Language & Milwaukee Resources

Below you will find a list of free resources to help you to practice your English. These websites provide a variety of ways for you to improve your grammar, your vocabulary, your listening skills, your speaking skills, your reading skills, and your writing skills. Please note that the English Language Academy has no official affiliation with any of these websites or companies.  

1. BBC Learning English 

2. British Council 

3. Dave’s ESL Cafe 

4. Easy World of English 

5. VOA English 

6. We Speak NYC 

7. English Central 

If you are looking for tutoring or other assistance in your courses, below is a list of resources on and off UWM’s campus for you to receive assistance on your English language courses or studies.

1. The UWM Student Success Center provides tutoring, peer mentor, and supplemental instruction services.
2. The UWM Writing Center provides tutors and resources to assist you in your writing assignments.
3. Literacy Services of Wisconsin provides online or face-to-face tutoring for English Language Learners.
4. The Milwaukee Public Library also provides drop-in tutoring session for adult English Language Learners.

UWM English Language Academy does not offer English Proficiency Testing for students or community members. UWM Testing Center no longer offers the TOEFL exam at the campus testing site.

UWM English Language Academy only offers testing for International Teaching Assistants who are non-native speakers of English who are required to pass the Milwaukee International Teaching Assistant Assessment (MITAA).

Students interested in applying to academic study at UWM can learn more information about English proficiency requirements and accepted tests for undergraduate study and graduate study.

Below are resources for taking an English Proficiency Exam for admission or general purposes.

• ETS: Various TOEFL testing
• IELTS: Various IELTS testing options
• Duolingo: Online English proficiency test

In the United States, the academic expectations might differ greatly from your home culture. As a student in the US, adjusting to American university expectations will ensure that you are successful in your academic studies.

a. Participation is greatly valued in the American university classroom. In your home culture, university classes might only include listening to a lecture and taking notes. In the US, listening to a lecture and taking notes is also a part of the education system; however, your professors might also want you to provide your own ideas or opinions, to answer questions, and to participate in group activities during class. Professors might expect you to contribute your ideas even if you aer not certain of the answer. Some professors might also give you a grade for participating in class.

b. Plagiarism and academic honesty are taken very seriously in American universities. Plagiarism is the act of presenting someone else’s ideas or work as your own without giving proper credit. This includes using direct quotes, paraphrasing, or synthesizing someone else’s ideas without using proper citations. This might be different than information practices in your home culture. So, avoiding plagiarism is a very important skill to learn to be successful in your academic courses. You will want to practice quoting, summarizing, paraphrasing, and synthesizing using proper citation to be successful in your classes.

c. Completing homework is considered a vital part of your education and learning opportunities in your classes. In your home culture, homework completion might not be required, but professors in the United States will expect you to complete your homework so that you can actively participate during your class time. Some professors might even give you a grade for homework completion that counts towards your overall course grade.

Tipping is the practice of giving additional money to your server as a way to compliment them on the service they provided. This includes restaurant servers, taxi drivers, Uber or Lyft drivers, bartenders, food delivery drivers, coffee baristas, etc. Tips are not required; however, the majority of service workers receive a lower wage than non-service workers in the United States. Because of this, many service workers rely on their tips to make a living wage. Therefore, choosing not to tip on your service can be seen as culturally offensive in the United States. 20% – 25% is considered the standard tipping percentage. You calculate the tip based on the cost of the service (e.g. your meal and beverages in a restaurant) before the tax. It is important that you take into consideration tipping when planning your budget for purchases you plan to make in the United States. 

Taxes in the United States might vary from your home country. You will most likely be affected by sales tax and income tax in the United States.

1. Sales Tax

Sales tax in the United States is not applied to an item or service until at the point of purchase. For example, if you are at the grocery store, the price you see on an item does not include the calculated sales tax. The sales tax is calculated at the cash register. This is also true for services, such as eating a meal at a restaurant. Restaurants and other places where food and beverages are sold have a different sales tax called the Food and Beverage tax. This tax is also applied to candy and beverages not purchased at restaurants. It is important that you take into consideration taxes when planning your budget for purchases you plan to make in the United States.  

Standard Sales Tax

Wisconsin State Tax – 5.0%  

Milwaukee County Tax – 0.9%  

City of Milwaukee – 2.0%  

Total standard sales tax in any town or city in Milwaukee County: 7.9%  

Food and Beverage Tax  

Milwaukee City – 8.4%  

Milwaukee County suburbs – 6.4% 

2. Filing income tax.

If you work in the United States as an international student, you will still be required to pay taxes on the income that you earn. Tax season is from late January until April 15^th. We cannot advise students on filing their taxes. So, we advise students to consult the International Student and Scholar Services tax resources page for any questions they might have about filing income tax.

Milwaukee is incredibly diverse in language and culture with a rich history of diverse populations. This history has influenced the culture and the language practices of populations in Milwaukee.

Before Colonization: American Indian Nations

Before European immigrants, Wisconsin was the land of several First Nations tribes. Milwaukee is on the land of the Potawatomi American Indian nation. Though it is very unlikely that you will hear any American Indian languages in Milwaukee, there are efforts by these American Indian nations to regain sovereignty over their lands and to revitalize their cultures and languages. UWM even has its own American Indian Studies program. Additionally, many of the local names come from the American Indian languages. For example, the name of Milwaukee is believed to come from an indigenous word. To learn more about these American Indian nations’ history, language, and culture, you can explore the Milwaukee Public Museum’s North American Indians exhibit and the American Indian Studies in Wisconsin website.

European Immigrations 1830s – early 1900s

Starting in the 1830s, American Indian tribes in Wisconsin were displaced by European Americans coming from the East and other European immigrants. Many of these immigrants were of German, Irish, Scandinavian, Polish, and Czech heritage. These immigrants greatly influenced the culture and the language diversity of the Wisconsin English dialect. You can also still see influence of these cultures in some of the city’s food culture, music culture, and traditions. These cultures are celebrated every year during the many fun cultural festivals in Milwaukee.

The Great Migration of African Americans 1940s – 1970s

African Americans from the South came to states in the North to escape poor economic conditions and Jim Crow Laws during the Great Migration. They had less economic, educational, and cultural opportunities than European (White) Americans in the South. So, they came to the North to find new opportunities. African Americans are a large portion of the population in Milwaukee, and they contribute to the rich historical, linguistic, and cultural characteristics of the city. There are many wonderful Black-owned businesses and museums that highlight Black history and culture. African Americans also have their own dialect of English, African American Vernacular English (AAVE), that contributes to the linguistic diversity of Milwaukee. Though there are many variances in this dialect, you can learn about some of its common features.

1970s to Present Day – Asian and Latine Immigration

In the 1970s, Milwaukee also saw migration of Hmong populations seeking refugee status after the Vietnam War. As a result, Milwaukee has one of the largest Hmong populations in the country. The Hmong are a Southeast Asian ethnic group with their own language, culture, and traditions. Hmong is one of the languages most commonly spoken in Milwaukee. However, the Hmong are not the only Asian group representing diversity in Milwaukee. The city has attracted immigrants from China, Vietnam, Laos, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, India, and Palestine, amongst other Asian groups. There are many cultural institutions in Milwaukee where you can learn about these different groups.

The city has also become home to many Latine/Hispanic immigrants as well. So, Spanish is also highly spoken in Milwaukee. There are many cultural institutions in Milwaukee where you can also learn about Latine immigrants.

We also continue to see immigrants from Eastern European and even African countries in the present day.

Many immigrated here to seek asylum or to find better opportunities. They contribute so much rich language and cultural diversity to Milwaukee that make it a unique and fun city to live in with so much to offer, such as ethnic festivals, restaurants, art galleries, and cultural events.

UWM also offers different student organizations from a wide range of ethnic groups to reflect the diversity of our student population. As a student at UWM, you are welcome to join any of these groups.

Sources:

“People of Milwaukee.” Milwaukee PBS. https://www.milwaukeepbs.org/the-making-of-milwaukee/people/

Just like every language, American English has many dialects, including the Wisconsin dialect. It has its own unique characteristics and words. Below is a table of some of the most common slang and idiomatic phrases that you might here around Milwaukee or Wisconsin. Try some of these out to talk more like a local Wisconsinite!

Additionally, Urban Dictionary is a wonderful resource for learning about any slang terms or phrases in culture. Definitions are input by every day people. This helps you to have a good understanding of how slang words and phrases are used in everyday conversation by everyday people.

Sources:

McKee, Spencer. “26 Words That Mean Something Different In Milwaukee.” Movoto, https://www.movoto.com/guide/milwaukee-wi/milwaukee-words/

“How to identify a Wisconsin accent – a couple two tree ways we say things.” YouTube, uploaded by Wisco Style, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcQazGMnJfo.

“How to Identify a Wisconsin accent Ep.2 – a couple two tree MORE ways we say things.” YouTube, uploaded by Wisco Style, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0gIsofmZlE.

Wisconsin’s climate is a continental climate with four seasons throughout the year: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, and this climate might be very different from the climate in your home country.   

Winter

The Wisconsin winter can be difficult for students who come from warmer climates. It is important to make sure that you have the proper clothing to avoid sickness or injury, such as frostbite or hypothermia.  Below is a list of clothing that we recommend that you purchase for the Wisconsin winter.  

1. A winter coat – You will want a coat that is insulated and water resistant/waterproof. 
2. A pair of winter boots – You will want to choose boots that are waterproof and can look for boots that are labeled “thermal” or “insulated” for extra warmth.
3. Hats, gloves, and scarves
4. Thermal Underwear – Thermal underwear is an extra layer of clothing that we wear under our everyday clothes to keep warm in the winter. You might also hear this clothing called long underwear or long johns. Thermal underwear made of cotton or merino wool will be the warmest option.
5. Warm socks – Wool socks will be the warmest option.
6. Sweaters and sweatshirts – Merino Wool/wool will be the warmest option. Cotton will also be a good choice.

Severe Winter Weather

Sometimes, there will be severe winter conditions, such as large amounts of snowfall or ice. Read through these different tips to keep yourself safe during severe winter weather.

Summer

Wisconsin has hot and humid summers, with the hottest month occurring in August. Follow the tips below to stay safe and healthy during the summer months.  

1. Comfortable clothing – Lightweight clothing will keep you the most comfortable during the summer months. Anything made with linen, cotton, or lightweight synthetic fabrics, like rayon, will be a good choice.  

2. Rain boots

3. Raincoat – In addition to rain boots, you might want to also consider purchasing a raincoat. You will want to purchase a coat that is water resistant/waterproof to keep yourself dry.

4. Umbrella  

5. Sun protection

Severe Weather in Warm and Hot Months

During the Spring, Summer, and sometimes Fall months in Wisconsin, thunderstorms are common, and occasionally, tornadoes can occur. To be prepared, UWM will require practice tornado drills, usually in the Spring semester. Additionally, Milwaukee County will do “practice sirens” at 12:00pm the second Wednesday of every month during peak thunderstorm season. This practice siren will not happen if there is severe weather present. If you hear a siren at 12:00pm every second Wednesday of the month and the weather does not look threatening, you do not have to worry. You can go about your day normally.  

In the event of severe thunderstorms, the National Weather Service might issue one of two warnings dependent on the situation.

“Tornado Watch”

You might see a “Tornado Watch.” This means that the thunderstorm is severe enough that a tornado could occur. You should make sure to pay close attention, but don’t panic.

“Tornado Warning”

You might see “Tornado Warning.” This means that a tornado has occurred and has been identified within the county. You should take shelter immediately.

You can read more about what to do in the case of a tornado and other emergencies while on UWM’s campus. Many of these tips also apply if you live off campus or are off campus at the time of the emergency. 

We also recommend that you sign up for Rave Alerts. This system makes it easy for campus police to notify students of any emergencies on campus or in the immediate surrounding area of campus.  

Your cell phone company might also issue warning alerts on your cell phone automatically for any severe weather in the area.

During your time in the United States, you must follow all local laws and ordinances. They might differ from your home country. Below is a list of the local ordinances and Wisconsin laws that you will most likely interact with during your time in Milwaukee.

1. Parking in Milwaukee – If you are planning on driving in Milwaukee, you will need to follow all local parking regulations and ordinances.
2. Consuming alcohol in Milwaukee – You must be 21 years or older to consume alcohol legally in the United States. If you are not 21 years old, it is illegal for you to consume alcohol. If you decide to consume alcohol, consume alcohol responsibly. Consume alcohol legally, and do not drive after drinking. Do not consume too much alcohol. Follow the Center for Disease Control guidelines on moderate alcohol consumption. Do not consume any beverages if you do not know where it came from. For example, do not accept a drink from a stranger.  
3. Consuming tobacco in Milwaukee – If you are 21 years or older, you are legally permitted to consume tobacco in Wisconsin. If you are not 21 years old, it is illegal for you to consume tobacco in Wisconsin.  Follow the Center for Disease Control guidelines for tobacco consumption and consume tobacco responsibly.
4. Consuming THC and CBD in Milwaukee – Cannabis (Marijuana) is illegal in Wisconsin regardless of age. This includes marijuana-derived THC products. Hemp-derived THC products, such as Delta-8 or Delta-9, and CBD are legal to consume in Wisconsin for people 21 years and older. The laws for consuming these drugs are similar to the laws governing consumption of alcohol in Wisconsin. Do not drive after consuming Delta-8 or Delta-9 THC products. You can read more about hemp-derived THC and the laws in Wisconsin. You can also read more about CBD products and the laws in Wisconsin.
5. Free Speech and Knowing Your Rights – All people in the United States have guaranteed rights under the U.S. constitution, regardless of immigration or citizenship status. The First Amendment guarantees your right to free speech. However, you must know how it protects your right to free speech and how it does not protect your right to free speech. You can read more about these rights and limitations. These rights and limitations also apply in Wisconsin. It will be important for you to know your rights in the case that a government official or someone who claims to be a government official approaches you.  

Moving to a new country with a new climate far away from friends and family can be an incredibly big challenge. You might experience culture shock, homesickness, or even physical illness. It will be important for you to maintain your physical and mental health during your time as a student in the United States so that you can be successful in and outside the classroom.  

Physical Health

Exercise

UWM provides wonderful resources to maintain good physical health. As a UWM student, you will have full access to the Klotsche Recreation Center. This center has many different resources for exercise, such as a swimming pool, a weight room, basketball courts, group exercise classes, and other things.

Eat Well

Eating well will also help you to maintain your physical health. It is recommended that you eat a balanced diet. You may find that the foods in the United States might be very different from the foods that you eat in your home culture. You can read the nutrition labels when you are buying groceries to have a good understanding of the foods that you are eating.

Make an Appointment if You are Ill

As a student, you also have access to the Student Health and Wellness Center. If you are ill, you should make an appointment with SHAW first. The nurses and doctors and nurses are well trained at SHAW, and there is also a pharmacy located in SHAW, in case the SHAW doctors prescribe you medication. If you need further healthcare or to meet with a specialist, healthcare providers at SHAW will refer you to another healthcare provider. All international students at UWM are automatically enrolled in the health insurance provided through the university. Make sure to find healthcare providers in your health insurance providers network for any healthcare providers off-campus.

Mental Health

You might experience culture shock, homesickness, or other mental health difficulties, such as anxiety or depression, during your time here. In your home culture, mental health might not be discussed or considered as a part of your overall health. However, in the United States, we consider mental health to be a part of your overall wellbeing, and it is culturally acceptable to be concerned with your mental health in United States culture. Maintaining your mental health will keep you healthy and will help you to be successful in your academic studies. We recommend that you follow the advice below to help maintain your mental health.

Maintain Good Physical Health

There is connection between your physical health and your mental health. Exercising produces chemicals in your brain, called endorphins, that contribute positively to your overall mood and energy. This will increase your mental wellbeing.

Eating a balanced diet, staying hydrated, and minimizing drug use, such as caffeine and alcohol, will have a positive impact on your mental health and will positively impact your overall mood and energy.

Form New Relationships

You might feel isolated due to homesickness and culture shock. This is a normal part of living in another country that everyone who studies abroad experiences. Making efforts to meet new people and to form new relationships will help you to feel connected to community, and this will positively impact your overall mental wellbeing.

It is recommended that you create new friendships with both other international students and with domestic students during your time in the United States. Other international students will share similar experiences to your own, and it can help to have a community of people to share these with. However, meeting American students will also help you to adjust more easily to American culture and to feel more connected to the local community.

There are many ways for you to to meet new people and to form new relationships. Join a student organization, join events on campus, participate in Outdoor Pursuits, or be a part of our Conversation Partner Program. These are just a few ways for you to meet new people, practice your English, and potentially meet new friends. Staying social during your time in the United States will help you to adjust more quickly to living abroad and will contribute to your overall happiness.

Practice Your English Outside of Your Studies

Many international and immigrant students experience stress due to language barriers. Learning another language and not being familiar with the local dialect can be very challenging, and this can contribute to increased levels of stress. These challenges are very normal for those learning another language and studying abroad in another culture. To decrease your stress around the language barriers that you will experience during your time here, it is important for you to seek out opportunities to practice your English language skills outside of the classroom and your studies. The more practice that you receive with conversational and everyday English, the more you will improve, and the more confidence that you will have. This confidence will help to decrease your stress with language barriers. We encourage you to seek out opportunities to practice your conversational English. You can also seek out help from any of the above listed English language resources for extra practice or assistance.

Ask for Help

In your home culture, asking for help for mental health challenges might not be common. However, in the United States, it is more common to talk about your mental health challenges with those you trust and to seek help for them from a professional. If you are struggling with anxiety, depression, stress, or other mental health challenges, you have access to the Counseling Services on campus as a UWM student. It is normal to feel shame or to feel uncertain about seeking help if you are facing mental health challenges. The on campus counseling services provide services by trained professionals, and they will provide you with assistance with compassion so that you can feel better. All of your sessions and the information that you provide to the counselors are confidential, unless you are a danger to yourself or other people. In the United States, you are not legally required to share any medical or academic information with anyone if you are over the age of 18.

Sources

• Xuhua, Qin. “Common Factors of Mental Health Challenges Among International Students” in Addressing mental Health Issues Affecting International Students. https://www.nafsa.org/sites/default/files/media/document/addressing-mental-health-chapter-1.pdf
• “Mental Health Awareness for International Students.” YouTube, uploaded by International Student Insurance, 2015 May 4, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfCWUX9gnDc&t=1s.
• “International Student Mental Wellness.” Kalamazoo College Counseling Center. https://counseling.kzoo.edu/resources/counseling-international-student/
• “Physical health and mental health.” Mental Health Foundation. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/a-z-topics/physical-health-and-mental-health

International and immigrant students come from a range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. To best support these students, it is important to understand that there might be cultural and communication differences. There might be different cultural challenges that you will come across when communicating with this group of students. We recommend reading about these different challenges and potential recommendations for how to address these challenges in your classroom.

Multilingual learners will have different needs than native-English speaking students. Learning another language and using that new language as a medium for academic study are challenging and can create additional barriers for multilingual students in the academic course classroom. To best meet the needs of this student population, there are some informal accommodations that you can incorporate into your course and classroom to help multilingual learners be successful in their studies. These informal accommodations might also prove to be helpful to native-English speaking who face different barriers as well.

Provide clear and direct communication in multiple formats

Multilingual learners come from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds that could impact how they understand and interpret information. To ensure effective communication and understanding for multilingual learners, provide clear and direct instructions, rubrics, and any other course communications in as many formats as possible. Make sure to be explicit and to avoid using any cultural references or overly niche idioms in your communications, instructions, or rubrics with students. For example, if you are providing information on a group project that you want your students to complete, you could provide the instructions in written format given to the students in and on a PowerPoint while presenting the information verbally to your students. We would also recommend providing a digital copy of assignment descriptions, instructions, and rubrics on your Canvas site. While providing this information to students, make sure to provide adequate time for students to ask questions and get any clarification on the assignments.

Allow more time for tests, quizzes, etc.

Because understanding and interpreting course information in another language can be challenging and can take more time than it would for a native-English speaker, it is recommended to provide additional time for multilingual students to complete tests or quizzes, in-class writing assignments, group projects, etc. whether in person or on Canvas. We recommend giving multilingual learners time and a half.

Permit students to use dictionaries

Permitting multilingual students to use dictionaries for assignments, group work, tests, quizzes, etc. will provide these students with additional support to be able to successfully complete assignments. We recommend you provide students with information about which dictionaries are or are not acceptable for use.

Provide additional scaffolding

To help multilingual learners better understand and apply course information and activities, provide additional scaffolding during your lectures or for the assignments. This provides multilingual learners with the opportunities to understand and apply the information more easily. Below is a list of ways that you can include additional scaffolding into your course and course materials:

1. provide vocabulary lists of key terms and concepts. This is especially useful if the subject matter includes a lot of field specific jargon.
2. conduct preview activities with each new reading or topic. Examples include preview questions, a skimming or scanning activity, schema activation, etc.
3. provide study guides or scaffolded note outlines
4. break down assignments into smaller parts. For example, if students are required to submit a paper at the end of your course, consider requiring students to submit smaller assignments leading up to the final paper, such as athesis statement, outline, research notes, introductory paragraphs, first draft, peer reviewed draft, etc. for formative feedback
5. Incorporate peer review and proofreading into your assignments, if applicable. This will provide students with additional opportunities to receive low stakes feedback, and it helps students to build awareness around their own learning and skills.
6. create multiple opportunities for practice applying the information/knowledge during class time.

Review Information frequently

Because multilingual learners are processing information in an additional language, reviewing the information frequently will provide additional opportunities for the students to best understand and apply the information. Learning a new language and learning information in that new language requires review often. This also provides students the opportunity to ask for clarification on anything that they do not understand.

Resources for Multilingual Students

Multilingual learners might need additional support outside of what you are able to provide them in the classroom. Below is a list of resources to share with your multilingual students.

UWM Writing Center – Students can get help with writing course assignments and papers. The Writing Center staff are trained by the English Language Academy to work and meet the needs of multilingual students.

UWM Student Success Center – Just like domestic students, multilingual students can seek out additional help on coursework at the on-campus Student Success Center. This center provides one-on-one tutoring and supplemental instruction.

Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) – This online writing lab provides detailed information on quoting, paraphrasing, synthesizing, proper citation and more for multiple styles.

UWM Library College-Level Research Tutorial – This resource is provided by the UWM library and provides lessons, examples, and practice exercises on how to incorporate research into university level coursework.

Supporting multilingual learners requires incorporating more inclusive practices into your courses to ensure an equitable, diverse, and democratic learning environment. We recommend that you incorporate an “asset-based” approach versus a “deficient-based” approach. “Asset-based” approaches focus on the positive attributes that multilingual students bring to the learning environment, whereas “deficient-based” approaches focus on how multilingual learners fall-short of assimilating into Western, white, and standard English expectations and benchmarks. Deficient attitudes towards multilingual learners’ capabilities create a “fixed” mentality regarding multilingual students’ learning development. This can discourage multilingual learners, and it perpetuates racist and xenophobic stereotypes that increase racial, cultural, and linguistic discrimination, which can lead to poor academic and mental health outcomes in this student population.  

Below are different practices to incorporate into your course to embrace asset-based and diversity centric approaches.  

Provide students with opportunities to share their language, culture, experiences, and knowledge.

Providing multilingual learners opportunities to contribute their differing cultural, linguistic, experiential, or academic perspectives will create a classroom environment that values and sees difference as an essential aspect of the learning process. This aids in evaluating and deconstructing Western cultural hegemony that dominates Western education. This also provides opportunities for multilingual learners to share their different World Englishes, English dialects with rich diversity that developed because of English being used as a lingua franca. We encourage you to negotiate language variation and change rather than seek to change it. This practice will also emphasize a mentality of “difference-as-resource” to your monolingual native-English speaking students. This mentality can also help them to gain different perspectives that will help them to better understand different languages, cultures, and the course subject from a variety of views.

Embrace translingualism and translanguaging in your classroom

Translingualism is the process of recognizing that language is not monolithic and that it is an ever-emerging outcome of practices and negotiation of diverse linguistic resources. Translanguaging is the process of using all of one’s linguistic, cognitive, and cultural repertoires to understand and make meaning from information and to communicate effectively.  

Creating opportunities for multilingual learners to use all of their linguistic repertoires to understand and apply the course material can create a welcoming environment and emphasize the value that their various repertoires bring to the classroom. This includes permitting native-English speakers with non-dominant dialects to use their dialects and backgrounds to contribute as well.  

Some ways to do this include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Permit native speakers of the same language to discuss the material in their native language during group discussions, if applicable, some of the time. This permits students to create connections amongst their multiple repertoires.   
• Create groups with diverse linguistic practices and cultural practices sometimes as well. This enhances collaborative learning, as it brings multiple perspectives to the same course material, which can help all students to have a more complex and in-depth understanding of the course materials and their classmates.  
• Be intentional about asking multilingual students to contribute ideas and practices from their home culture or language. 
• Consider multilingual learners’ academic and professional backgrounds as a positive attribute during course discussions. Though multilingual learners may come from similar academic and professional backgrounds, academic and professional practices may differ in their home country.  
• Include a global lens in your discussion of course material.  
• Choose course materials from a wide range of authors and perspectives, especially from non-dominant cultures and cultural groups on your course subject.  

Understand multilingual learner’s language capabilities are “in progress”

Multilingual learners’ language repertoires are fluid and always changing. They are always improving and making connections between their multiple repertoires. As a result, they will continue to make mistakes in their assigned coursework and in course discussions. Provide feedback that encourages further growth and normalizes and destigmatizes making mistakes. Additionally, embracing multilingual mistakes communicates the importance of growth in the learning process for all students.

Create High-Structured Courses

High-structured courses are courses structured to provide multiple opportunities for applying knowledge and concepts learned in courses, practice assignments, low-stakes assessments, and formative feedback. This provides a learning environment that embraces difference and mistakes and normalizes making mistakes as an essential part of the learning process. It also allows for all students, especially multilingual students, to receive more scaffolded formative feedback to continue to improve in the skills needed to be successful on summative assessments.  

Evaluate unnecessary standardization and embrace decolonial strategies

It is important as educators for us to engage in self-reflection on how our standardization practices in the United States are shaped and developed through a hegemonic white, Western-centric, standardized English lens. Though standards can often provide common practices for ease of communication and understanding of course material, because they are developed through this lens, they also perpetuate racist, xenophobic, and deficient-based stereotypes of non-dominant languages and cultures, which can lead to discrimination of multilingual student populations.  

The act of decolonization is the act of recognizing and unlearning the legacy of colonization and its impact on non-White, non-European people, most especially Black, brown, and indigenous people. Embracing decolonizing practices creates a more welcoming, diverse environment in your classroom that reduces harm that could be caused by potential discriminatory practices due to Eurocentric White standard English hegemony.  

Below is a list of reflection questions to help you evaluate your course and materials: 

• Do any aspects of my course (how the course is structured, chosen materials, delivery of material, etc.) uphold standards that negatively impact those from different linguistic and/or cultural backgrounds? 
• Which aspect of my course standards are actually essential for the students to meet the course objectives, and which course standards are in place simply to maintain expected standards?  
• Which course objectives actually promote growth in my students’ learning in this field, and which course objectives uphold potentially harmful standards and/or ideologies around learning?  
• How do my course materials and standards invite multicultural and multicultural perspectives? If they do not, how can I evaluate and alter them to allow for more multicultural and multicultural perspectives? 
• How can I insert decolonial strategies into my course materials and expectations? For example:  
  • Do I engage in practices that allow students to be a source of knowledge in my course, just as much as the materials and lectures in my course?  
  • Do I choose materials that reflect a variety of diverse perspectives? Do I incorporate material from authors whose backgrounds are non-white, non-Eurocentric, non-American? You do not need to eliminate all materials that are white, European, or American centric, however, including a wider range of diverse voices creates a more inclusive learning environment. 
• Do you expect native-English level grammatical or linguistic production of my multilingual students in both speaking and writing? For further questions about how to address grammatical and linguistic errors, see the “Supporting Multilingual Writers” section.

Sources

For further learning and reflection, there are many wonderful resources available to learn more about incorporating decolonizing and inclusive practices into your course syllabi, course materials, and lesson planning.  

• Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom by Kelly A. Hogan and Viji Sathy 
• Linguistic Justice on Campus: Pedagogy and Advocacy for Multilingual Students edited by Brooke R. Schreiber, Eunjeong Lee, Jennifer t. Johnson, and Norah Fahim 
• Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
•  Garcia, Ofelia, and Li Wei. Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism, and Education. Palgrave Macmillian, 2014.
• “Decolonizing Your Syllabus” Faculty Center for Ignatian Pedagogy. https://www.luc.edu/fcip/pedagogyofjustice/pedagogyofjusticeresources/decolonizingyoursyllabus/#:~:text=Overall%2C%20it%20means%20shifting%20your,of%20Color%20(BIPOC)%20people%20are  
• Ahadi, Hossna Sadat, and Luis A. Guerrero. “Decolonizing Your Syllabus, an Anti-Racist Guide for Your College.” Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. https://www.asccc.org/content/decolonizing-your-syllabus-anti-racist-guide-your-college.  

Many educators might think that the best way to support multilingual writers is to teach them the linguistic and academic skills to perfectly assimilate into the expectations and standards of western academic expectations and standard English. However, this upholds “deficient based” approaches and perpetuates systems that can lead to linguistic, cultural, and race discrimination. To combat this, there are many strategies you can use to support your multilingual learners that will create a more inclusive environment. 

Do not be focused on “correct grammar” or “correct English”

Language learning is a process, and multilingual students will continue to make mistakes, even after being admitted to academic study. To support multilingual students, do not be overly focused on correcting students’ grammar. The focus should instead be on the success of students’ ability to understand the material, to apply the material, and to make meaning. We generally recommend that you should only focus on correcting grammar or language usage if the grammatical or linguistic errors impede understanding.  

To better identify which errors you should aim to correct, you can differentiate between “global errors” and “local errors.”  

• “Global errors” are those that impede the meaning. This includes word usage, verb tense or form, and the sentence structure. Perhaps the student is using a word that has a similar meaning but is used in a slightly different context, which creates confusion. This is an error that you should focus on correcting.  
• “Local errors” are those that do not impede meaning, such as article usage, singular/plural distinctions, subject-verb agreement, etc. We recommend that you do not focus on these errors, as it can overwhelm multilingual learners and slow down their progress in understanding and applying the information they are learning in the course. 

If you believe that multilingual learners need additional assistance, you can direct students to the UWM Writing Center. The English Language Academy staff train the Writing Center staff to work with multilingual learners.  

Review characteristics and expectations for specific writing styles and genres

Writing styles and genres can vary from culture to culture. So, it is essential to review the characteristics and expectations of the writing styles and genres that you expect your students to produce in your course.

Many multilingual students at UWM are required to take our English for Academic Purposes courses in which they learn these academic writing skills. However, this is not required of all international students, and it is not required for multilingual domestic students, such as US residents or heritage speakers. Regardless of the situation of your multilingual students, it is best practice to always provide opportunities for repetition and review.  For example, if there is a specific format or writing style you expect your students to use for their lab reports, be intentional about reviewing the requirements for this genre.

Provide writing examples and review these in class

Reading through writing samples in class permits multilingual learners to better understand how to write certain genres and what is expected from their writing. We recommend requiring pre-reading of these samples either during or before class, and breaking down the samples to help students understand rhetorical analysis of the genre, such as purpose, audience, thesis statements, research components, formatting, etc. 

It’s also important to provide multilingual learners with multiple opportunities to practice in and outside of the classroom and to provide them with formative feedback before being formally assessed in a summative assessment.  

Encourage Active Reading Practices

Better readers become better writers. Encouraging and providing support for reading strategies in your course will increase multilingual students’ comprehension of the material and help them to improve as writers.

Active reading strategies include but are not limited to:

• Providing pre-reading reflection questions 
• Providing skimming and scanning activities in class as a pre-reading activity. This activity can help students to identify characteristics of a specific genre.
• Providing a vocabulary list for students and/or requiring students to keep a vocabulary journal for noting down any new vocabulary that they come across in their course readings 
• Breaking down the reading into smaller sections and requiring students to produce short summaries either through writing or verbally in class, as individuals or in assigned work groups 
• Requiring students to write summaries on select course readings 
• Requiring students to complete post-reading questions to be discussed in class 
• Asking students to write their own post-reading questions to be shared and discussed in class.  

Provide limited formative feedback

Multilingual learners can become easily overwhelmed if your formative feedback addresses all of the issues in their writing at once. Instead, we recommend choosing focus areas for each instance of formative feedback. Choose only 2 – 3 areas for improvement in each instance of feedback. For example, you could focus on the students’ ability to format the writing as the genre requires and their vocabulary usage.

Require multiple drafts

Requiring multiple drafts will provide multilingual students with multiple opportunities to continue to improve their writing and to implement your formative feedback. We also highly recommend that students conduct peer review and self-proof reading for some of their drafts. This provides them with varied feedback and also an opportunity for self-reflection on their own writing. This will help them to improve their English-language writing skills and will improve their academic writing skills overall.

Sources

• Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom by Kelly A. Hogan and Viji Sathy 
• Linguistic Justice on Campus: Pedagogy and Advocacy for Multilingual Students edited by Brooke R. Schreiber, Eunjeong Lee, Jennifer t. Johnson, and Norah Fahim 
• Purdue Writing Lab. “Working with Multilingual Student Writers: Faculty Guide.” https://owl.purdue.edu/writinglab/faculty/documents/Writing_Lab_ESL_Faculty_Guide_2017.pdf 

There is much information available on incorporating trauma-informed pedagogy and practices into your courses that will benefit all students. However, multilingual students might need additional care and understanding as they come from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.  

First, it is essential to understand how mental health and trauma viewpoints differ in other cultures, as this impacts multilingual learners’ openness to seek out help or their needs when it comes to mental health and trauma. Read through some of these differences below. Please note that this list is not exhaustive and is only a general overview. 

• In some other cultures, trauma might present as somatic symptoms, symptoms that have a physical presentation, such as illness, fatigue, achy or sore muscles, etc. So, students might think they are physically ill as opposed to experiencing mental illness. This might make it less likely for them to seek out help for mental health challenges.  
• In some cultures, there is still a lot of stigma surrounding mental health challenges. This might even present through understandings of mental health that center spiritual or religious explanations, many of which could be perceived as negative.  This might create a sense of shame for some students experiencing mental health challenges, and they are less likely to seek out help.  
• There are lower levels of mental health literacy and mental health literacy often varies from the United States perspective amongst non-Western populations.  
• In some cultures, most notably Asian and Latine cultures, the individual views themselves through their role and contribution to the collective, most especially their family. Experiencing mental health challenges might create shame around the individual’s ability to perform well in school or work because they might also experience it as failure. This failure can create shame because it is not just a reflection on the individual level but also on a collective level, as a representation of their family. This might keep students from these cultures from seeking help because they might not want to admit or to be perceived as failing.  

It is always important to provide all students, including multilingual students, with information on resources available to them, including mental health resources, such as the Counseling Services on campus. However, it is also important to incorporate trauma-informed practices that incorporate the nuance of the needs of multilingual learners. We recommend following the framework below for incorporating such practices.  

Safety (Physical & Emotional)

Creating an environment that centers both the physical and emotional safety of students will permit multilingual learners to feel welcome, which leads to increase growth in the learning environment.

Practical Strategies for Implementation:

• Create frequent opportunities for students to fail at low risk.
• Give encouraging feedback
• Ensure predictable structure of class time & lessons
• Embed social emotional learning skills in the content of the course
• Flexible attendance policies (when & where you can)
• Be a safe emotional space for students. Be a listening ear, but do not act as students’ therapist. Refer students to the appropriate resources. With multilingual learners, it’s important to normalize seeking professional help and emphasizing its confidentiality. Multilingual learners are more likely to seek out help from a trusted individual first. This can often be a professor that shows themself to be a safe person.
• Normalize seeking out professional help and eliminate the stigma of mental health in a culturally sensitive manner
• Speak out against social injustice & systemic oppression
• Avoid triggering topics in class content/discussions
• Incorporate fun, humor, and play into the content & lessons
• Do your best to manage your own emotions

Clarity

Centering clarity in all your communications with your multilingual students will eliminate any confusion and create clear expectations for them. This will eliminate ambiguity and create more trust between you and your students.

Practical strategies for implementation:

• Repetition
• Increased scaffolding
• Transparency
• Provide information to important services for students on your Canvas sites & help students build awareness of them 
• Go through assignment/assessments descriptions together as a class & ensure that students fully understand what is expected of them 
• Set clear boundaries for students surrounding your availability, your capacities, and your expertise
• Provide brain breaks for students

Community

Community is essential to combatting trauma-induced symptoms and challenges for all students. However, this is even more important for multilingual students, whose feelings of isolation from homesickness, culture shock, and potential racial, linguistic, and cultural discrimination can increase trauma symptoms and mental health challenges.

Practical strategies for implementation:

• Create more opportunities for students to collaborate with each other on assignments and tasks
• Get to know your students on a personal level (within reason and still maintaining appropriate student-instructor boundaries)
• Share information about your personal lives and experiences with students (within reason and still maintaining appropriate student-instructor boundaries)
• Create community guidelines with the students for the classroom

Agency

Providing multiple opportunities for students to have agency over their own learning and coursework will increase trust between you and your multilingual students. Those who have experienced traumatic events often present post-traumatic symptoms due to a feeling of loss of control over their circumstances. This can increase for multilingual students who are experiencing difficulty due to feeling a lack of control in a new cultural environment and/or because they might come from backgrounds in which they experience political, cultural, or religious persecution.

• Give students high structured assignments
• Give students structured and limited choices on coursework and coursework deadlines, providing scaffolded assignments.
• Set clear expectations that show that students are trustworthy

Identity (Cultural and Linguistic)

Trauma can result in symptoms of a disrupted or fractured sense of self. One way for those who experience post-traumatic symptoms to manage and/or to heal symptoms is to embrace their different identities and to feel that their identity is welcomed and embraced. It is essential to create a learning environment in which students cultural and linguistic backgrounds are accepted and embraced.

• Give multilingual students the opportunity to share their expertise with their peers when it comes to content
• Create opportunities for students to share their cultural background frequently
• Incorporate global, multicultural, and/or multilingual components to assignments, when able and where applicable
• Highlight how everyone must learn a different dialect or language throughout their lifetime, whether is multilingual learners learning English or native-English speakers learning a new dialect.
• Incorporate translanguaging into your classroom, if and where you are able.
• Use materials that use/uplift non-native speakers of English and/or non-European/non-Western perspectives and that emphasize their professional and academic expertise and successes

Sources

• Hill, Lindsey. “Fully Human: Mental Health Support for the Multilingual Learner in the Classroom & Beyond.” English Language Academy, 5 April 2023, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI. Professional Development Workshop.
• Wilson, Victoria. “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Trauma-informed English Language Teaching to Adults.” The Paris Conference on Education 2022, Official Conference Proceedings, Paris, France 2022, https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2758-0962.2022.19
• Wilson, Victoria. Nothing about us without us: An investigation into trauma-informed teaching of English to speakers of other languages in south-east Queensland. 2023. The University of Queensland, PhD dissertation. https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:87822a6
• Ofelia, Garcia, and Li Wei. Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism, and Education. Palgrave Macmillian, 2014.