Language Educators Exchange

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Dr. Esmeralda Cartagena Collazo discusses ways to use pedagogical translation to teach reading comprehension in multilingual classrooms.  Resources:  Guide: Pedagogical Translation in Practice  

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Krishna Cart discusses how teachers can use songs and other multimodal texts to build comprehension, engagement, and critical thinking for language learners.  Resources:   1. Strategy in Steps   Step 1: Select a Song or Music Video Choose a song or MTV that fits within a poetry unit or comprehension-focused literacy lesson. Treat it the way you would treat a print...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features adult ESOL teacher Elizabeth Bergner, who shares how she uses the Color Vowel Chart to build sound awareness with multilingual learners. Resources:  Latest interactive version of the chart   https://www.colorvowel.com/interactive-chart Website to take the course and exploring further    https://www.colorvowel.com/

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Andrea Czart explains how Virtual Field Experiences (VFEs) can bring culture and history to life for heritage Spanish learners. Using a digital exploration of a mural by Diego Rivera, students practice art analysis, historical thinking, and academic writing in Spanish. Andrea's VFE Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Dr. Juan Freire discusses a strategy for culturally sustaining teaching.  Picture examples of the passport

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Min Paing Moe offers practical ways to modify listening instruction when technology, audio, and materials are limited. In specific, he shares the LTRS (listen, talk, recall, swap) strategy for listening practice in low-resource contexts. He expands on each component and provides ideas for how to modify language teaching resources to successfully incorporate listen...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Language Educators' Exchange , hosts Dr. Aniqa Shah and Dr. Sarah Albrecht welcome Dr. Mandy Stewart, professor at Texas Woman’s University and author of The Multilingual ELA Classroom (NCTE). Dr. Stewart shares the HEART approach to teaching for biliteracy—strategies that empower teachers to support multilingual learners even when they do not speak stu...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, classroom teacher and teacher educator Colleen Hill shares how she helps students develop vocabulary across all content areas through the four-square template.  Episode notes:  Four-box Strategy Steps by Colleen Hill 

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we talk with bilingual specialist Gloria Sevilla about how we can better support multilingual learners with disabilities. Gloria shares how her own journey informs her work, and we discuss practical ways to bridge bilingual and special education using tools like UDL, translanguaging, and bilingual resources that give students more voice and choice. Show notes:  Gl...

Send us Fan Mail How can you turn a small pull-out group into the most exciting part of the school day for English language learners? In this episode of the Language Educator’s Exchange , ELD specialist Eliana Belle shares how she transformed her newcomer sessions with gamified learning strategies . From buzzers to Kahoot! quizzes, Eliana walks us through her step-by-step process of bringing energ...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Eliana Belle, a passionate elementary school educator, shares strategies for intentional multiple exposures to content-area vocabulary in all four domains  Resources:  Strategies for Intentional Multiple Exposure for Content-area Vocabulary: Click here

Send us Fan Mail In this special anniversary episode of the Language Educator’s Exchange, hosts Dr. Aniqa Shah and Dr. Sarah Albrecht are joined by returning guest Dr. Jill Castek and first-time guest Dr. Kathy Harris for a reflective conversation on language, literacy, and education. Together, they revisit major themes from the past year—multimodal literacy, translanguaging, and community engagem...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we talk with Dr. Alma Montemayor-Sándigo about bilingual teacher professional identity and the influence their professional identity can have on their students' acquisition of academic identity. Ultimately, a strong professional identity can put them in the position of becoming solvers not just of situations, but of systems.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Dr. Leon speaks about language ideologies and how to address them in the classroom  Episode Resources: English Listening Lesson Library Online (ELLLO) : over 3,000 free listening lessons for beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. The lessons include audios or videos, vocabulary, grammar, and even practice quizzes. Wonderful resource to expose students to flue...

Send us Fan Mail In this conversation, we discussed multimodal language teaching, its relevance in the K-12 classroom, and how teachers can adapt despite curricular and technological limitations. 

Send us Fan Mail In this conversation, we speak with Dr. Maria Bhattacharjee about the use of digital resources to enhance the reading experience of bilingual children and their families.  Episode Resources:  Link to the bilingual e-library:  E-library Video introduction to the e-library: Video Aldine ISD student showcase: Showcase  

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Ali Yaylali talks with us about turning misconceptions about multilingual learners into asset-based teaching approaches. 

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Sarah, one of our co-hosts, takes a deep dive into using pedagogical translation for language and literacy teaching. Pedagogical translation can be used across ages, language-learning stages, and content-area contexts, so tune in to see how you might use it in your teaching environment. Episode Resources: For more information on topics discussed in this episode, p...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we talk with Dr. Jennifer Dalzell about designing and implementing effective educational programs for adult language learners. Jennifer is a dynamic educator, researcher, and school leader with over 15 years of experience in leadership roles within educational and community organizations. She has also taught extensively in community colleges and adult public chart...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we talk with Maryam Aslam, an English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher in Dubai. As an EAL and Inclusion Specialist, she focuses on linguistic acquisition and coordinates fast track EAL strategies for diverse learners. She supports students with dyslexia and additional learning needs, ensuring an inclusive environment that promotes engagement. Maryam has ex...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features Catalina Lugo, lecturer in bilingual education with the University of Houston-Downtown in Texas. She is a former classroom teacher in Mexico and the US and a bilingual dyslexia specialist. Ms. Lugo shares multiple tips to identify and help multilingual students with dyslexia and to distinguish between students dealing with language vs. dyslexia challenges. Ep...

Send us Fan Mail Join Dr. Nahal Rodieck as she talks about the importance of drawing upon students' linguistic, cultural and experiential resources when teaching language and discusses a few strategies for doing so. Dr. Rodieck has been a language educator for almost 25 years. She holds bachelors of arts and masters of arts degrees in English and a PhD in Rhetoric, Composition and the teachin...

Send us Fan Mail Join guest Dr. Jill Castek as she discusses the connection between language learning and literacy. Dr. Castek is Professor of Literacy, Technology, Bi & multilingual Learners & STEM Education in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies in the College of  Education at the University of Arizona.  She is also a part of the Second Language Acquisition an...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Language Teachers’ Exchange, the ultimate podcast for second language teaching enthusiasts and learners of all levels! We are Drs. Sarah Albrecht and Aniqa Shah, your hosts. Every two weeks, we dive into the fascinating world of language teaching and learning, offering expert insights, practical tips, and engaging stories from polyglots and language researchers and...