During a Year 5 lesson, I watched a multilingual child, Musa, ten months in school, freeze when asked to share his views about climate change. The class waited. He shook his head. Everyone moved on, and he withdrew from the conversation.
Learning depends on taking risks, articulating partial understanding and making mistakes. For multilingual children making mistakes is high stakes with social, emotional and academic consequences. A child like Musa withdraws from group talk to avoid being misunderstood and starts to think his ideas matter less than his peers who are fluent in English.
Educators may be more likely to perceive errors from monolingual children as helpful to their conceptual development. Yet they may read the same errors from multilingual children as limited ability. Here language proficiency and cognitive competence are conflated – this disadvantages multilingual pupils (Bell Foundation, 2023).
Fluency Bias and Participation
Children discuss why the Sahara has little rainfall. Maria says: “There no rain, clouds no there.” The educator corrects her grammar and moves on. Maria’s causal reasoning goes unnoticed.
Classroom discussion often prioritises speed, confidence, and polished delivery. Researchers call this fluency bias: a child’s hesitancy or lack of fluency in English is mistaken for a lack of understanding (Mercer and Littleton, 2007).
As they engage with ideas, multilingual children are also translating, checking grammar, and selecting vocabulary. If educators move on too quickly, they have excluded them from high-quality interactions.
“English proficiency develops over time and is not a proxy for ability.” (Bell Foundation, 2023).
Errors, pauses and non-standard grammar are to be expected, welcomed. They are not signs of struggling. Progression means increasing language proficiency, not absence of error.
In a Year 4 maths lesson, the class is partitioning two-digit numbers. Anji explains her strategy in Swahili, through gestures and using English words that she has secured this term: tens, ones, add. The teacher responds: “So you grouped them into tens, that’s efficient.” Later, Anji repeats the phrase back.
Meaning is prioritised. Language is modelled. Anji’s idea is preserved.
Supporting oral response: a practical pathway
Not every child is ready to speak aloud in front of the class. As educators, we need to nurture a safe context in which every child can thrive.
- Offer single-step responses: for learners at the early stages of English, simple or either/or choices reduce the language demands while allowing them to show their thinking. They are choosing between options and that choice still shows what they are thinking.
In a Year 3 science lesson on materials, instead of asking “Why is metal a good material for a saucepan?” the teacher asks: “Is metal a good material for a saucepan because it bends easily or because it conducts heat?” Samara points to the correct option. Her reasoning is visible, without using a full sentence.
Samara’s thinking is recognised. Samara is valuable to the class learning.
- Start with low-stake responses: Children who aren’t yet confident speaking aloud can sketch-note (draw), write in English, or write in their first language on a whiteboard. This lets them show their thinking without the pressure of speaking.
- Build in rehearsal time: Give the child time to rehearse what they want to say. A quiet moment to organise their thoughts and words can enable a positive experience of speaking aloud, avoiding a potentially exposing one.
- Use a trusted partner: Children rehearse best with someone they feel safe with. Talking with a trusted peer enables multilingual children to test out their ideas, refine their language, and build their confidence before contributing to a wider group.
- Include through group talk: Skilled grouping ensures multilingual children are not passive bystanders but active contributors. Place children in small groups with scaffolded discussions, sentence stems, structured roles and clear prompts.
- Positioning Listening: When a child is silent it does not necessarily mean they are not engaged. They may be listening, rehearsing, or showing culturally informed respect for classroom norms. In some cultures, listening silently and speaking less is considered an act of respect. (Mercer et al., 2017). An oracy-rich classroom values listening as an important skill and builds in time for it.
Final thoughts…
The key question here is how to create a classroom where we see mistakes as normal, valuable and necessary to learning. Multilingual children need to be able to learn from mistakes as much as other learners do.
An oracy and multilingual-informed approach, enables full participation for all learners and values making errors.
Surely every child deserves a classroom where mistakes are met with curiosity, not correction?
References
Bell Foundation (2023). The Bell Foundation EAL Programme: Guidance and resources. London: The Bell Foundation.
Mercer, N., Warwick, P., Kershner, R. and Kleine Staarman, J. (2017). Oracy assessment toolkit. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Faculty of Education.
Mercer, N., and Littleton, K. (2007). Dialogue and the development of children’s thinking. London: Routledge.
