Unmasking hidden challenges for migrant learners with Drs. Marco Triulzi and Andrea DeCapuaIn today’s episode, host Matt Sroka sits down with Drs. Marco Triulzi and Andrea DeCapua to explore the literacy challenges faced by migrant workers. They discuss the hidden barriers embedded in language learning textbooks and how educators can navigate these obstacles while leveraging students’ existing backgrounds and cultural resources. This conversation centers on their article for The Journal for Adolescent & Adult Literacy titled: Unmasking hidden challenges for migrant learners with few prior experiences with formal education: An exploration of language learning textbooksDr Marco Triulzi is an applied linguist whose research focuses on German as a second and foreign language, multilingualism and language education. He received his PhD from the University of Cologne (Germany) in 2023 with a dissertation on biliteracy in Italian and German, focusing on multilingual children's transition from bilingual primary to monolingual secondary school. His work combines linguistic, sociological and educational perspectives.Currently, Dr Triulzi is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich (Germany), where he teaches Applied Linguistics and German as a Foreign Language, coordinates the International Research Centre for Multilingualism, and supervises undergraduate and graduate theses in these subjects. Previously, he was a DAAD exchange lecturer for German as a Foreign Language at the Sapienza University of Rome from 2019 to 2024 and a research fellow at the Mercator Institute for Literacy and Language Education at the University of Cologne from 2016 to 2019. From 2014 to 2015, he taught in German as a Second Language courses for recently arrived migrants and refugees, including learners with emergent literacy skills.His research focuses on multilingual language diagnostics, bilingual education and second language acquisition. Dr Triulzi has published extensively on multilingualism and second language acquisition and teaching, including a monograph and articles in high-impact journals, and has actively participated in several international conferences. Andrea DeCapua, Ed.D. is an educator, researcher, and educational consultant with over thirty years of experience, both here and overseas. She has held academic appointments at various institutions, including Assistant Professor in Multilingual Multicultural Studies at the College of New Rochelle, NY and adjunct appointments at New York University and the University of North Florida. Now retired from her academic appointments, Dr. DeCapua focuses on writing, research on and training for teachers working with low-educated adolescent and adult learners. Her research interests include second language acquisition and non-traditional approaches to classroom learning and language for struggling culturally and linguistically diverse students. Dr. DeCapua has published articles in the European Journal of Applied Linguistics, Language and Linguistic Compass, the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Urban Review, ELT Journal, and TESOL Journal among others.  She is also the author/co-author of eight books, the most recent of which is Breaking New Ground for SLIFE: The Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm (2nd ed.) This book is the third in the series she has co-authored with Helaine W. Marshall that focus on the innovative Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm® (MALP®) approach for successful classroom learning and inclusive school environments for low-educated adolescent and adult learners.Resources:Article: Unmasking hidden challenges for migrant learners with few prior experiences with formal education: An exploration of language learning textbooksOther Related Resources:Checklist for learning materials evaluations for LESLLA/SLIFE learners https://malpeducation.com/

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