A learner who is going to school in any language that is not their primary language of communication outside of school will need extra support in school in order to master the language skills that are required for long-term academic success. Although Urdu is a lingua franca in much of Pakistan, there are many Pakistani children who have limited exposure to spoken or written Urdu in their communities and fewer who speak Urdu at home with their families. These children have even less exposure to English. Although these children may quickly learn basic communication skills in Urdu and other languages, their academic development will still require explicit teaching of aspects of the target language. It is important to employ language teaching techniques throughout their schooling to support their language acquisition and ensure that they will have successful academic experiences.

Starting primary school can be an intimidating experience for young children. If the language of instruction is not what the child's family speaks at home, the experience can be terrifying. Teachers must keep in mind the difficulties that students may have in learning what is expected of them and how to follow classroom instructions, especially if the language spoken in the classroom is not familiar to them, before they begin lessons. While this is especially true for first grade students, it can take years before primary school students feel truly at ease with a language of instruction that is not what they speak at home.

Fortunately, there are many strategies that teachers can use to make the process of learning to read in a second language easier for children and to support their rapid acquisition of the language of instruction.

Second Language (L2) Teaching Strategies: