Thursday, August 13, 2026
Science

New research explores how home languages can strengthen early English reading instruction

During a reading lesson, Mateo, an elementary multilingual learner (MLL) in a Delaware public school, read "sit" as "seat." Jon Kittle, his reading interventionist, walked him through the short vowel sound, but Mateo made the same "mistake" and grew frustrated. Kittle began to wonder if these "error...

New research explores how home languages can strengthen early English reading instruction
Image: Phys.org
During a reading lesson, Mateo, an elementary multilingual learner (MLL) in a Delaware public school, read "sit" as "seat." Jon Kittle, his reading interventionist, walked him through the short vowel sound, but Mateo made the same "mistake" and grew frustrated. Kittle began to wonder if these "errors" were actually the result of Mateo applying what he knew from Spanish, where the letter "i" carries the sound of the English long "ē."

Originally published at Phys.org

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