The Learning in a Language Other than Mother Tongue Document (International Baccalaureate 2008:6) states, “A threshold level of proficiency in cognitive academic language is essential for the learner participation and engagement that is necessary for subsequent success in an IB programme.” Ways to develop this proficiency seemed to be a question of many during a Primary Years Programme (PYP) workshop that the researcher attended. The issue of how to teach the PYP to children who did not speak English or the language of instruction was a common problem identified by many. Based on this issue a research investigation with the aim of raising teacher awareness of the strategies and techniques that could be used to support the language development of young learners was conducted.