Literacy Across Languages

What does it take to move students beyond accurate decoding toward fluent, meaningful reading? In this episode, we welcome Kelly Maxwell and Deiysi Paredes-Monjaras, co-creators of Elevating Fluency, to explore why foundational literacy skills and language comprehension must develop together. Drawing on their experiences as a struggling reader and a multilingual learner, Kelly and Deiysi discuss the importance of connecting phonics to vocabulary, using visuals without promoting guessing, and recognizing how home language knowledge shapes reading development. They also examine the difference between decoding difficulties and cross-linguistic transfer, the unique demands of Spanish literacy instruction, and how intentional instructional shifts can help multilingual learners become confident, capable readers.Kelly Maxwell and Deiysi Paredes-Monjaras are reading interventionists and co-creators of Elevating Fluency, a K–5 structured literacy supplemental program designed to connect word recognition with language comprehension. Kelly currently serves as a literacy coach and reading interventionist at a dual language elementary school. Deiysi taught first-grade Spanish in a dual language classroom for 13 years and now serves as a Spanish literacy interventionist, biliteracy coach, and dual language specialist. Together, they bring decades of practical expertise to helping students become confident, skilled readers.Key Takeaways:Fluency goes beyond decoding. Connecting phonics, vocabulary, oral language, and meaning helps students become confident, skilled readers.Home languages are literacy assets. Recognizing cross-linguistic connections helps teachers build on students' strengths and distinguish language differences from reading difficulties.Intentional instruction connects reading and language. Strategic visuals, explicit modeling, and meaningful oral language practice strengthen foundational skills and comprehension.Timestamps:(00:00) Welcome to Literacy Across Languages!(01:31) Meet Kelly Maxwell and Deiysi Paredes-Monjaras(07:41) Connecting Sounds, Print, and Language(09:34) Building Meaning into Phonics Instruction(11:51) Using Visuals Without Promoting Guessing(13:10) Looking Beyond Reading Scores(15:40) Language Differences or Decoding Difficulties?(20:19) Leveraging Home Language Connections(24:18) Designing Fluency Instruction for Spanish(29:40) Small Shifts That Strengthen Language and Literacy(31:39) Learning from Our Students(34:06) Until Next Time!Episode Resources:Explore Elevating Fluency to connect foundational literacy skills with language comprehension.Discover Elevating Fluency Español for Spanish literacy and fluency instruction.Stay Connected:Visit us at ⁠literacyacrosslanguages.com⁠, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠, or connect with ⁠⁠Mary⁠⁠ and ⁠Katherine⁠⁠ on LinkedIn.Enjoying the podcast? Follow, leave a review, and share your favorite episodes with fellow educators to keep the learning going.Keywords: reading fluency, multilingual learners, structured literacy, science of reading, science of language acquisition, language comprehension, word recognition, decoding, phonemic awareness, phonics instruction, oral language development, vocabulary development, cross-linguistic transfer, home language assets, biliteracy, Spanish literacy, dual language education, cognates, articulatory gestures, visual scaffolds, foundational literacy skills, reading intervention, language acquisition, decoding difficulties, explicit instruction, reading comprehension, Elevating Fluency, Elevating Fluency Español, asset-based instruction, multilingual literacy

How can educators distinguish expected language differences from signs of a language disorder? In this episode, Dr. Ellen Kester explores how contrastive analysis helps teachers understand the influence of students' home languages on English literacy development. She discusses predictable cross-linguistic patterns, the importance of explicit instruction grounded in students' existing linguistic knowledge, and the role of dynamic assessment in preventing inappropriate special education referrals. Throughout the conversation, Dr. Kester challenges deficit-based interpretations of multilingual learners' language use and emphasizes how an assets-based approach can strengthen literacy instruction, assessment, and educational equity.Dr. Kester founded Bilinguistics to meet the speech and language needs of children from diverse backgrounds. She provides workshops around the United States and beyond on bilingualism, assessment of bilingual students, and effective intervention practices with diverse populations. Dr. Kester has served as adjunct faculty at The University of Texas at Austin teaching courses in language development, assessment and intervention of language disorders, early childhood intervention, preschoolers with special needs, and measurement. Her research and clinical work address the important issue of differentiating bilingual children with typical development from those with language impairment, and identifying appropriate goals for intervention with bilinguals.Home languages are an asset for learning English. Teachers can build on what multilingual learners already know to support literacy development.Language differences are not always errors. Understanding how languages work helps teachers recognize expected patterns and make better instructional decisions.Assessment should focus on how students learn, not just what they know. Dynamic assessment helps educators distinguish language differences from potential disorders and identify when additional support is needed.Access the Bilinguistics World Language Library to explore cross-linguistic patterns and language comparisons.Discover Difference or Disorder through Bilinguistics to support more informed language assessment and literacy instruction.Explore Sharynne McLeod's Multilingual Children's Speech resources to learn about speech sound development across languages.Visit us at ⁠literacyacrosslanguages.com⁠, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠, or connect with ⁠⁠Mary⁠⁠ and ⁠Katherine⁠⁠ on LinkedIn.Enjoying the podcast? Follow, leave a review, and share your favorite episodes with fellow educators to keep the learning going.multilingual learners, bilingual education, contrastive analysis, cross-linguistic transfer, language difference versus disorder, English language development, literacy instruction, home language, linguistic diversity, speech-language pathology, phonological development, phonemic awareness, phonotactic constraints, language acquisition, morphology, grammatical development, language assessment, dynamic assessment, special education referrals, educational equity, assets-based instruction, culturally responsive teaching, explicit instruction, multilingual literacy, linguistic repertoire, language development, instructional decision-making, Bilinguistics, Dr. Ellen Kester, Difference or Disorder

We're revisiting our very first interview on Literacy Across Languages! In this episode, Dr. Jana Echevarría joins us to discuss effective instructional strategies for multilingual students who are learning to read. The conversation highlights the interdependence of language and literacy, the need for collaboration among educators, and the importance of building language, literacy, and knowledge in tandem.Dr. Jana Echevarría is Professor Emerita at California State University, Long Beach, where she was selected as Outstanding Professor. She is co-creator of the SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) Model and a leading researcher in effective instruction for multilingual learners. Dr. Echevarría was inducted into the California Reading Hall of Fame in 2016 and has served as an expert on English learners for the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. She is also an author on a research-aligned reading program, Emerge!, published by McGraw-Hill.Key Takeaways:Language is the engine of literacy. They develop together, not in isolation.All teachers are both language and literacy teachers. Collaboration is essential to meet students' needs.Effective literacy instruction for multilingual learners requires both code-based skills (decoding) and meaning-based skills (language comprehension) delivered with intentional scaffolds.Comprehensible input through visuals, gestures, and structured interaction accelerates both language development and meaning-making.Timestamps:(0:00) Welcome to Literacy Across Languages!(01:45) Meet Dr. Jana Echevarria(09:04) Bridging the Science of Reading and the Science of Language Acquisition(12:28) The Relationship Between Language and Literacy(22:34) Comprehensible Input(25:18) Leveraging the Home Language(28:42) Code-Based vs. Meaning-Based Instruction(38:20) Finding Common Ground(44:05) Until Next Time!Episode Resources:Visit Dr. Echevarría's website for SIOP resources.Download the SIOP Model Lesson Planning Framework Checklist.Join the Reading League's monthly EL/EB Meeting Zoom calls.Stay Connected!Visit us at ⁠literacyacrosslanguages.com⁠, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠, or connect with ⁠⁠Mary⁠⁠ and ⁠Katherine⁠⁠ on LinkedIn.Enjoying the podcast? Follow, leave a review, and share your favorite episodes with fellow educators to keep the learning going.Keywords: multilingual education, SIOP model, language literacy, comprehensible input, cross-linguistic resources, effective teaching strategies, science of reading, teacher collaboration, literacy instruction, bilingual education

Dr. Sarah Cioffi joins Mary and Katherine to explore what it takes to make multilingual literacy a shared responsibility across an entire school rather than the work of the ENL teacher alone. The conversation examines teacher preparation, collaboration, MTSS, culturally and linguistically responsive Tier 1 instruction, and the importance of distinguishing language acquisition from reading difficulties. It also highlights oracy as a foundation for literacy and calls on educators to design rigorous instruction that anticipates multilingual learners from the beginning while recognizing multilingualism as an asset.Dr. Sarah Cioffi is a veteran educator, researcher, and multilingual literacy consultant with 36 years in education, including 16 years in leadership positions at Scotia Glenville, Bethlehem, and Shenendehowa School Districts in upstate New York. She retired as the K–12 administrator for ENL at Shenendehowa and currently teaches in the MAT programs at Bard College and Siena University. She serves on the New York State ELL Leadership Council and the New York State Seal of Biliteracy Task Force, founded and formerly directed the Capital Region ENL Roundtable, and consults with districts and educational organizations across New York State. Her research focuses on the roles, responsibilities, and needs of content area teachers of multilingual learners.Key TakeawaysSupporting multilingual learners is a schoolwide responsibility. ENL teachers bring specialized expertise, but every educator needs the knowledge to support language and literacy development.MTSS decisions for multilingual learners should account for language development. Educators need multiple sources of data to distinguish language acquisition from other learning needs.ELD is not an intervention. Language development begins in Tier 1 and continues alongside instruction and intervention throughout Tiers 2 and 3.Timestamps(00:00) Welcome to Literacy Across Languages!(01:28) Meet Dr. Sarah Cioffi(09:09) The Districts That are Getting it Right for Multilingual Literacy(11:43) The Unique Role and Expertise of the ELD Specialist(14:51) MTSS for Multilingual Students(18:27) Determining Whether Multilingual Students Require Intervention(22:09) Designing Instruction for Multilingual Success(27:30) Is ELD Support Just Good Teaching?(33:04) Features of Schools That Center Multilingual Learning(40:46) Expanding Our Knowledge Base as Educators(42:18) The Courage of Multilingual Students(45:24) Until Next Time!Episode ResourcesVisit SBC Instructional Consulting to learn more about Dr. Sarah Cioffi’s work supporting multilingual learners and educators.Stay ConnectedVisit us at ⁠literacyacrosslanguages.com⁠, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠, or connect with ⁠⁠Mary⁠⁠ and ⁠Katherine⁠⁠ on LinkedIn.Enjoying the podcast? Follow, leave a review, and share your favorite episodes with fellow educators to keep the learning going.Keywordsmultilingual learners, multilingual literacy, English language learners, ENL instruction, literacy instruction, language development, second language acquisition, MTSS, Tier 1 instruction, reading intervention, special education, reading difficulties, teacher preparation, professional learning, instructional collaboration, co-planning, school-wide capacity, asset-based instruction, multilingualism, Universal Design for Learning, equitable literacy, science of reading, instructional scaffolds, oracy, academic language, content objectives, language objectives, culturally responsive instruction, student identity, literacy access, educator leadership

Dr. Marisa Ramirez Stukey joins Mary and Katherine to explore reading comprehension as an outcome of multiple systems working together rather than a single skill. Their conversation examines how educators can look beneath apparent comprehension difficulties, use students’ home languages and knowledge as resources, and support meaning making across the word, sentence, and discourse levels while keeping language, identity, and cultural context at the center.Dr. Marisa Ramirez Stukey is the Chief Academic Officer for The Reading League and Content Editor for The Reading League Press, where she leads academic strategy and professional learning initiatives and oversees the development of content aligned with the science of reading. She brings more than 20 years of experience as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, higher education instructor, and national consultant, with work centered on literacy, professional learning, and systems change. She is the coauthor of Professional Learning Redesigned: An Evidence-Based Guide and holds a PhD in curriculum and instruction and a master’s degree in reading education from the University of Florida.Key Takeaways:Comprehension is an outcome, not a single skill. It depends on word reading, language, knowledge, strategy use, and motivation working together.English proficiency does not define what multilingual learners know or understand. Look beyond what students can demonstrate in English to uncover their full knowledge and abilities.Look beneath a comprehension struggle to identify what needs support. Accurate decoding does not guarantee understanding, so consider language, knowledge, and cultural context before determining next steps.(00:00) Welcome to Literacy Across Languages!(01:31) Meet Dr. Marisa Ramirez Stukey(06:36) Bridges Between Structured Literacy and Multilingual Education(09:53) Comprehension as an Outcome of Instruction(13:56) Digging Deeper into Comprehension Difficulties(18:24) Reading Comprehension at the Word Level(24:08) Reading Comprehension at the Sentence Level(28:44) Reading Comprehension at the Text Level(31:07) Reading Comprehension Supported by Writing(33:30) The Language We’re Loved In(35:19) Until Next Time!Read Julie A. Van Dyke’s article on language science and syntax in The Reading League Journal.Dig into sentence-level instruction with Syntax: Knowledge to Practice by Margie Gillis and Nancy Chapel Eberhardt.Listen to our conversation with Dr. Antonio Fierro to learn more about amplifying language for multilingual learners.Visit us at ⁠literacyacrosslanguages.com⁠, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠, or connect with ⁠⁠Mary⁠⁠ and ⁠Katherine⁠⁠ on LinkedIn.Enjoying the podcast? Follow, leave a review, and share your favorite episodes with fellow educators to keep the learning going.reading comprehension, multilingual learners, multilingual literacy, science of reading, science of language acquisition, language comprehension, word reading, decoding, background knowledge, linguistic knowledge, home language, cross-linguistic transfer, cross-linguistic awareness, vocabulary development, academic language, cognates, morphology, syntax, sentence comprehension, discourse, text comprehension, cultural context, meaning making, comprehension assessment, oral language, reading and writing, oral rehearsal, student identity, evidence-based literacy instruction, language development