Language-Integrated Framework for Teaching (LIFT): A Framework Supporting Multilingual Learners Through Core Teaching Practices
WCER Working Paper No. 2025-5
Mariana Castro
October 2025, 21 pp.
ABSTRACT: As linguistic diversity within American K–12 classrooms increases, educators need tools to effectively leverage and support the assets of multilingual learners (MLs). MLs face the significant challenge of simultaneously mastering the language of instruction and learning academic content. While core teaching practices are recognized as a research-based, robust approach to fostering student engagement and critical thinking, they often lack a systematic focus on the unique linguistic and cultural needs of MLs. This oversight is compounded by current policy and structural deficiencies in teacher preparation, which frequently fail to require comprehensive training in second language acquisition and culturally responsive teaching for all educators. To address this critical gap, this paper introduces the Language-Integrated Framework for Teaching (LIFT), a theoretical structure for teacher education that embeds a language focus directly into core teaching practices. LIFT brings together the theoretical underpinnings of core teaching practices, content and language integration, and culturally and linguistic responsive pedagogies to enhance MLs’ access to rigorous, grade-level curricula and cultivate a stronger sense of belonging within the general education classroom.
keywords: multilingual learners, core teaching practices, high-leverage practices, content and language integration, culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy, assets-based pedagogies, teacher education
