Benchmark Education

Building Biliteracy 

Implications and Applications of the Science of Reading for Biliteracy Instruction

Transfer is important in all learning, but it is especially important in language learning contexts. When learning a new language, cross-linguistic transfer is most evident and critical, as those seeking to learn a new language apply what they already know in their first language to support their pursuit of developing high levels of oral language and literacy in the new language.

Silvia Dorta-Duque de Reyes presents practical research-based strategies that address universal literacy skills common to both the English and Spanish languages as well as language specific skills unique to each language. Contrastive analysis of skills will also be addressed and include caveats for less effective practices.

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Building Biliteracy

Implications and Applications of the Science of Reading for Biliteracy Instruction

By Silvia Dorta-Duque de Reyes  

Building Biliteracy
Building Biliteracy

About

Transfer is important in all learning, but it is especially important in language learning contexts. When learning a new language, cross-linguistic transfer is most evident and critical, as those seeking to learn a new language apply what they already know in their first language to support their pursuit of developing high levels of oral language and literacy in the new language.

Silvia Dorta-Duque de Reyes presents practical research-based strategies that address universal literacy skills common to both the English and Spanish languages as well as language specific skills unique to each language. Contrastive analysis of skills will also be addressed and include caveats for less effective practices.

Silvia Dorta-Duque de Reyes

About the Author

Silvia Dorta-Duque de Reyes, currently a national biliteracy consultant and collaborating author for Benchmark Education,  served as an expert panel member for the development of the California ELD Standards and subsequently contributed as a Curriculum Framework and Evaluation Criteria Committee member for the California Department of Education. Her area of expertise is biliteracy with a focus on academic language, writing, and the organization of instruction for explicit teaching of Spanish-to-English cross-linguistic transfer. In collaboration with the California Department of Education, she coordinated the Spanish translation and linguistic augmentation of the Common Core State Standards for Language Arts and Mathematics. Most recently, Silvia was the recipient of the Bea Gonzales Leadership in Biliteracy Award for her incredible contributions over the decades to provide a lasting and powerful infrastructure of resources and professional learning for multilingual programs that have supported the county, the state and even the nation.d hypertext environments, and mindfulness.

 
 

More Resources

Meaningful Reading Assessment Professional Development Book

By Peter Afflerbach, Ph.D. and Adria F. Klein, Ph.D.

Instruction and assessment ought to be like two peas in a pod. In this practical guide, Peter Afflerbach, a foremost authority on developing effective assessments, teams up with literacy expert Adria Klein to show teachers how to become fluent in meaningful assessment routines. Highlights include:

  • Purposeful formative assessment, self-assessment, and student learning goals
  • Using tools that reveal reliable, relatable insights
  • Knowing readers as people in order to know instruction and engage
  • Designing and mining daily routines to yield data
  • Learning to analyze information, and sharing assessment results thoughtfully
 
Meaningful Reading Assessment