For decades, schools across the United States have worked hard to support multilingual learners, often relying on the same structures, goals, and definitions of success. Despite good intentions, the results have remained stubbornly consistent: too many multilingual learners continue to lag behind academically, and too few leave school fully bilingual and biliterate. The challenge isn’t effort—it’s design.
As we approach 2026, there is growing momentum to rethink that approach. Educators, district leaders, and policymakers are increasingly asking a different set of questions, not just how quickly students acquire English, but how schools can cultivate language, literacy, and long-term opportunity. This shift reflects a growing recognition that bilingualism and biliteracy are not supplemental outcomes; they are foundational assets for academic success, workforce readiness, and civic participation.
In this first part of a two-part series, I highlight five emerging trends that signal where multilingual literacy is headed, and how schools can move forward with greater clarity, coherence, and confidence.
1. Biliteracy as a Workforce Readiness Metric
One of the most significant shifts underway is the repositioning of biliteracy as a workforce readiness indicator rather than an enrichment milestone. This change is being driven not only by education leaders, but by economic realities.
Employers across healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, and public service sectors increasingly report difficulty finding bilingual talent. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has noted sustained growth in occupations requiring bilingual communication skills, particularly in regions with expanding multilingual populations. At the same time, globalization and supply-chain complexity continue to raise the value of workers who can operate across languages and cultures.
In response, we are seeing early signs of deeper alignment between K–12 systems, community colleges, workforce development agencies, and local employers. Districts are beginning to ask new questions: How do dual-language programs connect to career pathways? How do we make biliteracy visible and valued beyond graduation?
The Seal of Biliteracy is also evolving. While it remains an important high school recognition, many states are exploring earlier benchmarks, middle school acknowledgments, and even industry-aligned micro-credentials that signal bilingual readiness to employers. This represents a fundamental shift from biliteracy as an endpoint to biliteracy as a launchpad.
2. From English-Only to English-Plus Policy
Alongside workforce alignment, policy language itself is changing. For decades, federal and state accountability frameworks have focused almost exclusively on English proficiency. While English acquisition remains essential, that narrow focus has often overshadowed the value of multilingualism.
Heading into 2026, we are seeing a gradual move toward an “English-plus” framework, one that emphasizes English proficiency in addition to sustained bilingual competence. This shift reflects both research and reality. Studies consistently show that students who develop strong literacy skills in more than one language demonstrate enhanced metalinguistic awareness, stronger comprehension strategies, and long-term academic advantages.
Title III funding discussions increasingly reflect this additive approach. Districts are being asked not only how quickly students acquire English, but how well programs preserve and develop students’ home languages. Policymakers are also beginning to frame heritage languages as national assets that are critical to diplomacy, national security, healthcare access, and economic competitiveness.
This reframing matters. When policy values multilingualism, instructional decisions follow.
3. Structured Literacy, Reimagined for Multilingual Learners
The science of reading has reshaped literacy instruction nationwide, but its application for multilingual learners remains uneven. Too often, structured literacy has been implemented without sufficient attention to linguistic diversity, resulting in approaches that unintentionally marginalize multilingual students.
In the coming years, districts will move beyond generic implementations toward linguistically responsive structured literacy. This includes explicit instruction in morphology, syntax, and word structure, as well as intentional support for cross-linguistic transfer, the ways literacy skills in one language reinforce development in another.
Frameworks such as the Active View of Reading are gaining momentum precisely because they recognize the interplay between decoding, language comprehension, background knowledge, and linguistic context. For multilingual learners, literacy is not linear, it is layered.
Teacher preparation and professional learning are also evolving. More and more, literacy-focused training programs are expected to include multilingual learner modules that help educators build on students’ language assets while maintaining rigorous expectations for reading achievement.
4. AI-Powered Language Scaffolds
Artificial intelligence is no longer a future consideration; it is a present reality in literacy instruction. By 2026, AI-powered tools will play a more visible role in supporting multilingual learners, particularly in areas such as vocabulary development, oral language practice, and pronunciation.
Adaptive platforms, like Lexia English, are beginning to offer personalized scaffolds in multiple languages, allowing students to access grade-level content while receiving targeted language support. Early iterations of bilingual chatbots and AI tutors show promise in helping students practice language skills in low-stakes environments with immediate feedback.
However, these opportunities come with responsibility. Issues of data privacy, algorithmic bias, and instructional transparency remain critical concerns. Districts must approach AI thoughtfully, ensuring that technology enhances, not replaces, high-quality instructional materials and human relationships.
5. Family Engagement 2.0: Multilingual Literacy at Home
Family engagement has long been cited as essential to student success, but multilingual families are asking for something more specific: guidance on how to support literacy development at home in the language they know best.
This has given rise to what I call Family Engagement 2.0. Rather than focusing solely on translation or communication access, schools are expanding digital tools and resources that actively involve families in literacy development. Multilingual newsletters, family portals, WhatsApp-style messaging, and culturally relevant storytelling initiatives are becoming central components of engagement strategies.
Importantly, these efforts recognize translanguaging as a strength, not a deficit. Families are positioned as partners and co-educators, reinforcing literacy across languages and contexts.
In Part Two of this series, I will explore five additional trends shaping the future of multilingual literacy, including early childhood biliteracy, data equity, cultural belonging, teacher workforce sustainability, and the role of federal and philanthropic investment.
About the author
José Viana, Ed.D. is Senior Education Advisor (Multilingual Learners) at Lexia.
