April Special Event
A Special Event From The Center for Public Service and Community Research
An Urban Education Book Launch
Thursday, April 16th, 2026
From 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | At The Commerce St. Bldg. C100, College of Public Service,
and via Zoom
REGISTER
This book explores the integration of translation and second language acquisition
with literacy as a social practice, offering a powerful and innovative approach to
language teaching and learning. It provides transdisciplinary theoretical grounding,
an overview of translation benefits and approaches, and sample activities to support
the use of translation as a collaborative pedagogical tool in K–12 and postsecondary
language-learning environments.
These environments may include monolingual classrooms with emergent bilinguals, bilingual and heritage language settings, or world language contexts (including English as a Foreign Language). Recommended texts for translation range from oral and written to multimodal formats. Each activity includes suggestions for adapting instruction based on age, language proficiency, and learning environment.
The book also emphasizes flexibility in developing language and literacy objectives and assessments, with alignment to standards such as CEFR, ACTFL, Common Core, and biliteracy frameworks. Readers will gain practical strategies to incorporate translation into existing curricula, design and adapt activities, and develop standards-based objectives and assessments.
Speaker:
Dr. Sarah Albrecht
Assistant Professor of Bilingual Education
Department of Urban Education, University of Houston-Downtown
We invite you to purchase a copy today:
Pedagogical Translation for Language Teaching
Dr. Sarah Albrecht
Dr. Sarah Albrecht is an Assistant Professor of Bilingual Education at the University of Houston-Downtown. She earned her Ph.D. in Language, Reading and Culture with an emphasis on bilingual education, along with master’s degrees in Spanish Linguistics and Education. Prior to her academic career, she taught middle and high school Spanish.
At the university level, she has taught courses including Educational Linguistics, Writing and Oral Skills for Heritage Spanish Learners, Children’s Literature in Spanish, Academic Proficiencies for Bilingual Classroom Teachers, and Language Arts Instruction for the Bilingual/ESL Classroom. She has also served as editor for English in Texas and supervises bilingual teacher candidates during clinical placements.
Her research focuses on bilingual and heritage language education, biliteracy, and bilingual teacher preparation. She has a particular interest in pedagogical translation as a language teaching strategy and has published multiple articles and books for both practitioners and scholars.
Contact Steven Villano for more information, villanos@uhd.edu.