Ethnolinguistically Relevant Pedagogy: Empowering English Language Learners in Physical Education

People from diverse cultures interpret languages and gestures differently (Columna & Lieberman, 2011). It is not surprising, therefore, that communication differences may have negative implications for teachers and English language learners in K-12 physical education environments. To address this issue, we advocate preparing physical education teacher education (PETE) candidates to implement ethnolinguistically relevant pedagogy to better accommodate students with diverse linguistic backgrounds in K-12 physical education settings. Ethnolinguistically relevant pedagogy (Farr, Seloni, & Song, 2010) is a blending of intercultural language education and intercultural competence (Byram, 1997; Byram, Gribkova, & Starkey, 2002) with culturally relevant pedagogy (Gay, 2000). In this article, we discuss ethnolinguistically relevant pedagogy and strategies for implementing such pedagogy in physical education settings.