Utah Efforts to Preserve Native American Languages

The Deseret Morning News reported on February 4, 2008 that the Utah "State Board of Education is seeking $275,000 to preserve and revitalize Utah's indigenous languages to help narrow the achievement gaps" between Native American and Caucasian students.

It's nice to see a State Board of Education recognize that Heritage Language teaching and Learning can be a means to addressing academic achievement gaps, rather than as an obstacle to academic achievement.

Read the full article here.

English for Heritage Language Speakers Program

Here's an innovative approach to addressing the shortage of federal employees with advanced levels of profiency in international languages. Few native English speakers in America reach high levels of proficiency in other languages because of our nation's poor track record in foreign language education. Many kids from immigrant families who enter school bilingual come out monolingual or have limited skills in their HL, due to our horrible language and education policies which focus on English only. So, let's take those adults who have advanced HL skills and help them learn enough English to work for the federal government. We're much better at teaching English in this country than we are other languages.

Now in its third year, CAL's English for Heritage Language Speakers (EHLS)
program gives native speakers of critical languages the advanced professional
English proficiency they need to succeed in the federal workplace. For 2008, our
program partners, the University of Washington (Seattle) and Georgetown
University (Washington, DC), have enrolled a total of twelve Arabic speakers,
two Cantonese speakers, eight Mandarin speakers, three Dari speakers, one Farsi
speaker, one Hindi speaker, one Russian speaker, and four Indonesian speakers. Learn more.

Chinese Language Conference 2008

Many Chinese Heritage Language Schools and Programs in the United States participate in a national network. Here's info on an upcoming conference in San Francisco!

CAIS Institute Announces Chinese Language Conference 2008

School administrators and educators across the country will head to San
Francisco next month for the Chinese Language Conference 2008, the nation's
largest conference exclusively dedicated to promoting the teaching and learning
of Chinese language programs in America. Hosted by the CAIS Institute, a leading
resource for integrating Chinese language and culture into American education
programs, the national conference will be held at the Hilton Hotel in San
Francisco from March 14-16, 2008. China Books and Periodicals, America's largest
and oldest distributor of books and other cultural products from China, is the
presenting sponsor.

Globalization continues to boost the growing economic and cultural
influence of China - one of the world's largest economies. Over the next decade
across America, the study of Chinese will dramatically rise along with the need
for Americans who are fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

Full story:
http://sev.prnewswire.com/education/20080207/AQTH08607022008-1.html

International Mother Tongue Day

I just learned from Dr. Hult that February 21st is International Mother Language Day. Here is some info on the day from the United Nations:

International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by UNESCO's General Conference in November 1999. The International Day has been observed every year
since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

More information on International Mother Language Day can be found at http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/language/.

Appropriately, we will be visiting Univision that day. I'm also exploring with Dr. Hult ways our class can be a part of an event in recognition of this day. Stay tuned!

Defense to Begin Recruiting Foreign Language Corps

You've heard of the Peace Corps. Say hello to the National Language Service Corps! Note how this reveals the critical shortage of bilingual staff in our U.S. federal agencies. It will be interesting to watch this initiative to see how many of the targetted 1,000 for the language corps end up being non-native speakers vs. native speakers.
---------------

Government Executive January 15, 2008

Defense to Begin Recruiting Foreign Language Corps By Brittany R. Ballenstedt

DOD is assembling a corps of people fluent in critical foreign languages to serve the nation during times of emergency or international need.

By 2010, the department will recruit at least 1,000 people to serve in the new National Language Service Corps, said Gail McGinn, deputy undersecretary of Defense for plans and head of the Defense Senior Language Authority. Congress gave Defense the authority to start a pilot project to create the corps in the FY07 Defense authorization act.

While the pilot launched last year, the department has not yet begun recruiting. The early stages have involved developing a CONOPS as well as determining how to recruit, test and certify people with foreign language skills, said Robert Slater, director of the National Security Language Program. Now that much of that groundwork has been laid, the department plans to begin recruiting this month.

To entice people to serve, the Pentagon plans to launch a Web site highlighting benefits of serving in the language corps. Slater said incentives include not only competitive compensation but advantage of being identified with an organization that values foreign language skills and the use of government-funded software to maintain language skills.

The department is developing a list of languages deemed critical, and plans to have it finalized in the next couple of weeks. The list will include at least nine languages, but Arabic probably will not be among them. "Arabic is a heavily recruited language already," Slater said. "We'd rather look at some other languages right now."

The pilot project includes a $19 million contract awarded to General Dynamics Information Technology under which the company will create a language training and communications center, recruit corps members and provide personnel support.

Slater said the department hopes to assess by the end of this year whether the pilot is working. If it proves successful, Defense will structure a proposal to make the language corps permanent by the end of the pilot in 2010.

While the project is being run within Defense, the concept holds benefits for the rest of government, McGinn said. "We looked at other agencies to determine what their needs might be," she said. "We're working to understand how [other agencies] can use this corps of people and bring them in when there are national needs."

Welcome!

Welcome to our BBL 7233 Heritage/Community Languages Blog. The purpose of this blog is share news articles and other resources related to our study this semester (Spring 2008) of Heritages/Community Languages. I'll post things as I run accross them. Please send me link of anything you'd like me to add.

Please also feel free to post comments on any of the news articles, and discuss them with your classmates and world.

-Dr. Wright