1
Elementary
Supportingstudents’
the Whole
languageStudent
development Figure 1.0 depicting elementary students
Elementary students’ language engaged in a peer discussion.
development is a dynamic and complicated
Student’s
process. This process playsName
a vital role in
Institution Affiliation
their development, including enhancing
their socio-emotional and Datecognitive
development (Tedick & Lyster, 2019). They
have a broad vocabulary, considering they
learn and comprehend numerous new words
Introduction and terminologies, allowing them to easily
The goal of an educational system is to express themselves accurately and
ensure students are equipped with the understand more complicated ideas (Tedick
requisite skills and knowledge to succeed in & Lyster, 2019).
their personal and professional lives. Photo by Synda_Productions.
Elementary students also develop
Students contend with various factors pragmatic skills, such as understanding How culture affects the
affecting their knowledge acquisition, social norms, taking turns during development and learning of
growth, as well as classroom success (Lee & conversations with peers, and modifying
Luykx, 2013). Some of these factors include
children and early adolescents
their language for different situations
their native language, cultural background, An individual's culture influences
(Tedick & Lyster, 2019). These skills
and socioeconomic status (Lee & Luykx, numerous aspects of their lives, including
improve elementary students’ social
2013). worldviews, values, beliefs, and behaviors.
interactions and relationships.
Identifying and comprehending the This influence also extends to classroom
Language development and cognitive
various factors that can undermine the settings, considering it can affect children
development are interlinked concepts.
attainment of this goal is vital. Doing this and early adolescents' development and
Acquiring pertinent language skills allows
allows educators to not only identify and learning (Lee & Luykx, 2013).
an elementary student to think more
eliminate bias but also select the most Children and early adolescents from
abstractly, solve more complicated
effective classroom instructional approaches varying cultural backgrounds will
challenges, and adopt more sophisticated
when working with diverse students (Lee & inadvertently have differing proficiency in
reasoning (Tedick & Lyster, 2019).
Luykx, 2013). the dominant language where they attend
Language is also vital for effective
As such, this paper will analyze the school (Lee & Luykx, 2013). For instance,
social interaction. Due to this, elementary
impact of language, cultural background, immigrant children and early adolescents
students can leverage their language skills to
and socioeconomic status on a child’s from Latin America might have low English
make friends, resolve conflicts, and share
development. proficiency when studying in the United
their feelings (Tedick & Lyster, 2019). States.
2
This poor dominant language books, as well as education-based 2020). The partnerships can also be
proficiency adversely affects their ability to technologies (Henry et al., 2020). This leveraged to mentor and tutor these students
effectively communicate with peers and undermines their academic progress, leading (Henry et al., 2020).
educators, undermining their learning and to achievement gaps (Henry et al., 2020). How language acquisition, culture,
development (Lee & Luykx, 2013). Children and early adolescents from and socioeconomic status of a
A child’s and early adolescent’s culture low-income households are frequently
student affect classroom practices
shapes the values, beliefs, and social norms exposed to abuse and neglect from parents
A student's language proficiency,
they ascribe to. Furthermore, due to the and other caregivers (Henry et al., 2020).
cultural background, and socioeconomic
subjective nature of these cultural aspects, Such abuse and neglect adversely affect
status affect their classroom practices.
what might be perceived as appropriate or their physical, emotional, and psychological
Improved language proficiency will enhance
respectful conduct will often differ from one wellness. This then makes it challenging for
students' ability to engage with and
culture to the next (Lee & Luykx, 2013). them to concentrate in class, adversely
comprehend classroom instructional
These differing values, beliefs, and affecting their learning (Henry et al., 2020).
materials, communicate, and interact with
social norms will affect how they relate with Figure 3.0 showing the stressful home
educators and peers, and actively participate
educators and peers (Lee & Luykx, 2013). environment low-income students
in group discussions (Lee & Luykx, 2013).
Figure 2.0 depicting the challenges posed contend with.
Despite this, educators might
by language barrier.
subconsciously favor students with strong
dominant language skills to the detriment of
others struggling with it. Educators should
tailor their instruction to ensure it satisfies
the language needs of diverse students (Lee
& Luykx, 2013).
Students’ cultural backgrounds affect the
values, beliefs, communication approaches,
and learning preferences they embrace (Lee
& Luykx, 2013). This phenomenon can
Graphic by Lisa Peck.
significantly impact students’ classroom
How socioeconomic status affects the Photo by Alamy conduct, engagement levels, as well as
development and learning of children and Despite these factors, educators can dynamics (Lee & Luykx, 2013).
early adolescents. implement strategies to support students An educator might unintentionally favor
dealing with economic struggles. students with similar cultural beliefs, values,
A child’s or early adolescent’s One such strategy revolves around norms, and practices. This can result in
socioeconomic status substantially affects partnering with community organizations or exclusion, misinterpretations, and
their learning and development. Children local non-profits to provide such students misunderstandings.
and early adolescents from low-income with resources such as learning materials,
backgrounds will often have access to clothes, food, and shelter (Henry et al.,
limited learning resources like tutoring,
3
Educators should improve their cultural much broader comprehension of the world exploit their limited educational resources to
competency by participating in cultural (Kumar et al., 2019). support low-income students (Romney,
awareness training (Lee & Luykx, 2013). Educators should also consider 2018).
This training will ensure they are cognizant celebrating students’ diverse cultural Educators in California can also
of their biases and understand varying festivals, traditions, and activities (Kumar et champion their schools to join the California
cultural worldviews, eliminating the risk of al., 2019). Educators can encourage students Community Schools Partnership (Maier,
bias affecting their classroom instruction and their families to share their cultural 2021). Doing this will help educators
(Lee & Luykx, 2013). values, beliefs, norms, and practices with the coordinate various learning initiatives, share
Socioeconomic status can affect a class via demonstrations or presentation- expertise, and implement multi-tiered
student's access to vital learning resources, based assignments (Kumar et al., 2019). support systems focused on enhancing
conduct and motivation in the classroom Figure 4.0 showing Westridge and students' emotional learning as well as their
(Lee & Luykx, 2013). Due to this, an Woerther elementary school students college and career readiness (Maier, 2021).
educator might unknowingly set lower engaged in a fashion show to honor the Conclusion
expectations for students from low-income diverse culture that exists within the Students' language acquisition, cultural
households relative to their well-off peers, school building and community. background, and socioeconomic status
resulting in academic disparities between impact their learning and development.
them. Understanding these aspects is critical
Educators should set high expectations for educators and parents. It ensures they
for all students, irrespective of their support students' growth, promote
socioeconomic status, to eliminate the risk inclusivity, as well as foster educational
of bias affecting their decision-making (Lee success for all.
& Luykx, 2013). Furthermore, they should This brochure proposed several
offer low-income students supplementary interventions educators should implement to
support to ensure they keep up with their establish classroom environments that
peers. embrace and promote diversity, support
Ways teachers can support diverse cultural and linguistic variances, and foster
Photo by Westridge school.
languages and cultures in the classroom to an inclusive learning atmosphere.
Local learning networks for teachers
further promote student learning and Educators in California can leverage
development. several local learning networks to learn
Educators should develop and more about supporting students with factors
implement culturally inclusive curriculums limiting their classroom success.
(Kumar et al., 2019). Such curriculums often One such local learning network is the
integrate diverse worldviews, historical California Rural Education Network
phenomena, and authors (Kumar et al., (Romney, 2018). Joining this network will
2019). This helps students feel represented allow educators to learn and share various
in the learning endeavor, giving them a best practices they can leverage to better
4
References help-isolated-teachers-share-
Henry, D. A., Betancur Cortés, L., & resources/603083
Votruba-Drzal, E. (2020). Black– Tedick, D. J., & Lyster, R.
White achievement gaps differ by (2019). Scaffolding language
family socioeconomic status from development in immersion and dual
early childhood through early language classrooms. Routledge.
adolescence. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 112(8), 1471.
Kumar, R., Karabenick, S. A., Warnke, J.
H., Hany, S., & Seay, N. (2019).
Culturally inclusive and responsive
curricular learning environments
(CIRCLEs): An exploratory
sequential mixed-methods
approach. Contemporary
Educational Psychology, 57, 87-105.
Lee, O., & Luykx, A. (2013). Science
education and student diversity:
Race/ethnicity, language, culture,
and socioeconomic status.
In Handbook of research on science
education (pp. 171-197). Routledge.
Maier, A. (2021, October 22). California
Community Schools Partnership
Program: A Transformational
Opportunity for Whole Child
Education. Learning Policy Institute.
Retrieved from
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/pro
duct/ca-community-schools-
partnership-brief
Romney, L. (2018, October 7). California
rural education network launches to
help isolated teachers share
resources. EdSource. Retrieved from
https://edsource.org/2018/california-
rural-education-network-launches-to-
