A Practical Comparison of Persian and English Language: Supporting Multilingual Teaching Through Linguistic Awareness

This professional development session offers a classroom-focused comparison of Persian and English designed to support faculty working with multilingual learners. Drawing from real ESL classroom experiences, the session highlights key phonological, syntactic, and lexical contrasts between the two languages and examines predictable language transfer patterns observed in Persian-speaking students.

Rather than a theoretical linguistic lecture, the workshop emphasizes practical instructional strategies, including pronunciation awareness, feedback techniques, and small pedagogical adjustments that can improve clarity, reduce learner frustration, and strengthen linguistic empathy in diverse classrooms.

 The session includes interactive examples and co-facilitated activities to help faculty connect linguistic knowledge directly to teaching practice.

Facilitated by: Elham Zandvakili, Patrick Hogan, and Arzo Elmjo, ESL