On a family trip to Costa Rica after fifth grade, Anabeth Tomalis helped translate between local zipline guides and her parents, who did not speak Spanish. She had begun learning the language in kindergarten through Union County Public Schools’ dual language immersion program. The district partners with Participate Learning to support its dual language program.
Anabeth knew that what she was doing was important: her parents needed to understand how to zipline safely. To translate successfully, Anabeth had to listen for meaning, interpret the situation, and restate information for two audiences coming from different cultures. Those behaviors illustrate sociocultural competence, one of the three pillars of dual language education.
Students develop sociocultural competence when they learn how identity, culture, language, and experience influence communication. Through discussion, reflection, and work for a real-world audience with a reason to use the information, students learn to examine perspectives, adapt a message, and collaborate across linguistic and cultural differences.
Cultural understanding is often used as a plain-language description of this goal. In dual language education, sociocultural competence is the more precise term because it includes identity, cultural context, equity, communication, and action.
What is sociocultural competence in dual language education?
Dual language education has three central goals: bilingualism and biliteracy, high academic achievement, and sociocultural competence.
The Center for Applied Linguistics uses sociocultural competence to describe students’ ability to understand their identities, value the identities and languages of others, and recognize when school or social structures exclude particular languages, knowledge, or perspectives.
What does that look like in the classroom? For second graders at Fred L. Wilson Elementary and Jackson Park Elementary in Kannapolis City Schools, North Carolina, it looked like spending several months getting to know one another in Spanish. They introduced themselves through a Padlet exchange, wrote letters about their holiday traditions, and learned about their peers’ experiences before meeting online.
For their Detectivos del Cuerpo Humano (Human Body Detectives) unit, students dressed as doctors, nutritionists, and scientists for a live virtual exchange. They asked and answered questions in Spanish about body systems, healthy habits, and health-related careers.
Their earlier exchanges about interests and traditions gave students personal and cultural context for the live academic discussion. They were communicating with peers they had come to know, which required them to listen, respond, and adjust their explanations instead of reciting prepared Spanish.
The project gave students a meaningful reason to use Spanish: Their peers needed to understand and respond to their questions and explanations. Students practiced communication, inquiry, and collaboration while learning with people beyond their own classroom.
Earlier editions of CAL’s Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education called the third pillar “cross-cultural understanding.” The third edition uses “sociocultural competence” to extend the goal beyond cultural appreciation. Students examine identity and inequity, identify missing perspectives, and consider whether classroom materials and routines value both language communities.
Learning alongside classmates from different backgrounds provides exposure to new perspectives. Developing sociocultural competence requires more: explicit objectives, authentic sources, structured discussion, feedback, and repeated opportunities to reflect.
Implementing a dual language program comes with planning challenges. Our ebook Building a Bilingual Education Program offers valuable information to guide schools through these challenges.
How sociocultural competence supports career-ready skills
The National Association of Colleges and Employers identifies communication, critical thinking, and teamwork among its core career-readiness competencies. K–12 students begin practicing the underlying behaviors well before they enter college or the workplace.
Sociocultural competence gives dual language students opportunities to practice these skills while deciding how to communicate when people use different languages or bring different cultural assumptions to a situation.
Students adapt communication to the audience and context
When students create bilingual materials, they must decide what their audience already knows, which context to explain, and which words and tone will communicate the message clearly. The Fred L. Wilson and Jackson Park students made those choices during their live exchange, adjusting their questions and explanations in response to what their peers said.
Anabeth made those decisions while translating in Costa Rica. She listened to the guides, determined what her parents needed to know, and communicated the information in language they could understand.
Students check assumptions before reaching a conclusion
Two people can interpret the same text or event differently because they bring different histories, assumptions, and experiences to it.
Students practice perspective-based critical thinking when they compare accounts, identify missing information, and revise a conclusion after learning new context. These actions teach them to check whether the evidence in front of them is complete before making a decision.
Students collaborate across languages and cultures
Collaboration requires students to listen, ask for clarification, explain their reasoning, and work through misunderstandings. In a dual language classroom, students can practice these behaviors while agreeing on a recommendation, creating a bilingual resource, or presenting a shared response. Students use one another’s linguistic and cultural knowledge to correct translation errors, add context, and make the final product clearer for its audience.
Five instructional practices that support sociocultural competence
For district leaders, these practices can serve as look-fors when reviewing curriculum, planning professional learning, and observing dual language instruction.
1. Add a sociocultural objective to the lesson
Plan what students should understand about identity, perspective, or communication alongside the language and content objectives. Students practicing persuasive language, for example, could examine how an audience’s experiences affect which evidence will be useful or convincing.
2. Choose authentic and representative materials
Use books, media, and primary sources created by members of the community or for people who use the language. These materials provide direct access to contemporary voices instead of relying only on translated summaries or descriptions written by outsiders.
Ask students who created the material, which experiences it represents, and which perspectives may be missing.
3. Structure discussion across perspectives
Give students first-person accounts, relevant history, and the vocabulary they need before asking them to role-play or discuss a cultural issue. This preparation helps students respond to evidence rather than rely on generalizations.
After the discussion, ask which assumptions they reconsidered, what evidence influenced them, and how the additional perspective changed their response.
4. Design work for a real audience
As in the Fred L. Wilson and Jackson Park exchange, ask students to create something another person can use, such as a bilingual guide, public-service message, community presentation, or resource for younger students.
Teachers can assess whether the final product is accurate, accessible, and appropriate for its intended audience. Students can then revise their language and format using that feedback.
5. Treat family and community knowledge as an academic resource
Families can contribute oral histories, professional experiences, language knowledge, and cultural perspectives. They might participate in an interview, review a translation, advise students on a community project, or help evaluate whether a resource meets its audience’s needs.
These roles position families as contributors to learning and give students access to knowledge that may not appear in instructional materials.
How district leaders can embed and assess sociocultural competence
District and school leaders can give teachers the clarity, resources, and shared expectations they need to cultivate sociocultural competence consistently across a program.
Leaders can:
- Define what students should know and be able to demonstrate at each grade level.
- Review materials in both program languages for authentic community voices and multiple perspectives.
- Include sociocultural objectives in curriculum maps and classroom observation tools.
- Help educators examine whose voices are heard, whose language practices are affirmed, and which students receive substantive roles in group work.
- Include families from both language communities in program planning and feedback.
- Review enrollment, placement, access to materials, classroom participation, and outcomes for both language groups.
While no single assessment captures sociocultural competence, schools can define shared indicators and then review student work, reflections, discussions, classroom observations, and family feedback over time.
Possible indicators include whether students can:
- Explain how their experiences influence their perspective.
- Support an interpretation with evidence.
- Compare accounts and identify missing context.
- Adjust communication for a specific audience.
- Recognize stereotypes or incomplete narratives.
- Ask clarifying questions during a disagreement.
- Use both languages to collaborate or address a community need.
Leaders can look for these indicators in unit plans, student work, observations, and program reviews. Collecting evidence at multiple points during the year makes it possible to examine growth rather than judge students from one activity.
Union County Public Schools’ partnership with Participate Learning is one example of program-level support. The partnership includes program planning, curricular resources, and site visits that help create shared expectations and opportunities to strengthen practice across schools.
Frequently asked questions
Is sociocultural competence relevant in one-way dual language programs?
Yes. CAL identifies sociocultural competence as a goal for all dual language programs. Students in any program model can examine identity, learn from different perspectives, and practice communication across cultural contexts.
Are cultural celebrations part of sociocultural competence?
Celebrations can introduce students to traditions. A broader approach also examines contemporary experiences, historical context, identity, language variation, and whose perspectives are represented throughout the curriculum.
How does sociocultural competence support career readiness?
Students practice adapting communication for an audience, evaluating information from more than one perspective, and collaborating across linguistic and cultural differences. These behaviors align with recognized career-readiness competencies in communication, critical thinking, and teamwork.
In Costa Rica, Anabeth drew on years of Spanish study to interpret what the guides were saying and communicate it clearly to her parents. She could understand the situation, consider what each audience needed, and help people communicate. When sociocultural objectives appear in unit plans, student feedback, and program reviews, students receive repeated, observable practice in communication, critical thinking, and collaboration.
Whether you are planning a new dual language program or strengthening an existing one, the Dual Language Mastery Program provides professional learning and practical tools for educators and leaders. Its flexible pathways cover program design and implementation, instructional leadership, program evaluation, and strategies for cultivating sociocultural competence.
Participate Learning’s Dual Language Mastery Program offers tailored frameworks to support leaders and educators in building effective dual language programs. To learn more, contact us today to find out how we can support your educational goals.
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