Reps. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Paul Tonko (D-NY) have introduced the Excellence and Innovation in Language Learning Act (HR 6036), a bill that would authorize $400 million in funding for FY 2011 for the teaching of foreign languages to K-12 students. The sponsoring Representatives hope that the bill will become part of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or “No Child Left Behind.” Tonko spoke about his intention to introduce this bill two weeks ago at a policy briefing on language learning in the global age: “The next generation must not follow the globe, but shape it,” Tonko said, noting that foreign language instruction for young Americans is imperative to “U.S. national security and global leadership challenges.” Key elements of the bill are that it would authorize $400 million for fiscal year 2011 for programs at the national, state, and local levels, specifically: a. National activities: $100 milion to establish the U.S. Department of Education in a leadership role to coordinate a national effort to build our language capacity by supervising the adoption of standards, supporting research for best practice in teaching languages, collecting data on international benchmarks in language learning, providing scholarships for students and teachers to study abroad, and support partnerships that demonstrate high quality and effective models of language instruction. b. State Activities: $100 million to help establish a statewide coordination advisory council that would develop a comprehensive state plan for expanding language learning opportunities as well as boosting efforts to recruit and train qualified language teachers. c. Foreign Language Education Partnership Programs: $200 million for partnerships between K-12 school systems and higher education to develop model K-16 sequences of language instruction that would include appropriate assessments of language proficiency and provide scholarships for teachers and students as well as fund research on effective language teaching. Please contact your representatives to express your support for this bill.

BBN Technologies, a subsidiary of defense giant Raytheon Company, has been granted 6.1 million dollars in funding for its Multilingual Automatic Document Classification, Analysis and Translation (MADCAT) program. The additional monies come from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, which is the research and development arm for the Department of Defense. MADCAT runs on a laptop and immediately translates written text in almost any form (including handwritten notes) without the use of a translator. As Prem Natarajan, BBN's top employee in speech and language processing said in a press release, "Foreign language translation on the battlefield is slow, dangerous and expensive. The MADCAT system will help our troops understand road signs, print media and captured documents that could be of immediate importance to their safety and to the successful completion of their missions."

Taking place through August 1 in Miami, the International Hispanic Theatre Festival is celebrating both its 25th year and Mexico's contribution to Latin American culture. Mexican actor and director Maestro José “Pepe” Solé will receive a Lifetime Achievement in the Performing Arts Award. Also descending upon Miami to showcase their work are artists from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Spain and Puerto Rico. Said Mario Ernesto Sánchez, whose theater, Teatro Avante, hosts the festival; “It amazes me that it has been 25 years. It has always been a struggle for audiences, for funding, for success, for everything you dream of."

The editorial board of the New York Times has urged the White House to support the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights compliance reviews despite anticipated push back from districts. See the editorial here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/opinion/16tue2.html?hp. More on how this will affect English Language Learners in April's issue of Language Magazine.

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