The C6 Biliteracy Framework for Language Learning Programs

The C6 Biliteracy Framework for dual language programs was created in order to facilitate the curriculum and lesson planning process for teachers serving in dual language programs. It was designed with the following three goals in mind for students (Dual Language Schools, 2019): 

1. Bilingualism and biliteracy 

2. Grade-level academic achievement in both program languages 

3. Sociocultural competence

The C6 Framework provides an alternative to traditional pedagogies that approach lesson planning and design classroom resources through a monolingual lens (Medina, 2021). The C6 framework, by contrast, puts bilingualism at the center of the learning process, and it does so with a strong emphasis on equity and social justice. Says Dr. José L. Medina, the developer of the C6 Biliteracy Instructional Framework, in a video by Dual Language Schools, “Our goal as dual language educators is to ensure that our kids understand that they have to dismantle the systems of oppression that continuously have marginalized black, indigenous students of color. The C6 biliteracy framework in essence is the equity and social justice piece of lesson planning in the dual language classroom” (Dual Language Schools, 2019). Furthermore, he writes elsewhere that “...language learners, children with specific academic and/or emotional needs, and students belonging to the LGBTQ+ community have not been served well in a schooling system that is centered on Whiteness, heteronormative ideologies, and aligned with privilege resulting from English monolingualism” (Medina, 2022).

In the following sections of this post, I will describe further the components of the C6 Framework and how it addresses the promotion of sociocultural competence as a goal for students. I will also explore how this framework might be used in various teaching contexts, including my own context of a science classroom within a German-English bilingual school in Berlin, Germany. 

Sociocultural competence in the C6 Framework

As I expand on the various components of the Framework – specifically the six “Cs” – it will be clear that sociocultural competence is expressly interwoven into nearly every aspect. 

The first “C” in the lesson planning framework is Create, which refers to teachers, in the lesson planning process, “designing authentic learning experiences that bring together content, language, and culture” in the specified learning targets for that lesson or lesson sequence (Medina, 2021). This means creating learning targets that are not only focused on the content standards in our subject areas, but ones which also specify or take into consideration the language proficiencies of our students, guaranteeing that language learners also have equal access to the content standards. Additionally, teachers must also provide context around the content and languages used in the lesson while seeking to call attention to/amplify marginalized voices, connect the content and language to the real world, create translanguaging opportunities, and focus equally on social as well as academic language (Medina, 2022). 

The second “C” is Connecting the learning experiences to students' lives and linguistic repertoires (Medina, 2021). Where this aspect of the framework connects to sociocultural competencies is in the imperative of teachers to acknowledge that our students come to our classrooms with a full linguistic and cultural identity regardless of their specific proficiencies in English language alone (Medina, 2022). In this sense, it is the teachers who also must exercise sociocultural competencies that include the diverse identities of their students. 

The third “C” is Collaborate, referring to the inclusion of students as facilitators of instruction rather than simply receivers of it (Medina, 2021). By placing students rather than teachers more often at the center of and leading the learning process, we can “move away from a monocultural, monolingual, heteronormative, and patriarchal way of living and breathing in the classroom” (Medina, 2022). 

The fourth “C” is Communicate, which calls on teachers to both model oral and written language for students while also providing opportunity for student-to-student communication in both program languages (Medina, 2021). With this aspect, Medina (2022) calls attention to the 4+1 language domains and emphasizes the importance of the metalinguistic connections that can be made between two or more languages. 

The fifth “C” is Consider, which calls on teachers to take into account students’ varied instructional needs as an opportunity to promote reflection and self-assessment (Medina, 2021). The framework recommends the use of diverse, authentic biliteracy assessments, helping students to understand for themselves the ways in which they like to learn, and allowing students to advocate for themselves when lessons do not align with their learning styles. Teachers should also seek to plan assessments that are not English-only in focus but which tend to be more culturally sustaining (Medina, 2022). Here again, the emphasis seems to be on sociocultural competence and inclusion practices on the part of the teacher as well as the students.

Finally, the sixth “C” is Commit, which refers to “creating a learning environment that is focused on continuous improvement and service to others” (Medina, 2021). Here again, this aspect of the framework explicitly brings up sociocultural competence as something that teachers must commit to themselves, model for students, and embed within the culture of the classroom (Dual Language Schools, 2020). 

Applying the Language Framework in the Classroom

Medina (2021) clarifies that the C6 Framework may be used in dual-language, bilingual, and monolingual classrooms alike because of the additive nature of the framework. This means that, even though the framework is specifically designed with bilingualism at the center, it can be adopted in a variety of language contexts. The school where I work in Berlin is a bilingual German-English school; however, up until now it has been common practice and even encouraged that teachers make an effort to speak one language with the students in the classroom, and try to have students do the same depending on the language of instruction for that particular subject. Science is one department in which all classes in grades 6-10 are taught in English only (by contrast, certain social studies and humanities classes are taught only in German). Although this practice at my school would seem to go against what is recommended by the C6 Framework, I have compiled a list below of some specific ideas for applying the Framework in my science classes. 

The following list comprises a number of specific ideas I have for applying the C6 Framework in my classroom 

• Resource selection that includes multiple languages and a diversity of racial, cultural and national backgrounds. Too often, the resources used in my classroom are English-only and tend to include work by or reference to white men from Western backgrounds. Ortiz (2021) calls attention to the fact that so many online resources now – in the form of blogs, videos, news articles – showcase the work of historical and contemporary people of color, women, LBGTQ+, and people with disabilities. Inclusion of these resources and others in languages besides English should serve to increase the representation of historically marginalized identities in science.

• Inclusion of language and cultural learning targets in lesson objectives. Eschevarria (2021) recommends including language objectives in every lesson, which should include both what I want students to learn (content) as well as the language needed to accomplish those objectives and the specific domain they will be using (listen, read, speak, write). In addition, cultural learning targets could include objectives which as students to highlight or appreciate differences between two different cultural practices or understandings of a science concept, as well as objectives that ask students to make links between the content of the lesson and their own identities (Medina, 2023).

• Acknowledgement and amplification of indigenous knowledge and practices that are now backed by Western scientific community, as well as ways in which indigenous knowledge is sometimes used in the scientific method (Sidik, 2022).

• Differentiation of learning inputs and products, with inclusion of social language. I could give students the option of reading, watching, or discussing an area of content in a language of their choice. I feel it is a strong expectation of my school that summative assessments be conducted in English, so I would have to carefully balance the use of non-English language in the classroom with the need to prepare students for assessments in English. However, I believe I have some freedom to allow for formative assessments and learning products in a student’s home language. Additionally, I like the recommendation by the C6 framework to include social language equally with academic language, and I could imagine students preparing a video or song in which they summarize their learning in a more social or colloquial way. 

• Flexible student groupings by language. The Collaborate aspect of the framework  puts a high premium on student choice and interaction (Medina, 2022). I would like to provide students with more explicit freedom to group themselves according to the language they would like to use to either first engage with content, discuss content, or collaborate on a final product. The choice aspect is key here, though, as I would like to avoid students feeling like I expect them to work with classmates who share their home language; such a thing could easily veer into the microaggression territory were I to convey that I somehow see all students who share a language as “the same” or naturally belonging together. Careful communication that this is a choice they have, which they can exercise as and when they wish to for their own learning, is important here.

References 

Dual Language Schools. (2019). C6 Biliteracy Framework. YouTube. Retrieved July 16, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2byBgax4JFw 

Dual Language Schools. (2020). C6 Biliteracy Framework - Commit. YouTube. Retrieved July 16, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohtSConsD88

Echevarria, J. (2021). Writing Effective Language Objectives. YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved July 1, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOs-5pGcvLA

Medina, J. L. (2021, May 19). C6 Biliteracy FrameworkTM. Resources for Dual Language Schools, Parents, and Teachers. https://duallanguageschools.org/column/c6-biliteracy-framework/ 

Medina, J. (2022, March 30). The C6 Biliteracy Framework: Lesson Planning through a critical consciousness lens. Ellevation. https://ellevationeducation.com/blog/biliteracy-framework-lesson-planning 

Medina, J. (2023, March 22). Content, Language, and Culture Learning Targets. Language Magazine. https://www.languagemagazine.com/2023/03/22/content-language-and-culture-learning-targets/  

Ortiz, D. I. (2021, December 1). Teaching outside the textbook: Integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion into the science classroom using real-world experiences - AAAS: IUSE. AAAS. https://aaas-iuse.org/teaching-outside-the-textbook-integrating-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-into-the-science-classroom-using-real-world-experiences/  

Sidik, S. M. (2022, January 11). Weaving indigenous knowledge into the scientific method. Nature News. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00029-2