Reading Comprehension Starts with Sounds: Using Phonology to Connect Home Languages and English

Presenters:

• Presented by Antonio A. Fierro, Ed.D., Vice President of Professional Learning and Academics, 95 Percent Group
• Maya Goodall, Chief Strategy Officer, CORE Learning

Moderater:

• Kristie Shelley, Chief Product Officer, CORE Learning

Language systems are interconnected, and for Multilingual Learners, their home languages actively shape how they acquire English. Recognizing and building upon these connections is crucial to providing meaningful instruction. In this edWebinar with Dr. Antonio Fierro, we explore how phonology — the study of speech sounds — strengthens Structured Literacy by tapping into these relationships. Through cross-linguistic transfer, phonology helps students build on the strengths of their home languages, enabling them to apply those skills to their English literacy development.

Dr. Fierro’s career focus on positionality — a well-known concept in cognitive science that explains how students juggle the cognitive demands of learning multiple languages — ties all of this work together. While widely recognized in research, it hasn’t yet made its way into most classrooms. This session aims to change that. We show how positionality helps educators better recognize the connections between students’ languages and apply this understanding to Structured Literacy.

In this second session of CORE Learning’s Structured Literacy and Language Diversity Week: Fall ‘24 Series, you gain practical, evidence-based practices for using phonology and cross-linguistic transfer, along with tools to advocate for policies that fully address the needs of Multilingual Learners. Leave equipped and empowered to ensure Multilingual Learners thrive within the science of reading framework.

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