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Article In: Rethinking Multilingualism in Education: Inclusion, policy and practice for newcomers in Europe
Edited by Steven Delarue and Wendelien Vantieghem
[Nota Bene 3:1] 2026

Teaching literacy to newly arrived pupils

A comparative study between 3 European regions

 | Utrecht University
 | Oviedo University
 | Oviedo University
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
Although considerable research has examined multilingual literacy development, less is known about teachers’ knowledge and use of specific strategies for newly arrived migrant pupils. This study investigates strategies for teaching literacy to migrant pupils in linguistically diverse classrooms. A questionnaire was administered to 45 teachers in Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium who work with newly arrived pupils to assess their knowledge, attitudes, and needs regarding teaching strategies. The results reveal that although most teachers are aware of general literacy strategies, they rarely adapt them to their pupils’ language background and literacy needs. The main hindrance to teachers’ use of pupils’ home languages in literacy instruction is their limited knowledge of the languages represented in their pupils’ repertoires, together with insufficient access to materials, strategies, and resources. To improve the teaching of migrant pupils, we propose four recommendations: (1) videos explaining home language characteristics, (2) training on specific strategies, (3) new materials tailored to learners’ linguistic backgrounds and literacy levels and (4) a virtual platform for teacher collaboration.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Context
    • 2.1The project EDINA
    • 2.2Origin of pupils and reception in the school system
  • 3.Theoretical framework
    • 3.1Orthographic systems and language features
    • 3.2The dual-route model
    • 3.3Literacy and multilingualism
  • 4.Method
    • 4.1Instruments
    • 4.2Procedure
    • 4.3Participants
    • 4.4Analysis
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Knowledge and utilisation of strategies
    • 5.2Use of the home language
    • 5.3Attitudes and required resources
  • 6.Discussion and conclusion
    • 6.1Comparative analysis
    • 6.2Conclusion
    • 6.3Limitations and suggestions
  • 7.Outputs and resources
  • Author queries
  • References
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