“Everybody speaks [a] dialect and not everybody's having trouble with reading…” Dr. Julie Washington explains in Season 3, Episode 1 of All For Literacy. “What we wanted to know was who is having trouble with reading and why?”

Host Dr. Liz Brooke and Washington kick off the new season of the All For Literacy podcast with a thought-provoking conversation about language variation and literacy rates. A professor in the School of Education at the University of California – Irvine, Washington shares her expertise about how dialect variation and density, code-switching, and translanguaging play into literacy assessment and success.

Learn ways to help students boost their literacy success through:

• Using the full spectrum of their language skills
• Adjusting mindset and prior expectations
• Boosting comfort levels in the classroom
• Adding dialect into the teaching

Washington and Brooke also present a fascinating look into the syntax behind the reading wars, and whether or not “the reading revolution” is a more accurate label. Listeners will better understand how initial terminology can influence a society’s approach to solving or interacting with a concept.

Tune in as Dr. Liz Brooke kicks off the latest season of All For Literacy, and walk away with an in-depth look into how dialect and language interplay with literacy acquisition in the classroom. And as a bonus, use this related infographic to start a conversation within your learning community.