Language Educators Exchange

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In this episode, Catalina Lugo is back to share how NotebookLM helps teachers build cross-linguistic connections in minutes. Learn a simple compare-and-notice activity you can try in your classroom this week.

Companion Guide

This companion guide is designed for preservice and practicing language educators, teacher educators, and professional learning communities (PLCs). It includes listening prompts, discussion questions, critical reflection activities, and a research-to-practice challenge to help listeners connect ideas from the episode to their own teaching contexts. The guide can be used for individual reflection, teacher preparation coursework, group discussions, or professional development.

Annotated Resources

These annotated resources complement the Language Educators’ Exchange podcast episode on cross-linguistic connections. They bring together foundational research on linguistic interdependence, practical strategies for facilitating cross-linguistic transfer, and digital tools for exploring relationships between languages. Designed for preservice and practicing educators, teacher educators, and professional learning communities, the collection supports deeper understanding, critical reflection, and classroom application of approaches that build on students’ existing linguistic knowledge.

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Addison Davis talks about using ChatGPT as a revision partner for student writers as a way to give every writer in the room individualized feedback and a bit more independence, including the multilingual learners in his classes

Resources: 

ChatGPT as a revision partner (handout)

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In this episode, Dr. Aniqa Shah discusses how to use Microsoft's Immersive Reader to support reading, pronunciation, and digital literacy with adult English learners. She walks through a practical five-step strategy teachers can adapt for any level. Resources: Immersive Reader guide, Reading Coach, and more.

Resources: 

NEW: Companion Guide for use in coursework, PLDs, and professional development

Handout — This handout goes over the steps discussed in the episode 

Use Immersive Reader in Word — Start here: a step-by-step guide to turning on Immersive Reader and using each feature in your own documents. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/word/use-immersive-reader-in-word

Reading Coach (free standalone app) — Have your students practice reading aloud and get instant feedback on the words they find tricky. Works right in a browser, including on Chromebooks. https://coach.microsoft.com

An Educator's Guide to Reading Coach — A practical walkthrough for setting up Reading Coach with your class and making sense of the progress it reports. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/blog/2025/01/an-educators-guide-to-reading-coach/

Immersive Reader Overview — New to the tool? This gives you the big picture: what it does, which apps it lives in, and the research behind why it helps language learners. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/educator-center/product-guides/immersive-reader

Read with Immersive Reader — A short, plain-language intro if you'd like to try it yourself before bringing it to your students. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/learning-center/read-with-immersive-reader

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In this episode, bilingual educator Esmeralda Torres shares how translanguaging can strengthen reading comprehension in multilingual classrooms. Through practical strategies like Observation Charts and DYAD Reading, she demonstrates how teachers can leverage students' full linguistic repertoires to deepen learning and engagement.

Resources: 

Click here for the link to activity resources 

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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 

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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 printed text, keeping the focus on meaning-making.

Step 2: Before Listening/Viewing — Build Background Knowledge Activate schema and prepare students for the text. This might include introducing key vocabulary, activating prior knowledge, or prompting thinking around the song's themes. Example questions for "I Just Can't Wait to Be King": What makes a good leader? Do leaders get to do what they want?

Step 3: During Listening/Viewing — Pause and Notice Use an interactive read-aloud approach — pause the song/video and direct students' attention not only to lyrics, but also to visuals, rhythm, movement, facial expressions, and cinematography. Use quick turn-and-talk prompts. Example questions: What do you notice about the character? How do other characters respond? Does this character seem responsible?

Step 4: Deepen into Multimodal Analysis Guide students to analyze specific cinematic and musical elements and discuss what they mean. Examples include:

• Analyzing color saturation and what it symbolizes (youth, excitement, naivety)
• Examining camera angles and how they construct a character's power or emotion
• Noticing how music tempo and tone shape the mood of a scene

Step 5: After Listening/Viewing — Connect to Standards and Lesson Goals Anchor the analysis to whatever the grade-level lesson requires — character motivation, theme, leadership, etc. The focus shifts based on grade level and learning objectives.

2. Padlet designed by Krishna with several ideas

Click here

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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: 

1. Latest interactive version of the chart  https://www.colorvowel.com/interactive-chart
2. Website to take the course and exploring further  https://www.colorvowel.com/

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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

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In this episode, Dr. Juan Freire discusses a strategy for culturally sustaining teaching. 

Picture examples of the passport

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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 listening in any teaching environment.

Resources:

(1)   Practical and user-friendly digital tools for ELT teachers: https://padlet.com/minpaingmoe/elt-teacher-community-resources-fs1snhinuac000vq (feel free to add more)

(2)   Teaching in low resource contexts webinar: https://youtu.be/8nGUoMn7_ro?si=7HQWeCmK11wodnTF (In this webinar, I focused on utilizing differentiated instruction in low resource classrooms.)