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October 18 – 20, 2002 -- The Second National Conference on Heritage Languages in America
The purpose of this Second National Conference was to provide a place for individuals, organizations, and associations to participate in new initiatives in heritage language development.
The vision of this conference and the Heritage Languages Initiative is to build on and develop the language proficiency of heritage language speakers in our country. High levels of language proficiency among heritage language speakers will assist in meeting our needs in global economic competitiveness, national security, civic engagement and participation, community leadership, and cultural preservation. To build this national resource, we need policies, strategies, and resources. We also need structures through which we can collaborate to accomplish this vision.
The following goals were discussed at the conference.
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Develop visibility and public awareness of the economic, personal, and social benefits of proficiency in languages other than English and of the language resources that we have in the United States.
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Increase the extent to which heritage language issues are part of the national dialogue.
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Provide a public forum for participants to shape a national heritage language policy and to engage in heritage language planning for the nation.
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Provide a forum for information sharing (current best practices and successes) and information building (new practices and funding opportunities).
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Provide opportunities for participants to work together in various, flexible groups on issues of interest.
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Develop collaboration among all constituent groups and a plan that moves us from rhetoric to action.
Attendees included the following individuals.
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Heritage language community and school leaders
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Representatives from pre-K-12 schools, colleges, and universities
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Researchers
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Federal and state policymakers
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Business leaders
Learn more at the archived Web site for the 2002 Heritage Language Conference.
The following are links and references for publications that emerged from the work presented at the 2002 foundational conference:Campbell, Russ & Christian, Donna, eds. 2003. Directions in Research: Intergenerational Transmission of Heritage Languages. Heritage Language Journal. 1, 1 (Spring 2003). Hornberger, Nancy H., ed. (2005) Heritage/Community Language Education: US and Australian Perspectives. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 8: 2 & 3. This is a special issue of the journal based on the research presented at the 2001 conference in Melbourne, Australia. The journal contents and abstracts are available at the link above. Access to full-text articles requires a subscription. The Heritage Language Journal, an online blind-refereed journal exclusively dedicated to the publication of research on heritage language teaching and learning was established by the Language Resource Center of UCLA and the UC Consortium for Language Learning and Teaching in 2003. Visit the Web site to read current and back issues or to find out about submission procedures. |
