I used to think teaching with comprehensible input (CI) was inherently equitable. I’d argue, “it’s the only thing we KNOW students need to acquire language”. I still think that’s true. And while CI is still the first thing I consider when planning for student language acquisition, I have reflected and learned a lot about what it means to be equitable in a world language classroom. In this post, I want to share some thoughts around equitable teaching practices in the world language classroom and how Universal Design for Learning (CAST, n.d.) could help us ensure that we give all our students what they need to be successful language learners.
As I work towards making myself more conscious of whether I am enacting equitable teaching practices, I want to keep in mind my goals for my students. If I don’t know my goals for my students, I can’t make sure that everyone has an equitable chance of achieving those goals. So, what are my goals for my students? I want them to be more confident communicators at increasingly higher proficiency. I want them to learn about themselves and the world. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I want them to show respect and empathy for the people and cultures they perceive as different.
What is Universal Design for Learning?
Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework that aims to make education accessible to the most students possible, with the idea that if we teach to the students who need the most support, everyone will benefit. There are three principles of UDL: Engagement, Representation, and Action and Expression (CAST, n.d.).
Engagement (the ‘why’ of learning)
When planning for learning, we need to consider “why” most students need to learn our content, and whether the content is engaging enough for most students. Another way to think about this principle is: Is this content relevant to the needs of my students?
Suppose I can first find a topic that is interesting to students. In that case, I can make the language of that topic comprehensible to the students in my classroom and lower the affective filter, leading to opportunities for students to engage with content that is relevant to their interest, increasing the likelihood of acquisition of language related to the topic of interest (Venditti, 2021). Lowering the affective filter? I think that’s good for everyone in the room. Although teaching with CI can do this, it is essential to remember to review the topic and any resources we use thoroughly to check for bias, misrepresentation, or stereotypes of target language speaking communities, because comprehensible language that promotes bias does not stop promoting bias because it is comprehensible.
Representation (the ‘what’ of learning)
When planning for learning, we represent the content (words, phrases, structures, or culture) in multiple ways. I have heard from Michele Kindt (personal communication, 2020–2023) that we need to offer robust exposure to content. Here, robust exposure means that rote repetition of vocabulary or structures is not enough. Students need to hear, read, and see language represented in multiple contexts to build a stronger mental representation of the target language. There are so many CI teaching strategies to introduce and offer robust exposure to language: ClipChat, TPRS, Personalized Questions and Answers (PQA), TPR, and more. A toolkit of comprehension-based activities can ensure that we represent our content in varied and meaningful ways, supporting UDL’s principle of representation.
We also need to ensure that students have robust exposure to cultural topics. I reiterate the need to assess materials that we use in class for potential bias, as curricular materials can “present sanitized versions of language and culture” (Baggett, 2020, p. 45) that do not show the breadth and beauty of the cultures we share with our students.
Action and Expression (the ‘how’ of learning)
In UDL, action and expression refer to how students express their growth (Alghamdy, 2023). This can be during formative or summative assessments, and it is essential to provide student choice in demonstrating what they can do with the new language and content they have learned. At CI conferences that offer coaching (see Neubauer & Wesely, 2023), coaches are encouraged to highlight how teachers accept student answers. Acceptable answers can be single words, nodding yes or no, whole sentences, and sometimes even responses in the first language. Permitting students to answer in a way that is comfortable to them and demonstrating that we value any language growth supports the final principle of UDL.
Implementing UDL
Now that we have an idea of how UDL fits into a comprehension-based class, I want to share some strategies that I believe we can take with us into the beginning of this school year:
- Lead with input
- Ensure that students are getting the necessary ingredient for language acquisition. Use language that you’re confident most students will understand.
- Work in collaboration with students to find relevant topics that will engage them in meaningful personal and linguistic growth
- Consider using a beginning-of-the-year survey to gauge interest in different topics and look for common themes of what students say is relevant to their lives and how they want to use language.
- Conduct an audit on your curricular materials to ensure no bias, stereotypes, or misrepresentation.
- Check out Learning for Justice’s Hidden Bias reflection tool1 to begin your reflection.
- Vary your activities and content
- Students need robust exposure not only to language but also to cultures and perspectives. Use a variety of activities to recycle vocabulary, and incorporate multiple perspectives.
- Accept and demonstrate appreciation when students give responses
- Language learners will develop at their own pace. Honor what students CAN do so that we know when we can ask more of them.
To close, I want to look at my goals for students and reflect on how UDL can help me achieve them, and hopefully help your students achieve their goals. First, I want my students to be confident communicators. By offering robust exposure, language students will develop a mental representation of language, and by enacting the UDL principle of Action and Expression, I hope to empower students to use the language that they have to participate in class communication in a way that is comfortable for them whether the response is a non-verbal cue or paragraph length discourse. Second, I want students to learn about themselves and their peers. The UDL principle of Engagement guides us in choosing relevant and engaging content. I can find out what topics interest students and select a topic that will resonate with as many students as possible. From there, however, my responsibility as the teacher is to ensure that I share multiple and respectful perspectives from other cultures through auditing my materials. This leads to my final goal: I want students to respect and have empathy for cultures that are not their own. When we aim to make our language teaching universally accessible to our students, I believe we can meet all of these goals.
Note: Right after I wrote this, I saw NNELL’s Journal Learning Languages published an article on this exact same topic! Check it out! https://nnell.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/NNELL-Journal-2025_Final-with-Klett-Ad.pdf
References
Alghamdy, R. Z. (2023). The effect of universal design for learning on the proficiency of English as a foreign language students’ acquisition of reading and vocabulary skills. Arab World English Journal, 14(2), 146–160. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol14no2.11
Baggett, H. C. (2020). Relevance, Representation, and Responsibility: Exploring World Language Teachers’ Critical Consciousness and Pedagogies. L2 Journal, 12(2). https://doi.org/10.5070/l212246037
CAST. (n.d.). Universal design for learning. CAST. https://www.cast.org/what-we-do/universal-design-for-learning/
Neubauer, D., & Wesely, P. (2023). K-12 world language teachers’ use of conferences as professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 124, 104042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104042
Venditti, E. (2021). Using comprehensible input in the Latin classroom to enhance language proficiency. The Journal of Classics Teaching, 22, 22–28. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2058631021000039
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