Dyslexia is something beyond a language. It's something that our students bring with themselves, and we need to give them all the tools and resources in order to help them overcome those symptoms.
This is Susan Lambert, and welcome to Science of Reading: The Podcast, from Amplify, where the Science of Reading lives. This is the third episode in our miniseries exploring how the Science of Reading serves multilingual and English learners. Last time, we delved into the science of language acquisition with Dr. Jim Cummins. This time, we're honing in on the subject of dyslexia.
My guest is Dr. Francisco "Paco" Usero-González. He's an assistant professor in the bilingual education program at Sam Houston State University. He also gave a fascinating TED Talk titled, "Bilingual Learners, Dyslexia, and Inclusive Education." On this episode, Dr. Paco discusses why it's so important to study dyslexia among multilingual and English learners. And he offers some evidence-based advice for educators. Let's listen in.
I am so excited, Paco, to have you on today's episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast. Thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you so much, Susan, for having me.
And it's OK if I call you Paco, right ?
Of course, please. Because if you call me Francisco, maybe you're going to tell me off or something like that. I'm in trouble.
Well, before we get started, I would love if you could share your story with us, and maybe a little backstory, too. And then your interest in dyslexia and multilingual learners, which is really the topic of the episode today.
Awesome. Well, I mean, all these started with my childhood, when I was very, very young. I was not even three years old . I had a major kidney surgery, which unexpectedly impacted all my child development, and more specifically , my language development. So this led to a very significant stutter. You know , in Spanish, tartamudeo.
And at the time, of course, back then in the early '80s, there were not many professionals who can support you in person or v irtually with t hese type of things. So my m om, she tried her best. Helping me sometimes, very patiently, w ith repeating words. But the l ack of specialized resources ... a l ot of navigating these challenges on our o wn, basically.
So this period of my life, this is not only affecting my language, but other areas of my life. Specifically the social-emotional development. And creating a lot of challenges. For example, I have not very good memories of my kindergarten years, because, a s I couldn't articulate w ords or answers very quickly or clearly, I often was isolated from my peers. Sitting alone.
It of course, impacted my way of creating a nd forming relationship with others. Indeed, I became withdrawn, choosing only to interact with my close family members, especially my cousins—primos—and siblings—mis hermanas. And t his isolation during such a formative period of my life created all these challenges. But at the same time, later in my life, it was kind of illuminating.
I t's always thinking o f that silver lining, you know?
Yeah. Can I ask you a quick question before you go on? Where did you grow up? This was your first language, Spanish, right?
Ah, yes. Thank you for that. Yes. I am originally from a small rural town near Sevilla, in Spain that is called Tocina-Los Rosales. So I'm going to take advantage of this time to say, "¡Hola!" But back there, there were not too many resources and professionalized people that could really help families. And now, of course, now it's different. And that's why, coming here, I try to help all these students and families.
Because when I go back to that period, I don't think only of myself, but my parents as well, because they didn't know. So they did their best, based on their instincts and intuition, and maybe talking to some other people. And assisted. And , you know, back then it was not like, "Oh , we need to take Paco to the doctor," or something like that.
They thought that some speech delay or something like that, it was maybe part of "something wrong with me." I mean, quotation marks there, you know ?
Yeah. .
But of course, I mean , eventually, there was nothing wrong. It's like how surgery in a young child, for example, can impact the life of a child. And then it is like a domino effect. Like, everything was like falling apart as well. Not only the health area, but the language development, social-emotional development, and , of course, the way that I was developing my intra- and interpersonal relationships with people.
Because people, they were looking at me with a weird face, because I couldn't articulate clearly words. And of course, I mean, me looking at people looking back at me, like, "What's going on here?" So I was like, "OK, I better be quiet. I don't want to say anything else ." But I was a child.
It's so interesting, because language is such an important part of who we are and how we develop. Not just for schooling purposes, but for our overall well-being in life. So I thank you so much for sharing that story. I think it's a good way to ground us and help our listeners understand the importance of language. I'm curious: You grew up in Spain, but you're here now in the United States doing work.
How did that happen?
I mean , I love traveling. The first time that I traveled in my life, it was in 2000. I was doing part of my studies in linguistics and literature, in English language and culture. So I went to Dublin, Ireland. And from that moment on, I was bitten by the travel bug. And I always wanted to travel. So in 2015, I was recruited as one of the bilingual teachers to come here to Texas, to Houston ISD.
And that's why I came here. I came as a bilingual teacher. A nd then after my program a nd visa ended, I started my Ph.D. A t the University of Houston. And then I 'm working as an assistant professor. That's why I'm right now here, in this amazing country, and trying to help many people, especially the Hispanic population, who are going through very similar experiences that I went through in my life.
Yeah. And you have a really powerful YouTube video that talks a little bit about your experiences, but particularly dyslexia and multilingual learners. Why is this such an important topic?
Well, I mean, because ... talking about the video , I wanted to talk about the rationale of this, based on my experience, and based on not only my particular and unique experience as a child with this developmental delay on language and social-emotional development. I realized that when I was working as a teacher with other children, I realized that we human beings are more complex than we think.
And we cannot simply compartmentalize our challenges and concerns into isolated categories. We are complex entities, individuals, like I said in my TED Talk video, with our multifaceted characteristics that influence us holistically, you know? So that's why I wanted to share the experience of one of my students, Maria.
Much like me, she loved reading. She had the passion for the magic of books, and the thirsting of knowledge. She had, too, a cherished book, passed down from her grandmother. But for Maria, each page was an adventure. It was a battlefield — una batalla. I'm going to tell you why. Because the words, they seemed to play tricks on her, like dancing and jumbling as to a song that she couldn't hear.
And there is another layer to this challenge. That cherished book of hers, it was in English. Not the language of the first lullabies sung to her. So imagine how Maria was facing this reading .
Of course, I mean, there is not only one Maria. There are too many Marias. But I wanted to use this character in my video to share all the challenges and obstacles that our bilingual students with dyslexia face in a monolingual setting, or learning a new language.
Mastering one language with dyslexia is really tough. Imagine adding a second language learning, with its unique sounds and rules.
This is not only about the neurodiversity concerns of dyslexia, for example, or other learning disabilities, but is the addition of learning a second language that includes not only learning the grammar , or learning new expressions, it's the whole thing. It's a tapestry of language or culture or at the same time of navigating how to express yourself with other people and learning at the same time.
So that's why I wanted to share this experience with the audience. And that's why I'm doing, as well, all my research, all my speeches with all the participants, professionals , in conferences, and so on. Because we know that this is a reality here in the United States. I mean, we must adapt to the changing demographics.
And, we know that each year, more students come into our classrooms from multilingual backgrounds — not only Spanish — and they bring with them their unique learning needs , characteristics. And we educators and professionals in education, we need to understand that the model of one -size-fits-all, that type of approach, cannot address all the unique learnings of our students.
So that's why I wanted to add this type of awareness of diversity and inclusion. Recognizing this , we need to shift our perspective and our way of thinking of how we are approaching our students' learning experience. Because it's more complex than we first think. There are too many factors playing here, like language, culture, and cognitive abilities.
And that's why now, in my role as a professor at the university, I emphasize not only the importance of neurodiversity awareness — I mean, I want to see the way that diversity has a broad perspective that includes many different factors, including culture.
Because many times , we talk about language, we talk about the way that our students learn ... but all these cultural components make a difference in our student learning. So that's why I always target the professional development from three main perspectives. Of course there are many others, but the three main skills are the metacognitive, metalinguistic, and metacultural. And why?
Because they need to understand the way that our students learn, and we need to make the learning experience the best for our students and teachers. They can model this awareness to their students as well, helping them become more effective learners. Then, the metalinguistic component of this is because we know that we have more and more students who speak other languages.
So, we need to help our students navigate their learning of different languages, and giving them the tools and resources to overcome all these linguistic gaps and barriers.
And then, like I said before, culture — the multicultural component of this professional development is too much needed, because it involves recognizing and responding to the less obvious cultural influences that affect student learning, such as communication styles, approaches to conflict, and values that influence classroom behavior and interactions.
Because , for example, one thing — like, what happened to me when I was a child, I was silent when I was asked a question, but it wasn't because I didn't know the answer. It was because I needed extra time, not just to process the information, but just to prepare myself to express myself. You know? And in this case, with second-language students , there is a silent period, that they need this extra time as well.
Because they're processing information in a different language, and they need to prepare themselves, and imagine all the stress and anxiety. And , like I said , my poor children! They are like, "No, OK, take your time. Talk to your partner and try to find other ways that you can make your voice heard. And take your time."
And , as a cultural component, many times there are some Hispanic populations where children are not seen as respectful when they are looking at adults in their eyes, or something like this . Many people, they can misunderstand that as, "they don't want to interact in conversation," or things like that, you know? So that's why it's very important to target these cultural values as well .
Yes. So you talked about three really big things there, and I just wanna repeat them to make sure that, that I got them right. So you talked about metacognition — the cognitive aspect of paying attention to our learners—the linguistic aspect of it, and the cultural aspect of it. Did I get those three things right?
Yes, you are right. Yes.
It's really interesting, because when we think about multilingual learners, there is a range. And when we talk about dyslexia, we talk about a range too. And so we've spent a little bit of time on this podcast talking about, like, when you have a learner that's dyslexic, that learner isn't exactly like the next learner that's dyslexic. Right? There's a range there.
And again, with multilingual learners and second-language acquisition, there's a range. What do we know so far about that intersection, then, between language acquisition and dyslexia? You must have learned a lot about that, or have some ideas about that.
Yes. This is a very, very interesting question. And this is one of the questions that most of the professionals ask me. So, something that we need to take into account when we are dealing with students who are learning a second language and have dyslexia: We need to create a protocol to do observations and the analysis of their behaviors and responses.
You know, we need to explore the challenges that we have in the process of acquiring a second language. And of course, in the patterns that they are repeated with the dyslexic symptoms. So , there are many authors — not too many, but there are some of them, like Byrd and Sparks.
They studied , in order to gain a little bit of a deeper understanding of the unique obstacles faced by a student with dyslexia and while learning a second language. And after reading this , this resonates with what I learned through all my studies with early-childhood education , language acquisition and development theories — where the student , they go through a process of learning a language.
It's like, for example, when we are learning our own first language ... you know , we are not born and we can deliver a speech, you know, right away! It's a whole process. And during the process, there are many mistakes in pronunciation, in syntax, in morphology. In too many areas.
So, this is a point with second-language acquisition: There are some particulars that belong to the different components of linguistics, like phonological , morphology, syntax, and some others. And then we have some particular behaviors that belong to dyslexia, that there is stemming from dyslexia, that they're impacting. Especially the coding and decoding process of the language.
Because according to the DSM-5, dyslexia is a neurobiological condition that impacts the skills of coding and decoding, like phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, in the way that, for example, a student can blend sounds or play with sounds. But at the same time it's going to affect skills like spelling, and of course reading.
But beyond that, there are other issues going on with dyslexia that we are going to talk about a little bit more , later. That there are many studies, especially in other countries , like in central Europe, where there is multilingualism; there are many people from many different countries on their border interacting and going to school together.
So there, in that region, there are different type of studies , looking at the diverse linguistic environment and the impact on bilingualism and on cognitive development and dyslexia as well . So if we read all these studies there, we are going to see how these patterns are repeated in different languages, you know, regardless of the type of language.
And, of course, this type of neurobiological condition, dyslexia, is going to affect other cognitive skills like, p aying attention or doing executive learning. So talking about professionals, w e need to p romote collaboration.
Because we need to talk to the different teachers that the student has, in order to see if it i s indeed a second-language acquisition issue, or it belongs to the patterns, the symptoms that a student with dyslexia might have. I want to make something clear here: Not all the students with dyslexia are going to have the same symptoms. This is something that I want to say here.
Because many times, people are, "Oh, but, but only changing the ... and the ... is a s ymptom o f dyslexia," you know? I mean, yes and no. That's why I really appreciate your question here. Because, for example, as part of early writing, many times my pre-K students — when I was working in the dual-language pre-K classroom — m y students, many times, instead of writing " d uck," they, they wrote "buck," you know?
But they knew the concept. They knew that it was the animal. And then, a different t ime, with a different type of opportunity, they could correct themself. Using the "d," or writing the "d," instead of a "b." You know? And this is an example of what a second-language acquisition issue is.
With t he dyslexia, they students, they're going always to see the "b" and "d" displaced, you know, or a different way that they only can see. And this is the thing that we need to do. We need to implement consistent ways of o bservations and analysis of our s tudents' performances, and their behavior, as well, because it's very important to target t his component as well. And we cannot forget parents here.
Because, p arents, they can inform us about all t hese t ype of things. Even if they don't know or understand t he theories of second-language acquisition and learning or dyslexia, they can provide us with a lot of information about how children behave, at home. Like, if they want t o do some activities like reading, or some other a ctivity that involves a literacy development component.
And this is very important, for us to have this c ommunication with parents, and having them as our best allies, because they a re going to give us a lot of information that maybe we cannot track during our classroom time.
Yeah. That's really important. And I'm gonna go all the way back: You said so much in that segment. So much! But I wanna go all the way back, because I think a really important point is what you said at the onset. When I was a baby, and I'm in my home and not yet talking, I'm taking in the language of the caregivers that are talking around me.
And I develop and have to practice that language when I started to talk, right? So anybody that has a grandchild or a child that's young and going through this, they make lots of mistakes, even in their oral language, right? That's how you learn. Second-language learners, multilingual learners, same thing: When you're immersed in a new language, it takes time to develop that language. It doesn't happen quickly, right?
Language develops really slowly. And so it's really easy, then — I think this might be right — but it seems like it might be really easy to assume that a second-language or a multilingual learner is experiencing or has symptoms of dyslexia, when it might just be the language-development process. Is that right?
Yeah , it is right.
But it's also a danger. Because if we're not identifying the issue of dyslexia in our multilingual learners early on, we're also putting them at very much at a disadvantage. And so, what are some of the ways that we actually — with our second-language learners or multilingual learners — what are those things we should be looking for as signs or symptoms of dyslexia that we might need to pay attention to?
Well , this is a really good question, because this is targeting more like the linguistic characteristics of the language. Because we know that Spanish and English, they're very similar. We are using the same alphabet. But there are certain rules, and the linguistic transparency, that don't work in the same way.
For example, when I was explaining to the audience during my TED Talk about this issue, this transparency generally makes reading Spanish less challenging for learners compared to English. Because usually , one letter corresponds to one sound. So if we a re going to check the dyslexia, language acquisition, and development in Spanish, we are going to be able to see this clearly, or at least more clearly than in English.
Because we know that English is less consistent, let's say, with English spelling and pronunciation.
One letter, many sounds; many letters, many sounds.
Yes. I mean, even if we start with the first letter in English , I mean, the way that we pronounce it is "A" [long A sound] you know, compared to "ah" [short A sound] in Spanish. "Ah" in Spanish is going to be, always, regardless of the position in a word or the consonants around it, it is always going to be "ah." Like aranja, ama, or casa.
On the other side , we have English, that depending on the situation in the word, and , considering the consonants around it, or the way that the word ends, we have many different ways to say "ah." Like, for example, "apple cake" or "car" or "wash," and these are only three examples that showcase the different pronunciations!
And if we go to the other different sounds or consonants , or even vowels, we are going to see this complexity, you know? So that's why when we are evaluating, doing a diagnosis of bilingual dyslexia with a student whose first language is Spanish, it's much easier to identify those issues in Spanish than in English. But not because of anything else, but because of the transparency component of the language.
Right.
And this variability and inconsistency in the pronunciation in English, even for the monolingual students, they make everything more challenging. Not only for the second-language students, but for the monolingual as well. I mean, this is not an issue that is only particular for bilingual students. It's because of the characteristics of the language.
And that's why one of the things that I'm doing with this is that , if we have a student who shows the symptoms of dyslexia, we need to start focusing on their first language. You know? And this is kind of my collaboration with the University of California, San Francisco, with the Multitudes Lab, is to create these type of activities.
They're going to help us understand better the literacy behaviors of Spanish-speaking students and how to give different types of tools to teachers and even families in order to identify these type of things. And once we know that the student is not going through only second-language issues or challenges , we need to look for these potential symptoms of dyslexia. And , in the early stages, of course. I mean, it takes time.
We cannot detect dyslexia right away. Unless of course there are cases ... because as I said before, not all the students show the same symptoms or have the same level of dyslexia. So once we have that , we can start working with our students with the tailored intervention, with the appropriate linguistically and culturally responsive strategies, in order to help our students.
And then once we are working with this, we can start seeing those symptoms and issues in English. Especially for those students who are dual-language learners, who are immersed in English and Spanish programs at the same time.
So in this case, the English teacher and the Spanish teacher can collaborate mutually in order to share their notes and insights and everything that they have in order to make sure that they're going to make everything possible to support the students and to give them the opportunities to succeed, regardless of the language.
It probably sounds like a crazy question, but are the symptoms of dyslexia for Spanish the same as the symptoms of dyslexia for English? So do the symptoms manifest themselves similarly?
Well, that's a really good question. And that's why we need to research more on this. Because, there are not too many studies in the way that these bilingual students behave. There are several of them.
And what we can see is that, for example, a student who has some issues with identification, coding and decoding of isolated letters — let's use the same one that I used before: "b" and "d"; "b" and "d," graphically, is representing the same in English and in Spanish. So if one student is going to decode this letter in English and Spanish, they're going to show the same challenges, you know ?
So that's why it is very important to track the behaviors of these students in English and in Spanish. But what's happening? We know that in Spanish, we have acentos, you know? When we have a strong syllable, depending on the rule, we are marked with an apostrophe or a sign that might impact the way that the students can code this type of grapheme.
On the other side, we know that the way that consonants are written, meaning that in English, the consonants, like for example, "p" and "h," they come together sometimes like with , " philosophy." In Spanish, we don't have that type of combination of "ph."
So we need to know more about the behaviors of how other consonants, they make or not help the coding and decoding of this type of a formula and configuration of different types of consonants in a word or a syllable. So that's why we need to continue researching more on these issues, symptoms, and characteristics of coding and decoding their behavior.
You know, we've had other conversations with other guests on the podcast about the importance of a student's first language or home language. To really go back to that first language, to sort of unpack what's happening and what's going on. An assessment, whether it's formal or informal, in that language, is super important. And that makes sense why, even talking about it in the context of dyslexia.
Because you mentioned, you go back to that language first and see if there's decoding and coding issues in that first language first, before you sort of look at it at another language.
Early detection and intervention are so critical. And that's why I was insisting too much on your former questions of having a consistent way of tracking our students' outcomes , behaviors, responses, and everything.
And sharing those with the other teachers, because they are going to really help us to create an official report or foundation in order to report this student or recommend this student for dyslexia screening, you know? And that's why these professionals, these teachers, and , especially, administrators, they need to be equipped by these skills to support the students.
First of all, like you said, is having the idea that they need to detect, first, based on observations. Then , in order to create these official forms of recommendation, to help our students with dyslexia. And of course, we need to inform families. Families, they're going to be the best advocate that a student or a child with dyslexia might have.
Because they are going to be the ones, that knowing the tools and knowing how to navigate the system, they are going to look for these type of resources, materials, and solutions, and support. And there are too many different — even the school district, they can offer these type of help — but the teachers, they need to inform parents how to ask for this type of help, you know?
We are here talking too easy about how to track all these responses, but we know that teachers , they have too many things to do. Of course, they're going to say, "Oh , Professor Paco is telling us to do something else." I mean, it is not to do something else. It is just to have a way to really track these types of things, in order to help students with dyslexia.
And having parents as your allies, because they are going to really, really help teachers and other professionals at the schools and in the school communities in order to accelerate the process of their children with dyslexia, to find a solution and resources.
Yeah. I think all our listeners are going to shout out to Professor Paco right now to say, "Yeah, we're talking about this like it's really easy to do, but we really realize that—"
It's not.
"—It's very complex and complicated." And, you know, we've talked a lot about English to Spanish right now, but thinking about different languages ... so dyslexia must impact students — this may sound simplistic, and I'm gonna, see if how y ou agree with this — does dyslexia impact students differently based on the transparency of the language? So, we know Spanish is much more transparent. English is not transparent at all.
And there's all kinds o f languages sort of in between those places. Is it fair to say that dyslexia manifests differently across language? Or is it not true? Is it just that dyslexia is a challenge no matter what language you're talking about?
Well, I mean, first of all, dyslexia is a neurobiological condition. It is part of the person. And that's why I said before that it's something that belongs to the person, and the person is going to be the one showing certain specific symptoms.
So, we know, because there are too many studies since the mid-19th century, especially in the late 20th century , dyslexia was one of the most targeted learning disabilities at the school level. Because teachers all around the world started to see that there were issues with their students . And of course, it is related to the progress and advances in neuroscience.
We started to know more about how our brains work, and then we know about the reading brain. Usually we read on paper and on some other platforms as well. And we know that this is happening in all languages. Because yes, it is true that, that the interventions, they're going to help our students in an easier or more complex way, depending on these linguistic characteristics of the language.
But because, for example, like we said before, the pronunciation ... for example, in English, depending on the position, it's going to be different, you know? So for a bilingual student, there is an extra challenge. This is not only the coding and decoding, but internalizing these types of phonetics rules as well. OK?
But no, from first-language acquisition and learning, I mean, these complexities are there, regardless of the language. And we need to know that reading and writing is a relatively new activity to human beings. You know? Our brain is ready for communication, especially oral communication — listening and speaking. But all the writing language skills, literacy, is relatively more recent.
So that's why our brain needs to use different types of areas and parts in order to connect each other. And that's why dyslexia is happening: There are some issues in these connections and identification, or the codification of the grapheme. So, eventually, it doesn't matter the language. And that's why we need to understand this. That's why, Susan, it's very important that the dyslexia is something beyond a language.
It is something that our students bring with themself, and we need to give them all the tools and resources in order to help them overcome those symptoms.
Yeah. That is super helpful. Thank you for that. And it sounds like you're very passionate about talking about this. And so, thank you for that . But , you've talked a little bit about your current research. What prompted you to get really curious about what you're doing now? Maybe you can just explain that research again to our listeners?
Well , everything started when I was here as a bilingual teacher. First of all, I realized all the misconceptions of these bilingual pre-K students , coming from other diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, with misdiagnoses on speech impairment when my students only have an accent. You know? And it wasn't really a speech issue or anything like that.
It was, like we were talking about before, a second-language acquisition and learning issue more than a neurobiological or developmental issue. And then, part of my studies , when I was doing my Ph.D. at the University of Houston, I was working for ACES Institute, and I was part of recruiting and the professional development of tutors.
And many of them, they reported that they were helping bilingual students with dyslexia at the schools. And , I was like, "Well, what are the resources that they give to you?" And they couldn't answer. They have to make it by themself. And they try their best in order to help these type of students with English and Spanish. So , that called my attention, and it was going to be part of my dissertation study.
But eventually, at that point , I was too much advanced on my topic. I already had all the interviews done, collected, < S usan laughs> al l the information and everything. Of course, I couldn't do anything, any more research on dyslexia.
Because of that, my professors in th e b ilingual program at University of Houston, they invited me to be part of the reviewers of some of the articles talking about d y slexia and emergent bilinguals, especially with th e S panish-speaking st udents. And wh ile r eading all these ar ticles, I realized that there are not too many resources. There are few of them, but there are not too many resources th ere.
Even studies — we need more. There are only few of them, fo cusing on t argeting th ese t ype of populations. And that's why I was like, OK, I need to do more and to know more. And, be cause, of course, my background is in linguistic education and bilingual education. When I say education, I have different degrees in different areas, you know?
I'm not going to bore people with all my u san laughs> u niversity degrees.
Congratulations < Susan laughs > .
Thank you. But no, because, like you said before, I'm really passionate with what I like, and that's why I want to know more. And now, as part of the research that I'm focusing on, is in some areas that they share — dyslexia and second-language acquisition learning — that is, for example, translanguaging.
Translanguaging is going to be very helpful in the way that we are going to help our bilingual students with dyslexia, in the way they are going to navigate languages, supporting one language to another. And potentially, this is going to be very helpful in the coding and decoding process for reading skills.
And can you define translanguaging for us? Because it's a term that's used a lot, and I'm not sure we always understand what it is. So do you have a good definition or example to help us understand that?
Yes. Translanguaging is that competence of skills in linguistic that a bilingual person or a person who knows more than two languages has internally, in the way that, for example, when we are processing information, we are navigating in communication, in interactions, all our linguistic repertoire is happening at the same time. So , for example, now, my own example, OK? I am talking to you in English.
But many times, my syntax structure, the words, and many other things, they're coming in Spanish first. And I do, like, for example, sometimes, doing a quick translation into English. And so , in this case, my brain, in language is not working in isolated compartments. They are all in one. And that's why translanguaging is very important for these particular intervention components.
And, of course, I'm familiar with all the studies and papers by Dr. Ofelia García. She's the one who coined the term translanguaging. And, for example, when I am working with my students, informing them in bilingual education, I'm using these translanguaging strategies.
Like for example, the "preview, view, and review," helping them doing cross-linguistic connections that can support bilingual learners in managing this second-language learning and acquisition.
And of course, when I'm putting all my linguistic background together with the bilingual education component and my knowledge of special needs, special education, and I'm like, "OK, we need to have something here that is going to help our students with dyslexia, you know?" And part of this is with my friend and colleague , Dr. Corinna Cole . We have started like a handbook on bilingual dyslexia in the United States.
And one of the things that we are including is about the translanguaging ... but only a short session, because, of course, we need to research more on this area.
That's really exciting. And I think we'll probably have you come back on when you get further along in your research and you have more understanding and more curiosity, so we can see how this whole thing is unfolding. I just wonder if you think back to the three- or four-year-old in Spain, did you ever have any idea that one day you would be looking at multiple languages and dyslexia?
No. No. My answer is no. But this has been like a journey. And it's funny how life put me in different types of stages in order to learn. Like I told you, all my experiences in the classroom at all levels, in different countries —because I didn't only teach in Spain. I have experience in France and the United Kingdom as well.
I was working there, in Liverpool, and then here , in the United States, and all these different types of settings and populations enriched, indirectly, the way that I was helping and knowing my students.
And the component of culture, because each region, and even in the same country — like, for example, my home country, Spain — there is a huge component in the level of socio-economical status of parents, that they determine, many times, the way that they are involved in schools. And that was my research here in the United States, as well.
Because we know the importance of the roles of parents and parenting in the children's academic outcomes and performance and success. That's why ... back when I was a child, my parents, they didn't know. I mean, something that I'm going to share with you is that my mom , she lost her mom when she was 15. She was a child. So imagine what she knew about raising a child or something like that.
The good thing about her is she's an avid reader. I always, always saw her — not now, because now her eyes doesn't allow her to read as much as she could — but before, when I was a child, she always had a book with herself. She always had books. Of all different types of topics, fictions, nonfictions. And I think that that's why I learn, about that curiosity, you know? About knowing how to make other people better.
That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Well, we will link our listeners in the show notes for sure to the TED Talk. But I wonder if you have any final thoughts for our listeners?
Well, I mean , the only thing that I want to share with them is that human beings, we are very complex. I mean, I said that before and I say it now: If we have one challenge, one issue, it's not only targeting one area of our life. Because those areas, they are like all over us. So we need to really understand all the different factors that impact a human being.
And I was reading some papers on that, about the importance of quantitative and qualitative research. And this is so much related to what this is. Because we talk about diagnosis and assessment, and many times we are too much focused on numbers that we forget the history behind the numbers.
And that's why I encourage teachers to really understand the child as a whole, and all the participants in their life, because this is going to be a great source and resource of information and knowledge on how to help our students. And parents, please don't be afraid of asking any question to your teachers , because they are going to help you. They are there because they want the best for your children.
They want the best for your children. And I'm telling you as a former teacher. OK? < Susan laughs > So please don't be afraid of asking questions.
That's great advice.
And , and some other final thought is I'm really, really grateful and thankful for this opportunity, Susan , because , this is helping me to promote this awareness, and helping people understand better all the issues that bilingual students are bringing to themselves. And especially those ones that have some learning disability, or they belong to the umbrella of neurodiversity. Thank you. Muchas gracias.
Well, thank you so much for the work that you're doing. And like I said, we are going to check back in with you to see how that's going. But we appreciate you and your work. So thank you very much.
Thank you .
Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Dr. Francisco Usero-González, assistant professor in the bilingual education program at Sam Houston State University. We'll have a link to more including his TED Talk in the show notes. We also have something special to share with this episode. Dr. Paco stuck around to share some of his guidance for caregivers in Spanish. Here's a quick preview.
Los maestros son tus aliados. Así que por favor no dude en hablar con ellos o con cualquier otro profesional de la educación. [Teachers are your allies. So please don't hesitate to talk with them or any other education professional.]
We'll have a link to the full video in the show notes. You can also find it on Amplify's Instagram account. I'm also proud to share that I got help for that part of the recording from a very special co-host.
Paco, this is Maddie . Maddie , say, "Hi, Paco."
Hola, Paco.
Hola, Maddie. ¿Cómo estás?
Estoy bien. ¿Cómo esta usted?
Ah, bien, bien. Estoy aquí contento y feliz de hablar con tu abuela.
Next time on Science of Reading: The Podcast, we're continuing our series exploring how the Science of Reading serves multilingual and English learners. On Episode 4, I'll talk to Dr . Diane August , editor of the important report, "Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners." Dr. August will share some of the key takeaways from that, as well as her more recent work.
We found there is no indication that bilingual instruction impeded academic achievement either in the native language or in English.
That's coming up next time, right here in the podcast feed. Please join the conversation about this episode, and this miniseries, in our Facebook discussion group, Science of Reading: The Community. Science of Reading: The Podcast is brought to you by Amplify. For more information on how Amplify leverages the Science of Reading, go to Amplify.com/CKLA. Thank you so much for listening.