About Us | BYU McKay School of Education

TEAML Instructional Vision and Core Practices

Core practices our our Teaching Multilingual Learners vision are based on the
restored gospel of Jesus Christ, the mission and aims of a BYU education,
empirical evidence, and the moral commitments of the BYU-Public School
Partnership, and the Utah State Board of Education requirements for the
English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsement.

Core Practices

TEAML courses and activities, including practicum, are based on seven core practices. This, way, instructors and supervisors cam work in harmony to help BYU students experience coherence across courses and fieldbased experiences. The TEAML instructional vision and its core practices are designed to help our students teach as our Savior Jesus Christ, who is “full of grace, equity, and truth” (Alma 9:26).

Support Agentic Linguistic Expression: Teachers encourage MLs to share ideas using their full linguistic repertoire—including translanguaging—by eliciting, affirming, and extending student contributions, positioning them as vital sense-makers in the classroom.
Offer Language Assistance: Teachers support MLs English development and content learning through tailored accommodations such as primary language materials, visual aids, and tools like sentence frames or translation software, based on each student s individual needs.
Model and Input: Teachers model disciplinary language structures, skills, and strategies while building background knowledge and adapting instruction—including periodic grammar support—to meet each ML s developmental needs.
Make Content Connections: Teachers integrate students cultural identities, home practices, and community experiences into instruction—going beyond surface-level representation—to increase engagement and help MLs connect disciplinary content to their everyday lives.
Foster Productive Collaboration: Collaboration happens at every level—between ESL and mainstream teachers, among students, and within professional communities—to deepen reasoning, co-construct meaning, and continuously improve instruction.
Assess for Learning: Teachers use a variety of culturally and linguistically responsive assessments—prioritizing disciplinary knowledge over English proficiency—to inform real-time instructional decisions and support every ML s academic growth.
Facilitate Equitable Participation: Every ML is given meaningful opportunities to contribute through a positive classroom climate, direct engagement strategies, and specific feedback, while also being invited to explore real-world inequities related to language, race, and culture.