E29 - Every Teacher a Language Teacher: Making Language Visible in Literacy Instruction
Dr. Antonio Fierro explores why language must be understood as the foundation of literacy for English Learners, connecting phonological awareness, word recognition, sentences, and discourse. He discusses how teachers can create language-rich classrooms, listen closely to students’ oral language, build on cross-linguistic knowledge, and pair structured literacy with multilingual education so that rigorous instruction remains accessible without treating language differences as deficits.
Antonio A. Fierro is the author of El muro de sonidos y deletreo, a Spanish sound–spelling phonetics curriculum for young children, and co-author of Kid Lips, both published by the 95 Percent Group, where he currently serves as Literacy Expert in Residence. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the Science of Reading Center at SUNY, New Paltz. Dr. Fierro spent nearly two decades as part of the national LETRS cohort of literacy consultants led by Dr. Louisa Moats. He has spearheaded initiatives to advance evidence-based instruction for English learners, shaping education policy at both state and national levels. Drawing on this experience, he is also dedicated to working with higher education institutions to strengthen educator preparation programs, emphasizing the psychology of reading and equipping future teachers to meet the needs of all learners.
Key Takeaways
Language is the common thread connecting every level of literacy. Sounds become words, words become sentences, and sentences grow into conversations, explanations, and stories.
Every classroom functions as a language laboratory. Students need opportunities to experiment with language, make hypotheses, and overgeneralize.
Oral language provides a foundation for literacy development. Reading and writing can strengthen language while growing language knowledge also supports reading and writing.
Timestamps
(00:00) Welcome to Literacy Across Languages!
(01:43) Meet Dr. Antonio A. Fierro
(11:31) The Thread of Oral Language Across Literacy Development
(18:58) Aligning Language and Literacy Instruction
(22:36) Observing Student Language to Guide Instruction
(28:49) Expanding Teacher Knowledge of Language Development
(35:07) Bringing Together Structured Literacy and Second Language Acquisition
(39:06) Maintaining Rigor for English Language Learners
(44:30) Multilingualism as an Asset, Not a Deficit
(46:08) Until Next Time!
Episode Resources
- Deepen your knowledge of language and literacy instruction with LETRS.
- Check out Dr. Fierro’s book, El muro de sonidos y deletreo, to learn more about Spanish sound-spelling instruction.
- Learn more about language development standards for multilingual learners through WIDA.
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Keywords
multilingual learners, English learners, structured literacy, language development, literacy instruction, oral language, science of reading, science of language acquisition, phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, phonics, phonology, orthography, morphology, semantics, syntax, pragmatics, oral discourse, written discourse, cross-linguistic transfer, translanguaging, linguistic assets, language-rich classrooms, teacher language knowledge, explicit instruction, academic language, language scaffolds, educator preparation, biliteracy, multilingual education