Describes how a kindergarten teacher uses picture book text to initiate dialog improvisations and patterned conversations, providing children who are acquiring English with meaningful, low-risk opportunities to use and learn English. (SR)

This article presents a story of Han, a Vietnamese kindergartner, during her first year at East Elementary School. A classroom environment that supports learner-generated inquiries gives her the self-confidence to inquire freely into a second language and culture. Her inquiries enable her to develop her oral and written English language as she…