A reading teacher helps a Spanish-speaking English learner (EL) make connections between the following English and Spanish words. (Table with English/Spanish pairs: abundant/abundante, information/informacion, participate/participar, exactly/exactamente). Which of the following instructional strategies is the reading teacher using to help the student develop English vocabulary?

Teaching vocabulary thematically involves organizing words around a central theme or topic to create connections among them. While this can be useful for vocabulary development, the focus of the question is specifically on the relationship between English and Spanish words, rather than thematic connections. Therefore, this strategy does not accurately describe the teacher's approach.

Emphasizing content-specific words refers to focusing on vocabulary that is relevant to a particular subject area, such as science or mathematics. While this is a valuable instructional strategy, it does not apply to the task of connecting Spanish and English vocabulary, which is the primary focus of the reading teacher's work.

Breaking words into roots and affixes involves teaching students about the components of words to enhance vocabulary understanding. Although this method can be effective for certain learners, it does not apply to the specific task of drawing parallels between cognates in English and Spanish, which is the strategy employed by the teacher.