Using AI to Support Multilingual Learners with Content Acquisition

Overview

Multilingual learners bring powerful assets to the classroom, but they often face challenges accessing grade-level content in their non-native language, especially when instruction moves quickly or relies heavily on complex text. Providing these students with personalized support that simultaneously builds both content knowledge and academic language skills is critical for ensuring equitable learning outcomes.

Generative AI creates new opportunities to deliver personalized support. Teachers can use AI tools to simplify or adapt complex texts, generate bilingual glossaries, provide audio translations, or create scaffolded practice activities tailored to individual students. These tools also have unique advantages: they can recognize when a student is mixing languages and still respond in the preferred language, produce the same outputs in multiple languages simultaneously, and adjust translations to match a specific age or proficiency level. These uses of AI serve as instructional bridges, helping students engage meaningfully with grade-level material while building confidence and independence in their learning.

Example from the School Teams AI Collaborative

At Lynwood High School, part of Lynwood Unified School District, teacher Jacqueline Oropeza developed a custom AI chatbot, the English Language Support Assistant (ELSA), to help multilingual learners more effectively engage with academic texts. Built using Playlab, ELSA was designed to provide students with real-time support based on their specific needs. Oropeza implemented the chatbot through a thoughtful and student-centered process:

• Identifying Student Needs: Oropeza noticed that multilingual learners often struggled with dense academic texts—not due to lack of skill, but because of language barriers such as unfamiliar vocabulary and complex syntax. These challenges limited students’ access to content and slowed their ability to work independently.

• Designing and Launching ELSA: In response, Oropeza created ELSA, a chatbot that allows students to upload class PDFs and receive AI-generated summaries, vocabulary definitions, and comprehension questions. The tool was tailored for day-to-day classroom use and built to respond directly to the challenges her students faced.

• Embedding in Daily Instruction: ELSA became a regular support in the classroom, offering students on-demand help as they worked through assignments. Instead of relying solely on teacher explanations, students used the chatbot to break down texts, clarify meaning, and deepen their understanding of content.

• Iterating for Impact: Oropeza monitored how students were using ELSA and gathered informal feedback to continuously refine the tool and support its effective use. Students reported increased confidence and independence, while teachers observed stronger engagement with academic texts.

By embedding this technology through a custom AI assistant into daily instruction, Lynwood High School created a scalable, student-centered strategy to expand content access and support academic success for multilingual learners.

Applying This Strategy in Your Context

Schools looking to support multilingual learners with content access can leverage AI to provide just-in-time, personalized support aligned to daily instruction. Educators and leaders can take the following steps to adapt this strategy:

1. Identify Key Barriers to Accessing Content: Work with multilingual learners and their teachers to understand common challenges such as academic vocabulary, complex syntax, or lack of background knowledge. Pinpoint the supports students need to fully engage with class materials.

2. Implement AI aligned to opportunities for support: Based on the barriers you’ve identified, decide what supports will be most useful (e.g., summarizing texts, clarifying vocabulary, or generating guiding questions). Then, determine how to use AI to incorporate these supports. Some ways you can do this are:
   1. Build a Chatbot: Use platforms like Playlab, MagicSchool, or ChatGPT to develop a customized tool that is aligned to real classroom materials such as assignments and vocabulary lists. When introducing it to students, model effective use and set clear expectations so they understand the tool is a partner in learning, not a shortcut. See this example from Denver Online or this example from Lynwood High School to learn more about how to customize a chatbot. When introducing it to students, model effective use and set clear expectations so they understand the tool is a partner in learning, not a shortcut.
   2. Differentiate instructional materials: Teachers can use their knowledge of students’ language abilities to create instructional materials in different languages and at the appropriate level for students, so the materials are accessible (sample prompt: “Translate the attached project description into Spanish for a fourth-grade student”).
   3. Provide real-time support: Show multilingual learners how to use generative AI as a translation tool, emphasizing that they are able to mix in different languages and the tool will detect their meaning.
3. Monitor Use and Gather Feedback: Check in regularly with students and classroom teachers to evaluate how AI is being used and whether it's meeting its intended goals. Use insights to refine both the chatbot and the instructional practices surrounding it. Some potential reflection questions could include:

   1. How has using this AI tool helped you better understand class materials?

   2. What parts of the text or assignment are still challenging, even with the tool’s support?

   3. In what ways did the tool make you feel more confident or independent in your learning?

   4. How did you decide when to use the tool and when to work without it?

   5. What are some new ways you could imagine using this tool (or another AI tool) to support your learning in the future?

When thoughtfully designed and integrated, AI-powered tools can help multilingual learners access rigorous content, develop academic language, and build confidence as independent learners. By grounding innovation in student needs and teacher insight, schools can create inclusive, empowering learning environments that support every learner’s growth.

This AI-enabled strategy was developed by a member of the School Teams AI Collaborative—a partnership between Leading Educators and The Learning Accelerator (TLA). The Collaborative was developed to bring together innovative educators from schools across the country to share ideas and discover effective ways to use AI in the classroom.