat (Is Not a Cat) (Bilingual Spanish & English)

• Whatever Comes Tomorrow (Bilingual Spanish & English)

• Whatever Comes Tomorrow (Bilingual Arabic & English)

• Bear about Town (Bilingual Arabic & English)

• Jet the Cat (Is Not a Cat) (Bilingual Arabic & English)

• Benita and the Night Creatures (Bilingual Arabic & English)

• Dumpling Day (Bilingual Arabic & English)

• Ruby’s School Walk (Bilingual Arabic & English)

• Printable Labels (for instructions on the books and return instructions)

• Plastic Sleeves (to protect the books during transport)

Sustainability

This project is sustainable as books are checked out by students and will be returned regularly and at the end of the school year. Additional titles could be obtained to grow the library of books that students are able to check out and expand the languages which are included via Vox Books. Through family involvement, relationships grow between the school and families as students move toward English language proficiency.

Reflections

Students in grades kindergarten through five were invited to participate in this program in its initial implementation. Students spoke Vietnamese or Spanish at home. Additional titles for Arabic speakers were also purchased for use. Families quickly signed consent forms and students were able to begin borrowing the texts to read at home. Immediately, students were excited to take the books home and begin reading. The texts were easy to navigate, and students loved that they could hear both languages.

The opportunity to bring families together around a common text and across two languages remained the focus of this project. Through these texts, families were provided an opportunity to partner with teachers in a new way and students benefitted from an additional opportunity to practice listening and make connections between English and their home languages.

Students often held onto the books they first checked out for a long period of time. As I look toward the next school year, I would create regular opportunities for students to see the different texts available. In addition, I want to include questions that children and parents can discuss after their reading, translated into both the L1 and English, beyond just “talk about what you read.” I think this will promote additional connections to school learning, where students are asked a variety of questions about what was read and what they learned.

References

Alonsagay, I. (2026, March 31). Translanguaging: The most underused asset in today’s ESL classrooms. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/translanguaging-most-underused-asset-todays-esl-ingrid-alonsagay-unxme/

García, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism, and education. Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137385765

Gillanders, C., Castro, D. C., & Franco, X. (2014, November). Learning words for life: Promoting vocabulary in dual language learners. The Reading Teacher, 68(3), 213-221. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1291

Kindle, K. J. (2009, November). Vocabulary development during read-alouds: Primary practices. The Reading Teacher, 63(6), 202-211. https://doi.org/10.1598/RT.63.3.3