OTAN News

Bilingual Glossaries and Cognates

Image by Moondance from Pixabay

California schools serve a culturally rich and linguistically diverse student population. To assist with learning academic English, research shows it’s helpful to provide primary language support. While many teachers may speak additional languages other than English, most of us are not fluent in all languages spoken in our adult education programs.

To aid in a student’s understanding of academic terms, The Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools at New York University houses an amazing free website with Bilingual Glossaries and Cognates. While primarily used as an Assessment Accommodation, these glossaries cover ten languages in high school subjects including: Integrated Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2, Calculus, Chemistry, Earth Science, and Global History to name a few. Additionally, the website offers three Glossaries of Cognates in English - French, English - Haitian, and English – Spanish. These resources can easily be added to a student’s list of accessible references.