IN THIS ISSUE
				Online Resources
				Heritage Programs
				STARTALK
				Consortium Update
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) 2012 Annual Convention and World Languages Expo November 16-18, 2012 Philadelphia, PA Join Alliance members at the following ACTFL 2012 presentations. • Increasing Heritage Language  Student Engagement Through  Literacy • Development and Vitality of  Heritage Language Education  in the US • Helping HL Students Succeed in  FL Classrooms: Strategies and  Assessment • Curriculum and Assessment in  Heritage Language Programs:  Chinese, French, Spanish Learn more.

Online Resources

Heritage Voices Collection: New Program Voices Now Available
This online collection of documents is designed to allow heritage language speakers and programs to share their unique voices. This month, the Alliance is pleased to highlight two heritage program voices.

En Nuestra Lengua Literacy and Culture Project
This program, a collaboration between the University of Michigan, the Ann Arbor Public School District, and members of the Latino community in Ann Arbor, seeks to develop academic language proficiency of Spanish-speaking children.

Read the En Nuestra Lengua Heritage Voice. (131 KB)

Tarbuton, Israeli Cultural Center
Located in the San Diego metropolitan area, the center offers Israeli-themed programs and classes (in Hebrew and English) for the local community and Modern Hebrew instruction for heritage language speakers.

Read the Tarbuton Israeli Cultural Center Heritage Voice. (290 KB)

Browse the full collection.

Heritage Language FAQs and Briefs

Answers to frequently asked questions on heritage language issues are posted on the Alliance website, with supporting Heritage Briefs which outline the issue in greater detail. For this November edition of the Alliance News Flash we highlight the following FAQ.

What is language loss?
An issue of major importance to heritage language communities is language loss. Language loss can occur on a personal or familial level, which is often the case with immigrant communities in the United States, or the entire language may be lost when it ceases to be spoken at all. The latter scenario has become an all-too-common threat in indigenous communities, because their languages are not spoken anywhere else in the world. Read the Heritage Brief.

Heritage Programs

Heritage Language Program Database
This online, searchable database of programs in community, K–12, and higher education settings allows heritage language programs to exchange ideas and resources with one another.

Learn more about the online collection or submit a heritage language program profile.

STARTALK

STARTALK Resource Lists of Language Specific Materials
STARTALK has compiled lists of language specific materials including language specific and pedagogical articles, text and reference books, cultural and language-learning websites, authentic materials and media, professional organizations, and community and heritage organizations.

Visit the STARTALK website to read and download the PDFs.

Consortium Update

National Consortium of Language Program Databases
The National Foreign Language Center (NFLC) at the University of Maryland, working under the auspices of the STARTALK project, has established the National Consortium of Language Program Databases hosted by the Center for Applied Linguistics. Consortium partners collaborate with the goal of making data about language programs from a variety of sources readily available to the field.

The list of Consortium partners continues to grow and now includes

• The Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages, managed by the Center for Applied Linguistics
• The American Association of Teachers of German (AATG)
• The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP)
• The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
• Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA)
• The Chinese Heritage Language Education and Research Project (CHeLER), managed by the
  University of Toledo
• The DesiLearn Initiative, managed by the National Capital Language Resource Center at The George Washington University
• The National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC)
• The STARTALK Initiative, managed by the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland

Online Language Programs Directory
The Consortium is pleased to launch the prototype for the Online Language Programs Directory as part of CAL’s work for the STARTALK project. Visitors to the website can search the directory for snapshot data from two of the Consortium partners, providing a proof-of-concept for possible
future activities.

Visit the Consortium website to learn more.

Collaborate with the Alliance

Bookmark the Alliance website to stay up-to-date with the latest information.

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