This digest presents eight principles drawn from theory and research on second language acquisition and culturally sensitive instruction to guide teachers who work with linguistically and culturally diverse students. Each principle is accompanied by a brief explanation and suggestions for classroom techniques and activities. They are: (1) bilingualism is an asset and should be fostered; (2) there is an ebb and flow to children's bilingualism, and it is rare for both languages to be perfectly balanced; (3) there are culturally different patterns in language use; (4) for some bilingual children, code-switching is a normal language phenomenon; (5) children come to learn languages in many different ways; (6) language is used to communicate meaning; (7) language flourishes best in a language-rich environment; and (8) children should be encouraged to experiment with language. A brief bibliography is provided. (MSE)