Heritage Languages in America: Get Involved: Listserv Archive

Heritage Languages Listserv Archive

Select entries have been added to the archive below. The information below is meant provide our visitors with access to older content from our Web site that they may find useful. Please be aware that information within this archive is historical in nature and will not be maintained or updated by CAL.

Announcements
Training Opportunities
Heritage Languages in the News
Calls for Papers/Proposals

Announcements

Scholarship Announcement

Training Opportunities

Language Acquisition Resource Center (LARC) at San Diego State University: Summer Institutes

Each year LARC offers a group of summer workshops. These workshops serve a dual purpose, they help LARC disseminate the activities of our federally funded project while at the same time providing teacher training to educators from around the world. In recent years these workshops have developed innovative projects and collaborative partnerships.

Posted June 11, 2007

2006 PENN Chinese Language Teachers’ Institute

Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania 3700 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6216

The Institute began in the summer of 1998 as a response to the demands of prospective Chinese language teachers. The institute aims at providing prospective teachers of Chinese with the pedagogical training necessary for obtaining foreign language teacher certification in their home states. In most states, the Institute courses meet partial requirements of teacher certification. All courses meet intensively for one week, supported by continuing online interactions throughout the summer and the subsequent academic year.

Courses Offered

EDCE 565.920
Selected Topics in the Teaching of Chinese Language and Culture - Approaches & Standards
6/26 -6/30, 2006

EDCE 565.921
Selected Topics in the Teaching of Chinese Language and Culture - Testing and Assessment
7/3 - 7/7, 2006 (including 7/4)

EDCE 566
Elements of Mandarin Chinese
7/10 -7/14, 2006

Download the flyer here.

Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI)

The Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI) will offer 8-week intensive summer Heritage language and culture classes in Filipino, Khmer, Lao, Hmong and Vietnamese. The classes will take place at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, from June 19 to August 11, 2006.

These classes are intended for university students of Filipino, Hmong, Lao, Cambodian and Vietnamese ethnic backgrounds who grew up in North America and can speak/understand the language of their Southeast Asian culture (to at least a minimal degree) and would like to learn to read and write their language, as well as learn to speak it at a more sophisticated and learned level. Students with no aural or spoken command of the language can also study at SEASSI, but would be placed in a beginning level class with non-native speakers. Placement will be determined on the first day of classes.

Students will have a chance to learn more about the traditions of the culture and how to make sense of their lives and traditions in America/Canada in an historical context. Independent, project-oriented study opportunities will also be available, in the context of modular instruction, so students who enter the program already at an intermediate literacy level can also have their educational needs met and be stimulated and challenged.

The classes are taught by experienced instructors from the United States, Canada and Southeast Asia, and make use of the latest teaching materials and methods. All classes carry one full year of university language credit. A variety of fellowships and tuition reductions are available. For more information, please visit the SEASSI Heritage Program Web site.

Heritage Languages in the News

We Can't Squander Language Skills

By JOY KREEFT PEYTON and DONALD A. RANARD

This article was originally published in the Op-Ed section of the Los Angeles Times on November 5, 2001.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, the FBI put out urgent appeals for citizens fluent in Arabic and Farsi. The fact that the United States' domestic intelligence agency lacked the language resources to understand the intelligence it was gathering probably came as a surprise to most Americans but not to language experts. The FBI's language problem is part of a larger national problem that is rooted in the U.S. education system. But a solution lies within our schools too--with our immigrant students.

A recent study of language and U.S. security by the University of Maryland's National Foreign Language Center corroborates what language experts have been saying for years: The U.S. government faces a critical shortage of foreign language expertise, the result of what the study calls "a sea change" in national language needs over the past 15 years. Former Illinois Sen. Paul Simon has pointed out that today "some 80 federal agencies need proficiency in nearly 100 foreign languages to deal with threats from terrorism, narcotrafficking and communicable diseases," and to advance U.S. economic and diplomatic interests.

The U.S. education system views foreign language study the way it views music appreciation: nice but not necessary. For the most part, our schools teach foreign languages the way they always have--a few hours a week for a few years--and for the most part we get the same results: Very few of our college graduates can function in another language. What American students need and rarely get is continuous instruction throughout their education, from elementary school through college, preferably with periods of intensive study.

Our foreign language deficiency is particularly acute in the uncommonly taught languages of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. According to Kirk Belnap, a professor of Arabic at Brigham Young University, no more than 200 non-Arab Americans in the entire country have a professional-level proficiency in Arabic, the fifth most widely spoken language in the world. Pashto, the language of the Pashtun, the dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan, is not studied in American colleges.

However, the language expertise that the U.S. needs already exists, or potentially exists, in our schools, in a population of students whose language abilities we have ignored. Immigration has made this nation more diverse linguistically than it has ever been. One in five children enters school speaking a language other than English, including many of the languages of Asia and the Middle East.

But if past trends hold, these children will lose most of their native language in the process of learning English.

Our schools generally ignore the languages that immigrant children bring with them. Giving up one's native language often is seen as a natural, even desirable, consequence of assimilation.

By adolescence, children speak haltingly a language they once spoke with ease. Most lose or never develop the ability to read and write in their native language.

In a strange twist, some end up in high school or college foreign language classes trying to relearn the language they once felt impelled to give up.

Their language loss is our collective loss. Immigrant children can speak other languages with a native speaker's fluency and an insider's grasp of the culture. And many know languages that English speakers aren't inclined to study.

With support from their schools, parents and communities, immigrant children can maintain and deepen their knowledge of their home language at the same time they are learning English.

In light of our national needs, let's rethink the ways that we educate immigrant students. If we viewed the languages they know as resources to be developed rather than as obstacles to be overcome, the students would acquire a highly valued skill and the nation would gain badly needed expertise.

Calls for Papers/Proposals

Posted on March 5, 2008:

Sponsors of the Second International Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization and Multilingual Education in Ethnolinguistic Communities invite scholars and practitioners to submit abstracts for parallel presentations.

Download a PDF detailing this call for papers.

Deadline for receipt of abstracts: 30 March 2008
Final notification of acceptance: 15 April 2008

For more information about the conference, please see http://www.seameo.org/ld2008.

Posted October 1, 2007:

National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages
Eleventh International Conference, Madison, Wisconsin
April 24-27, 2008

Theme: LCTLs and Globalization: Challenges, Expectations and Possibilities

The Eleventh Annual Meeting of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) is scheduled for April 25-27, 2008, in Madison, WI (with a pre-conference workshop scheduled for Thursday, April 24th). Proposals are solicited for individual papers, colloquia, and poster sessions. Proposals should fall broadly within the conference theme, "LCTLs and Globalization: Challenges, Expectations, and Possibilities." Although proposed presentations may focus on individual languages, they should address issues that clearly relate to more than just that one language. Presentations may address the linkage between language study and globalization, curriculum and material development, methodology, bilingual education, heritage language learners, autonomous and self-instructional settings, outreach and advocacy, and the use of technology in teaching languages. Other topics such as teacher training, professionalization, research, and assessment are also welcome.

Individual papers are to be 20 minutes long. A paper should focus clearly on issues related to the main conference theme. Papers may be based on research or practical experience. Colloquia are to be 90 minutes long. A colloquium proposal should specify three or more presenters who will address the conference theme. Preference will be given to colloquia that cut across different languages or language groups. Poster and presentation sessions may focus on completed work or work in progress related to the teaching and/or learning of less commonly taught languages. They may be in either the traditional poster format, such as presentation of materials or of research completed or in progress, or demonstrations of instructional or information technology.

Proposals may ONLY be submitted in electronic format using the attached NCOLCTL Session Proposal Submission Form. This form is also available at the NCOLCTL website. The Proposal Submission form is a "fillable" PDF file that can be completed with Adobe® Acrobat® or Reader® and then submitted to NCOLCTL via e-mail. This is the only format in which Proposals may be submitted. The form contains detailed instructions for its use. Please contact the NCOLCTL Secretariat with any questions. For a proposal to be considered, all fields of the form, including, title, abstract, proposal, type of session, technology needs and contact information must be completed in full. Incomplete proposals may be disqualified.

The deadline for receipt of proposals is Friday, November 30, 2007. Applicants will be notified by the Program Committee by Monday, January 21st, 2008 whether or not their proposal has been accepted. At least one presenter from an accepted presentation will be required to pre-register. Details about pre-registration will be provided in the acceptance notification.

If you have any questions regarding Proposal submission, please contact the NCOLCTL Secretariat at:

ncolctl@mailplus.wisc.edu
NCOLCTL
4231 HumanitiesBuilding
455 N. Park Street
Madison, WI 53706
Tel: 608-265-7903; FAX 608 265 7904.

Posted September 25, 2007:

“Documenting Creole Language and Culture”
Conference Dates: July 31-August 3, 2008
Location: Pheasant Run Resort, St. Charles, Illinois (just outside of Chicago)

Although language is an essential part of everyday life, few of us think about how vital human speech is to the transmission of thoughts and ideas. Studies have shown the strong link between language and culture; language determines how its native speakers view the world. Language allows us to share ideas, teach children about their heritage, and gives us a way to disseminate our cultural ideals.

Since language remains such a fundamental part of culture, the theme for the 2008 Creole Heritage Conference is “Documenting Creole Language and Culture.” The Creole Heritage Conference strives to bring together Creole cultural constituents and researchers to share knowledge within a relaxed setting. This unique event draws participants from across the country who have a desire to preserve and promote Creole culture. The Creole Heritage Conference seeks presentation proposals from academics, professional and community researchers who have undertaken studies in any area that relates language to a cultural component. This conference will combine a substantial scholarly component with community-oriented activities (family history exhibits, genealogy workshops, and city tours.)

In preparation for the scholarly component of the conference, we are issuing this call for papers on any topic relating to Creole people, culture, and language. While the primary focus of the conference is on the Creole people and culture of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, we also welcome contributions that examine the broader context of Creole societies to which Louisiana belongs.

In addition to individual papers, we encourage submission of proposals for panels consisting of three or four papers organized around a coherent theme and that include a panel chair. The organizers reserve the right to make changes in the overall configuration of panels.

Some topics of interest may include but are not restricted to:
• Food names and the Creole culture
• Place names in the natural environment
• Music as a way of language transmission
• Passing language on to the next generation of Creole children
• Oral history documentation of Creole elders
• Origins of Creole languages and dialects
• Language in literature
• Terminology of traditional occupations
• Language and Community
• Origins of specialized terms for material culture
• Geographic analysis of Creole languages
• Endangered language research methods
• Linguistic studies of Creole French

Please note that all presentations will be limited to 20 minutes with 10 minutes for questions and answers. Presenters are required to pay the conference registration fee and are welcome to become Creole Heritage Center Members.

Deadline for submission of abstracts: January 15, 2008
Notification of Acceptance: February 15, 2008

Preferred Form of Submission: Send your abstract (500 words or less) as an email attachment in Word format to colsonj@nsula.edu. Within the body of the email message (but not on the attachment page containing the abstract), please provide the title of your submission as well as your name, institutional affiliation (if any), and full contact information, including mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and email address.

Alternative form of submission: Send a hard copy of your abstract (500 words or less) to:

Janet Colson
Louisiana Creole Heritage Center
Northwestern State University,
NSU Box 5675
Natchitoches, LA 71497.

On a separate sheet of paper from your abstract, please provide the title of your submission as well as your name, institutional affiliation (if any), and full contact information, including mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and email address.

Posted September 24, 2007:

Filipino as a Global Language:
Future Directions and Prospects

1st International Conference
Filipino and Philippine Literature Program Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literature University of Hawaii at Manoa March 17-19, 2008

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The conference will be an avenue for bringing together scholars, writers, language teachers, researchers and other practitioners from around the world to discuss issues pertaining the role of Filipino as a global language. Participants can be teachers, researchers, program administrators/coordinators and other practitioners who are directly involved in the promotion and nurturing of the Filipino language, literature and culture. This first conference is geared towards establishing a tradition of scholarly meetings of this kind among practitioners in the field of Filipino language, literature and culture studies.

Its goal is to provide a venue for the exchange of ideas among teachers, researchers, program administrators, writers, and other agencies involved in the promotion and nurturing of the Filipino language and culture for the purpose of:
1) describing/sharing existing state-of-the-art programs
2) identifying program needs as well as available resources
3) sharing ideas, research results, resources, assessment tools, and practices on teaching, program administration, and
language promotion
4) fostering cooperation, and collaboration in doing research
5) raising consciousness on the importance of the national language to minimize regionalism and
6) advocacy

Topic: Papers will need to directly focus on one or more of the following Curriculum Development, Needs Analysis and Syllabus Design Program Development, Administration and Coordination Translation, Interpretation and Dubbing Teacher Training and Professional Development Language and Politics Heritage Language Learners: Needs Assessment and Curriculum Development Materials Development Research Funding and Grant Sourcing Teaching Culture Filipino Linguistics: An Overview and Directions Language Teaching Approaches Service Learning, Community Sourcing, Student Organizations Articulation, Assessment and Implementation of Standards Language Teacher Certification Program Evaluation Methods and Practices Teaching Literature Filipino in the Media and Diplomacy Poster Sessions will be on Filipino Programs Outside the Philippines

SECOND DEADLINE: October 5, 2008
For details on proposals and abstracts, click here.

For more information please contact: Ruth Mabanglo, PhD, or Elvira Fonacier, DALL.

Call for Proposals
Deadline: Nov. 6, 2006
Professional Horizons in LCTLs: Reality and Promise

National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages
Tenth National Conference, Madison, Wisconsin
April 26-29, 2006

The Tenth Annual Meeting of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) is scheduled for April 27-29, 2007, in Madison, WI (with a pre-conference workshop scheduled for Thursday, April 26th). Proposals are solicited for individual papers, colloquia, and poster sessions. Proposals should fall broadly within the conference theme, "Professional Horizons in LCTLs: Reality and Promise." Although proposed presentations may focus on individual languages, they should address issues that clearly relate to more than just that one language. Presentations may address the linkage between language study and professions, curriculum and material development, methodology, bilingual education, heritage language learners, autonomous and self-instructional settings, outreach and advocacy, and the use of technology in teaching languages. Other topics such as teacher training and professionalization, research, and assessment are also welcome.

Proposals may ONLY be submitted in electronic format using the NCOLCTL Session Proposal Submission Form. The Proposal Submission form is a "fillable" PDF file that can be completed with Adobe® Acrobat® or Reader® and then submitted to NCOLCTL via e-mail. This is the only format in which Proposals may be submitted. The form contains detailed instructions for its use. Please contact the NCOLCTL Secretariat (ncolctl@mailplus.wisc.edu) with any questions. For a proposal to be considered, all fields of the form, including, title, abstract, proposal, type of session, technology needs and contact information must be completed in full. Incomplete proposals may be disqualified.

The final deadline for receipt of proposals is Monday, November 6, 2006. Applicants will be notified by the Program Committee by Monday, January 15th, 2007 whether or not their proposal has been accepted. At least one presenter from an accepted presentation will be required to pre-register. Details about pre-registration will be provided in the acceptance notification.

If you have any questions regarding Proposal submission, please contact the NCOLCTL Secretariat at:

ncolctl@mailplus.wisc.edu
NCOLCTL
4231 HumanitiesBuilding
455 N. Park Street
Madison, WI 53706

Tel: 608-265-7903; FAX 608 265 7904.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Pathways to Bilingualism: Evolving Perspectives on Immersion Education

October 21-23, 2004
Radisson-Metrodome Hotel
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Featured Speakers: Fred Genesee, Kathryn Lindholm-Leary, Roy Lyster, Myriam Met, Merrill Swain

The Immersion Projects at the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota and conference planning committee members are seeking proposals for papers, discussion sessions, and symposia on all aspects of immersion education for Pathways to Bilingualism. This second international conference on immersion education will be held October 21-23, 2004 at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. In addition to basic, applied and evaluation research, conference organizers welcome a range of practitioner perspectives including immersion teachers, administrators, curriculum coordinators, and specialists who work in immersion programs. Papers, discussion sessions, and symposia may report on data-based research, theoretical and conceptual analyses, or best practices in language immersion education.

This conference on immersion education aims to bring together immersion teachers, researchers, and other professionals to initiate and sustain meaningful dialogue across languages, levels, program models and sociopolitical contexts. Targeted K-16 contexts include: foreign language immersion in the more commonly taught and less commonly taught languages, dual language immersion, and immersion for linguistic and cultural revitalization involving heritage and indigenous populations. Each of these educational programs embraces the concept of additive bilingualism-- the acquisition of a second language while continuing to develop the first.

The conference will focus on four broad themes: Program Design and Development, Assessment and Program Evaluation, Immersion Pedagogy and Language Development, and Policy and Advocacy. The priority deadline for submission of proposals for papers and symposia is February 1, 2004. Submission guidelines will soon be available on the CARLA website at: http://carla.acad.umn.edu/conferences/immersion/papers.html

For further information, email the conference planning committee.

CALL FOR PAPERS
SPANISH FOR NATIVE SPEAKERS

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (SIG)
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages 2004

November 19-21, 2004
Chicago, IL

The Spanish for Native Speakers Special Interest Group seeks abstract submissions for the 38th ACTFL Convention to be held in Chicago, IL from November 19-21, 2004.

The general conference theme for 2004 is "The Year of Languages: Celebrating Our International Spirit". The SNS SIG is soliciting proposals in Spanish or English for twenty minute presentations or for a poster session related to the specific linguistic and social characteristics of Spanish Native Speakers in the United States. This call encourages language educators from all levels to submit their proposals and to attend the convention.

Please submit by e-mail a one-page-350 word-abstract including the title and the main focus of the presentation. At the end of the abstract include the following information: Poster or paper, your name, affiliation, address, phone and e-mail address. Abstracts must be received no later than January 10, 2004 to be considered. They should be sent to: Mara Spicer-Escalante, chair of SIG-SNS.

All abstracts will be read anonymously by a Committee, and authors will be notified by mid March if their presentations or posters have been accepted. Please include your abstract in the body of your e-mail message. Attachments cannot be accepted.

Please note: if you are interested in presenting a 75-minute paper or a workshop, you should send a proposal directly to ACTFL for consideration. Deadline for proposals to ACTFL is December 19, 2003.

Presenters must be members of ACTFL and of the SNS SIG and be registered for the conference. To join ACTFL, visit the website at www.actfl.org. Be sure to add the SNS SIG to your 'cart' before 'checking out'.

Mara Spicer-Escalante, Ph.D.

Asst. Prof. of Spanish
Utah State University
Department of Languages and Philosophy
0720 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-0720
Telephone (435) 797-1209
Fax (435) 797-1329