Dr. Doris Maria Luft Santos Baker was born in Brazil and migrated twice before coming to the States,

learning 4 languages and experiencing many cultures. Currently, she is the director of Master in

Bilingual education at Southern Methodist University or SMU looking into developing tools and

assessments in English and Spanish to improve and monitor the academic performance of English

learners with or without disability. As a researcher and a published author with many publications and

books, she shared many insights during our interview. Whether you are an immigrant trying to learn

English or you are raising/teaching kids in multilingual environment, you will benefit tremendously

from this episode.

The highlights are:

-Integrating into the new culture and finding a sense of belonging

-Learning English during adulthood

-Supporting multilingual kids in learning English while developing cognitive skills that enhances their

academic performance

Below you can find the book we referred during our conversation which is geared toward teachers

and educators.

https://www.amazon.com/Second-Language-Acquisition-Perspectives-Challenges/dp/1536143057