It starts with teachers', staff members', and administrators' belief system. They need to be encouraged to see their own multilingualism and the multilingual backgrounds of their students as an advantage and a resource. If they believe that one language, or the lack of knowledge of one language, inhibits or interferes with learning, they are likely to restrict the use of other languages for communication or learning in the classroom. Of course, some teachers have this belief but still allow their students to use other languages because they see the practical benefits of doing so. Other teachers and administrators can follow this example by not setting rules of "one language only" or "one language at a time." Instead, they can encourage comparisons across languages, host events on campus that celebrate different languages, and acknowledge and respect each individual student's language capacities as a starting point to grow from.

It's easier for me to identify exclusive policies such as "speak English" or "think in English." I'm co-authoring a paper with a friend, a former student, who told me that even saying a few words in Mandarin to her helped create an inclusive space for her. For me it was symbolic: I didn't need Mandarin to communicate, but I used it to show respect. You do not have to be fluent in a student's language to treat it inclusively. You can say a few words, or let the student teach you a few words in their preferred language, and thereby show that it is a resource for teaching and learning. An inclusive space also lets students share their diverse experiences with languages and work through them in the classroom.

As the great bilingual education scholar Ofelia García said a long time ago, it's not an "either-or" situation, it's a "both-and" situation. Students and teachers in multilingual education settings should not feel they have to choose between developing English and valuing their own language. Mother tongue knowledge can support English-language development, and knowledge developed in English can ideally be shared in local languages as well. We are finding in Kazakhstan that as students develop higher proficiency in English, they rely on mother tongues less, or are better able to see which language practices transfer across languages and which do not. This speaks to the need to encourage pedagogical practices that maintain Kazakh language and values while still supporting the current generation of students in their language learning journey.

Both Caress Shenk of NU and I have written about decolonizing the curriculum. This means including scholars from diverse backgrounds, not only those based in the U.S., the UK, and Australia. It also means designing assessments that allow or encourage the use of multiple languages, not only in the process of completing an assignment but in the product itself. I recall research at NUGSE reporting on a teacher who asked students to create a website in three languages, achieving the learning goals while contributing to development across languages for a real-world purpose.