Embracing Multilingualism: A Celebration, An Asset, and a Superpower

April is National Bilingual/Multilingual Learner Advocacy Month — a special time to celebrate the incredible achievements of bilingual and multilingual learners, uplift the lifelong benefits of multilingualism, and advocate for policies that ensure all students can learn, thrive and lead.

At a time when English has been declared the national language of the U.S., SEAL continues to recognize bilingualism and biliteracy are superpowers. Multilingual learners bring valuable skills, cultural richness, and cognitive advantages to our schools and communities. Rather than limiting their potential, we must champion policies and practices that celebrate linguistic assets, ensuring students can thrive.

This month, we join educators, families, and advocates in:

✅ Celebrating the accomplishments of multilingual learners.

✅ Elevating the benefits of bilingualism.

✅ Uplifting the power of the English Learner Roadmap.

Read below for stories, research, and resources that underscore why bilingualism is a superpower, a strength, and a key to a brighter future for all.

Celebrate Accomplishments

Home Language is a Powerful Academic Asset

California is home to the nation's largest number of multilingual learners, with 131 languages spoken in its public schools. This rich linguistic diversity is not a challenge — it’s an opportunity. At SEAL, we embrace students’ home languages as powerful academic assets, fostering deeper learning and stronger connections between school, home, and community.

In this short SEAL video, step inside one of our classrooms and meet a second grader proudly sharing his original poem about the ocean — in Portuguese! With support from SEAL, his school, and his family, he is growing as a multilingual learner in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

📽 Watch a Student’s Story

Recognition Through the Seal of Biliteracy 

In 2008 SEAL partner Californians Together developed the concept of a Seal of Biliteracy and worked throughout the state to help school sites, districts and others adopt and implement the Seal. In 2012, California became the first state in the nation to award a state Seal of Biliteracy to graduating seniors with demonstrated proficiency in two or more languages. ​​Following California’s lead — today all 50 states and the District of Columbia award their own Seal of Biliteracy. 

More than just a distinction, the Seal of Biliteracy:

• Encourages students to pursue and celebrate biliteracy.
• Recognizes and validates students' multilingual skills.
• Demonstrates valuable abilities that stand out to employers and college admissions offices.

On the Seal of Biliteracy website, a story was shared about a group of high school students in Kansas City, Missouri who leveraged this award to connect with families, engage with community, earn a Poder en Salud grant, and win second place at the Foreign Language Film festival — all within two years! 

The story also shared that passing the Seal of Biliteracy tests is just the first step to earning the Missouri Seal of Biliteracy. It’s not just an assessment, it’s a celebration. In Missouri, students must demonstrate high levels of sociocultural competence as it relates to English and the LOTE to earn the Seal of Biliteracy.

🌟 Read “How a Seal of Biliteracy program engaged the family, community and won the Foreign Language Film Festival.” from the Seal of Biliteracy website.

From Multilingual Learner To Bilingual Educator

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) shared a great story about Lorena, a US-born citizen of Mexican parents who navigated distinct language expectations as a child — Spanish at home and English-only instruction at school. Eventually Lorena was placed in a bilingual classroom where both languages were accepted and appreciated. Now as a teacher, with 28 years of experience in public education, Lorena is earning a Bilingual Authorization, a testament to the power of bilingual education.

“Ultimately, increasing the number of educators with bilingual authorizations is an investment in the future of our students and our society,” Lorena shared with the CCTC. “By providing ALL students with access to high-quality bilingual education, we, as educators and advocates, are empowering them to reach their full potential and become active and engaged citizens.”

Lorena’s journey underscores a critical truth: Bilingual education is not just about language — it’s also about identity and opportunity.

📰 Read the full CTCC story. 

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The Benefits of Multilingualism

Being bilingual or multilingual is more than a skill — it’s a super power with far-reaching advantages across social, cognitive, academic, and economic domains. As workplaces, communities and global connections become increasingly diverse, the ability to communicate in more than one language has become a key asset in today’s world. Below are just a few key benefits of multilingualism, supported by leading research and policy insights. For a more comprehensive overview, see “The Benefits of Being Multilingual: How Multilingual Learning Leads to $30 Billion Economic Growth.”

Proven Success

• Multilingual students show stronger outcomes overall. Our case study found that students in SEAL classrooms demonstrated significant growth in their language, literacy, mathematics, and cognitive and social development in both English and Spanish based on various testing instruments. Additionally, third- and fourth-grade SEAL students obtained similar or higher test results on California’s English Language Development Test and its Standards Test compared to students receiving English-only instruction.

Social and Cultural Connections

• Multilingual individuals are often better equipped to build and maintain strong social ties - within families and across communities. According to The Century Foundation (TCF), children who speak a non-English language at home—and are able to fully develop their emerging bilingualism—can maintain stronger connections with their families and heritage, and have stronger cross-cultural connections that expand their social networks. 

Cognitive Advantages

• The bilingual brain is wired for adaptability. Research from the National Library of Medicine finds that the bilingual brain can have better attention and task-switching capacities than the monolingual brain, thanks to its developed ability to inhibit one language while using another.

Academic Growth

• Multilingualism isn’t just about language - it shapes how children think and learn. The U.S. Department of Education reports that because bilingual and multilingual children are able to switch between languages, they develop more flexible approaches to thinking through problems. By toggling between languages, students build advanced reasoning skills and are better prepared to tackle complex academic tasks - benefits that extend well beyond the classroom. 
• Mullingualism improves academic outcomes. Bay Area Council Economic Institute reported that children of immigrants who developed strong multilingual and biliterate skills were less likely to drop out of high school, more likely to go to college, and earned an average of $5,400 more a year compared to peers who lost their home language and speak English exclusively, closing the achievement gap

Economic Opportunity 

• In today’s job market, speaking more than one language gives candidates a powerful edge. According to the Bay Area Economy Institute, from 2010 to 2020 job postings in California requesting applicants with bilingual skills nearly quadrupled, with bilingual postings as a share of total postings increasing nearly 2%, a faster rate than the United States as a whole. Whether in healthcare, education, tech or business, employers are actively seeking professionals who can communicate across languages and cultures.
• There's proof in the data:

Multilingualism is not just an advantage—it’s an investment in our collective future. For education champions, policymakers and families, supporting multilingual learners means nurturing stronger brains, deeper cultural understanding, and a more vibrant and inclusive economy. Multilingualism benefits everyone!

Visit this blog all month long for more updates on multilingual/bilingual learner advocacy month and be sure to also follow us on YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn.