Consistency is a fundamental pillar in learning a new language, especially during childhood. In a bilingual environment where children are developing linguistic skills while exploring the world around them, maintaining consistent practices not only facilitates learning but also creates a safe and predictable space for them to experiment and grow.
Let’s explore how your consistent actions directly impact linguistic development!
Planning for Consistency
When creating your lesson plans, include small phrases to use consistently. These phrases help organize the group’s daily routines, ensuring comprehension and, perhaps, production. For instance, “It’s time to…” is a language chunk you want the children to understand, along with its possible complements like “sit down,” “clean up,” or “line up.”
Another example is teaching children to use “Can I borrow the…”. If one day you prompt them with “Can I borrow your pencil,” the next day “Could you lend me your pencil,” the third day “Do you mind if I use your pencil,” and another day “Is it okay if I grab your pencil,” imagine the difficulty children face in accommodating all these options simultaneously. It’s better to plan and consistently use just one phrase. Once the group understands and starts using it, you can introduce variations.
Consistent Modeling
Related to planning is your delivery: the children receive high-quality input consistently. Your tone, choice of words and expressions, and repetition of patterns all contribute to making the environment and language use predictable and, therefore, safe.
Additionally, you should consistently use the target language 100% of the time as part of your teaching strategy, as well as consistently require children to produce the language. This isn’t about the old “English, please!” method but about clearly and consistently ensuring that what the child already knows in the new language is always expressed in that language.
For instance, it doesn’t make sense for a child who has been in a bilingual environment for two years to say “I want water” in their first language to the teacher, right? Be consistent with this expectation—kindly, playfully, perhaps with a pre-agreed signal or whatever suits your group and personality. You’ll see the children’s oral production grow significantly!
Consistent Feedback
You believe learning is a process, and mistakes are part of it. You approach errors with ease, and your corrections are gentle. You’re emotionally balanced, patient, and calm, always ready to find the best scaffolding strategy to support the child. Wouldn’t it be amazing if every day were like this?
The reality is that some days we are like this, but other days we lack patience. We might roll our eyes at mistakes, interrupt children so they can finish speaking faster, or even fall into the trap of saying, “It’s not possible; I’ve already taught this 897 times…”
When children don’t know whether they’ll encounter the rainbow fairy version of you or the frazzled, overwhelmed version, they feel incredibly insecure, especially about speaking. If you’ve ever said sweetly, “Just try, I’ll help you,” and the child just stared at you with a look of “No way, not a chance,” you might be oscillating between these two personas.
The ideal scenario is to leave personal frustrations outside the classroom. It’s not always easy, but this is a commitment you need to make with yourself and uphold—consistently. By being consistent in how you address mistakes, you create a safe environment for children to take risks, make mistakes, and speak more freely.
Final Thoughts
Consistency in the classroom is not just a teaching strategy; it’s a commitment to fostering growth and confidence in children. By planning, modeling, and delivering consistent feedback, you create an environment where children not only learn but also feel safe to explore, make mistakes, and grow. This is the foundation of meaningful bilingual education.
