News Releases

UWI Equips Educators to Support Bilingual Learners in T&T Classrooms

For Release Upon Receipt - October 14, 2026

St. Augustine


 ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago – October 14, 2026 – The Faculty of Humanities and Education at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), St. Augustine Campus, is empowering educators across Trinidad and Tobago with practical tools and strategies to support children who are learning in more than one language. The national professional development initiative equips teachers with approaches they can apply directly in their classrooms to better meet the diverse linguistic needs of their students.

The Centre for Language Learning (CLL) and Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics (DMLL) at The UWI partnered with the Ministry of Education, UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Area Office, The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) and the Caribbean Kids and Families Therapy Organisation (CKFTO) to deliver professional development supporting emergent bilingual learners in the school system.

Co-funded by the European Union (EU) and UNICEF and led by the Ministry of Education under its Intervention Programme for Emergent Bilingual Learners in the School System, the initiative brought together expertise in language learning, teacher education and child development to help educators respond to increasingly linguistically diverse classrooms.

Seven webinar sessions held between May and June 2026 recorded a combined 386 educator attendances, reaching ECCE, primary, secondary and special education teachers.

Rather than focusing solely on language teachers, the programme demonstrated how educators can support bilingual learners while teaching subjects across the curriculum, including Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and English Language Arts (ELA).

Central to the training was translanguaging, an approach that enables multilingual learners to draw on their full linguistic repertoire as they understand concepts, communicate and participate in learning. Educators were also exposed to Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and approaches to identifying learning disabilities and developmental delays.

For the Centre for Language Learning, the collaboration reflects the important role universities can play in translating research and expertise in language learning into practical approaches for classrooms.

Professor Nicole Roberts, Former Director of The UWI Centre for Language Learning at the time, said:

“Linguistic diversity should be seen as a vital educational resource, not an obstacle, as it allows students to leverage their full repertoire for learning. Teachers across all subjects therefore need strategies like translanguaging and CLIL to unlock this potential. Specifically, at the CLL, we understand The UWI’s mandate to align resources to provide solutions to challenges, thus we have sought to consistently extend our language expertise into the national education system. By bridging academic research and classroom practice, we empower educators across Trinidad and Tobago to transform linguistic diversity into a powerful tool for inclusion.”

The webinar series was deliberately designed around the realities teachers encounter at different levels of the education system. Sessions explored translanguaging in Social Studies for Infants 1 and 2 and Standard 1, daily activities for ECCE learners, English Language Arts at primary and secondary levels, Mathematics for Standards 2 and 3, and strategies specifically for special education teachers.

The final webinar on June 9 moved further into practical application, demonstrating how the approaches could work in actual subject teaching. Educators observed demonstrations of a Science lesson for Infant 2 students, Mathematics for Standard 3 students and an ELA writing lesson for Standard 4 students. The session attracted 148 educators, the largest attendance of the series.

The UWI's contribution brought together academics, educators and postgraduate researchers, including Dr Sandra Evans, Dr Lynette Tyson-Noel, Dr Elna Carrington-Blaides, Romulo Guedez Fernandez, Noor-ud-din Mohammed and Anuradha Basdeo-Seepersad, working alongside facilitators from partner institutions and practising teachers.

That combination allowed the professional development to connect research-informed approaches with teachers' practical classroom experience.

Emergent bilingual learners are developing proficiency in more than one language while simultaneously learning subject content. This can require educators to consider not only what students are learning, but the role language plays in whether they can understand, participate and demonstrate what they know.

The professional development therefore encouraged teachers to use students' existing linguistic knowledge as part of the learning process while developing proficiency in the language of instruction.

The initiative also recognised that supporting emergent bilingual learners extends beyond language instruction. Bringing together language specialists, classroom teachers, special education expertise and child-development professionals provided educators with a broader framework for distinguishing language-development needs from possible learning disabilities or developmental delays.

The webinar series forms part of wider efforts under the Ministry of Education's Intervention Programme for Emergent Bilingual Learners in the School System to strengthen inclusive educational practice in Trinidad and Tobago.

For The UWI Centre for Language Learning and Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, the collaboration also demonstrates the wider national relevance of expertise in languages and linguistics at the St. Augustine Campus and its potential to contribute directly to challenges confronting educators and learners.

By strengthening teachers' ability to work confidently with linguistic diversity, the initiative seeks ultimately to create classrooms in which a child's language background does not become a barrier to participating, learning and succeeding.

 

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About The University of the West Indies

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has played a crucial role in Caribbean development for over 75 years, consistently contributing to the improvement of the well-being of people across the region. Established in 1948 as a university college of London in Jamaica, with just 33 medical students, UWI has grown into an internationally respected, global university with nearly 50,000 students. Today, it boasts five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda, and its Global Campus, along with international centres in partnership with universities across North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

The UWI offers over 1000 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the leading university in the Caribbean, it is home to the largest pool of intellect and expertise in the region, dedicated to addressing the critical issues facing both the Caribbean and the wider world.

Validated by its inclusion in the Times Higher Education (THE) annual rankings since 2018, The UWI has affirmed its position as one of the top universities globally. It stands out as the only English-speaking institution in the Caribbean featured in four of THE's prestigious ranking lists. The World University Rankings evaluate over 2,000 research-focused universities worldwide, while the Golden Age University Rankings highlight institutions established between 50 and 80 years ago. The Latin America Rankings focus specifically on universities within Latin America and the Caribbean. Additionally, the Impact Rankings assess universities based on their contributions to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This recognition has also spring boarded the establishment of The UWI’s International School for Development Justice (ISDJ), a global online graduate business school aimed at preparing future leaders for sustainable development.

The UWI is an SDG-engaged university consistently recognised among the best in the world. Discover more at www.uwi.edu.

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