ABSTRACT
Good literacy practices are not enough to develop literacy when students function in more than one language and culture. Teachers must know their students as bilingual/bicultural learners even if they themselves know only one language and are charged with teaching in one language. Teachers must consider language and culture within the approaches they use, whether the program is bilingual, ESL, mainstream, or foreign language. Students’ level of language proficiency should not deter teachers from having high expectations, but it should alert them to provide assistance to reach those expectations. In this chapter we explicitly illustrate how teaching bilingual learners is not just simply good teaching. Addressing the needs of these students in ways that work is paramount. These practices can be beneficial for all students. For bilingual learners, however, they are not an option; they are essential.
