The Association for German Language (GfdS) is calling for end to the practice of using an asterisk to make gender-specific nouns seem gender-neutral in German, reports Deutsche Welle.
In the same way that the asterisk has been used in the U.S. to create gender-neutral words like Latinx, it has been used more and more frequently in German media and public documents to make masculine or feminine nouns gender neutral, as in Kolleg*in (colleague) or Rentner*in (retiree).
However the state-sponsored language association GfdS is claiming that the asterisk “does not conform either to German grammar or to the rules of spelling,” so it is recommending an end to the use of the asterisk, and other methods of gender neutralization, like a colon or an underscore.
The GfdS also pointed out that the asterisk does a poor job addressing words in which the spelling changes based on gender. For instance, “doctor” is spelled with an umlaut in its female form (Ärztin), but with one in the male form (Arzt). The statement also claims the asterisk and its substitutes make pronunciation difficult.
“Although the GfdS advocates for non-discriminatory language in principle, the so-called gender asterisk is not a suitable means to this end from a linguistic point of view,” concludes the Gfds.
The criticism coincides with the publication of the latest (28th) edition of Die deutsche Rechtschreibung (Dictionary of the German Language), by the Duden Publishing House which aims to be “the reliable authority for all topics relating to the German language and spelling” and “always up to date.”
Among its 148,000 keywords, the Duden includes 3,000 new words, while 300 outdated terms were removed. Included were such words such as: bee-friendly, flight shame, hate speech, Geisterspiel (sports match played behind closed doors), binge watching, cisgender, and lockdown. The new terms in Duden are a reflection of the latest social developments, like climate change, the coronavirus pandemic, social media, racism, and equality.
The Verein deutsche Sprache (VDS—another German Language Society) is also campaigning against the introduction of gender-minded language with the petition Schluss mit dem Gender-Unfug! (Enough of the Gender Shenanigans) and what it sees as the excessive use of anglicisms in the new Duden edition.
According to Deutsche Welle, VDS chair Walter Krämer said that there should “finally be an end to certain individuals condescendingly deciding how language should develop,” addeding: “Many people take what is written in the Duden at face value and will believe that gender stars and similar constructs are real components of the German language.”
Bernd Gögel, chair of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) parliamentary group in Baden-Württemberg, criticized the Duden as an “ideological aid for the implementation of left-wing politics.” Terms such as “everyday racism,” “right-wing terrorist,” or “climate emergency” are “ideological” and used by small groups, who, according to Gögel, want to tell the majority of German citizens how they should speak.
This graphic has been adapted from the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education – Third Edition (2018).
Dual-language programs, especially two-way programs, have exploded in the world of language programming. The allure of dual language’s three pillars was enough for many districts to try to sign up for them almost overnight. For a short time, we even sat together as a dual-language community with our voices united for the three pillars*, “biliteracy/bilingualism, grade-level academic achievement in two languages, and… whatever, that third one.” Yet it didn’t take long for many dual-language programs to experience a range of challenges to achieving the three-pillar promise, especially for the language learners they were designed for.
Having been involved in dual language in some way, shape, or form for most of my life, I can assure you that the struggle is not a reflection of a flaw in dual language. Rather, the root of many struggles has to do with this third pillar that always seems to be forgotten, misunderstood, and left for another time as enrichment. So, what’s the problem with Pillar III? Even among scholars and practitioners in dual language, the terms used for Pillar III are vague, inaccurate, and limited in ways that amplify inequities for some people. It is called anything from positive cross-cultural attitudes and high self-esteem (Lindholm, 1990), cross-cultural awareness (Genesee and Gándara, 1999), or biculturalism (Gort, 2008) to cross-cultural or multicultural competence (Christian, Howard, and Loeb, 2000; Lindholm-Leary, 2011) or positive cross-cultural attitudes and behaviors (Howard, Sugarman and Christian, 2003). These labels and definitions are innately flawed because these terms are essentially confined to the following:
1. Enrichment: To add greater value or abundance; to make better in quality;
2. Cross-cultural: The intersection between those characteristics, beliefs, norms, values, etc. that define an association with a group;
3. Awareness: Becoming informed and receptive to gaining knowledge;
4. Competence: Being adequate; having the required skill, qualification, or savvy/knowledge;
5. Attitude: The individual’s reaction, feeling, or mindset that frames their mood;
6. Self-esteem: Having respect for oneself.
So again, what’s the problem with that? Things like having a positive attitude, behaviors, and self-esteem are important—especially if we are to maintain respectful learning environments where every stakeholder can thrive. However, if schools perceive this pillar as enrichment, third, and focused on student feelings and learning about culture, it becomes very easy to ignore the reason that dual language came to be. Calling it enrichment and positioning Pillar III as last has communicated, “it’s okay to be different as long as it doesn’t disrupt my order,” on the really important things like curriculum and assessment, for example.
Such a mentality has taken us further away from the “why” of dual language that is rooted in the immigrant struggle, rooted in the injustice of schools that continue trying to remediate bilingualism, and rooted in a multigenerational fight for simple access to an educational experience that would ensure sufficient resources, evidence-based strategies, and monitoring systems specifically designed for the multilingual and emergent-bilingual student demographic.
These challenges are amplified in two-way models when you add in issues of privilege and power between the English and non-English students, families, co-teachers, and building administrators, not to mention district power dynamics. There are three key actions that must be taken right now to unravel these challenges and contradictions. First, it must be recognized that dual language is not enrichment but a lifeline toward educational access for students who have been hurt and handicapped by the approach of their education.
Therefore, we must replace the old three pillars with new pillars designed to grant and protect access to educational lifelines for immigrant, emergent-bilingual, and Black and Brown students—who still lack access to basic things like resources, evidence-based practices, environments, and accountability systems.
These new pillars are based on sound theory and evidence for what is effective for them. Second, dual-language schools, educators, and district leaders must understand that the new Pillar I is intended for adults and children—if adults can’t model through words and actions, children won’t either. When we work with schools with dual-language and emergent-bilingual programs, critical to their design phase is an intensive year of equity, antibias, and critical consciousness training and coaching for the entire educational community.
All stakeholders gain awareness, competence, and the critical shifts in mindset that are prerequisites for equity to be achieved. Even schools that already have dual-language programs can “course correct” right now. Failing to build this equity and social justice foundation will create future challenges in decisions that must be made.
Third, prioritize the time, attention, capacity-building efforts, tools, resources, systems, and policy shifts necessary for dual language to be effectively implemented, successful in its outcomes, and sustainable over time. I know what you are saying. “Alexandra, we don’t have enough resources right now to prioritize this.” However, in every decision, we have the choice of whether to allocate time, attention, tools, and limited resources in ways that further hurt the students who already lack full access to a quality education or in ways that benefit them. Remembering that equity does not require or even ask for equality is one of the most powerful shifts in the new Pillar I (equity and antibias education/critical consciousness).
*Editor’s note: The dual language pillars come from the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education – Third Edition (2018), collaboratively produced by the Center for Applied Linguistics, Dual Language Education of New Mexico, and Santillana USA. The pillars introduced here have been adapted from the Guiding Principles, 3rd Edition.
Alexandra Guilamo is a dual-language expert, author, keynote speaker, and CEAO (chief equity and achievement officer) at TaJu Educational Solutions. Visit www.tajulearning.com or follow Alexandra @TajuLearning on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
In his 1971 hit, Marvin Gaye laments “make me wanna holler, the way they do my life…” The lyrics to this song can be applied to modern-day events surrounding the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and the general plight of Black people in the U.S. Embedded in Gaye’s songs and other social justice anthems is that there can be no reconciliation or restoration without the acknowledgement of truth. It is in the spirit of acknowledgement and reconciliation that we, two Black language education professionals, pen this piece. We focus on language and language education organizations because we have both insider and outsider perspectives of them and of the larger English language teaching profession. We personally know the isolation and marginalization (Curtis and Romney, 2006; Cooper and Bryan, 2019; Toliver et al., 2019) that occurs at some language education conferences and within the profession. Here, we acknowledge the myriad of ways that language is weaponized and used as a tool to promote White supremacy and racism as we focus on both the said and the unsaid during the current BLM revolution and within selected position statements. We acknowledge that there is much work to be done with regard to eliminating anti-Black racism and decentering Whiteness in these arenas and we are willing to be a part of this work (albeit in ways that do not further burden or traumatize us). We end with considerations for (language) education organizations as they chart paths forward to rise up and support historically marginalized/minoritized members of their organizations.
The Power of (Coded) Language While the intention of this piece is not to teach a history lesson, as we mentioned before, it is important to acknowledge truths. Language is a most powerful weapon. English, one of the major languages of colonization, was weaponized prior to the first African slaves arriving on the shores of what was claimed and named America. Throughout the history of the U.S., the English language has been wielded like the whips of 18th-century white slave traders, the water hoses and dogs of the Jim Crow era, and the batons, guns, and knees of modern-day police officers. Crummell (1862) juxtaposed the effects of the English language upon African slaves, as he characterized it as both a language of unusual force and power and the language of freedom. Language is a major part of what makes us human. It is through language that we articulate our most complicated ideas, express our dynamic identities, and uplift our cultures. It is also through language that we demonstrate our ability to be inhumane and apathetic about the plight of Black and Brown peoples. Black peoples have been especially and historically subjected to the physical assaults of White supremacists and the spirit-murdering of White supremacy. White supremacist thought is embedded in the racialized discourses that portray Black and Brown peoples—their languages, cultures, and ways of living—as inherently inferior. Coded language, language that triggers racial stereotypes and other negative associations without the stigma of explicit racism, is a favored tool of White supremacists and closet racists. They use veiled language to foster anxiety among certain audiences and to dehumanize people and communities of color. Throughout the past three years, and especially during the current Black Lives Matter revolution, coded language has been evident across television news cycles, social media platforms, and political speeches. For example, Black protesters are often referred to as rioters. Even when protests organized by Black and Brown people are peaceful, they are often labeled as riots. The term riot evokes feelings of fear and an anticipation of destruction. Similarly, there is hardly an instance when a group of White men are labeled thugs. Instead of being described as thuggish, they are often described as rowdy and mischievous, even when they are looting, turning over cars, and starting fires. White supremacist ideology has racialized the term thug. In June 2020, in a statement opposing the removal of Confederate statues, a particular politician stated, “They hate our history, they hate our values… Our country didn’t grow great with them.” Who exactly is “they/them”? We would assume that they/them are all of the Americans who do not share a racial or ethnic identity with Confederate leaders (who were by all means traitors and domestic terrorists). In this context, the terms they/them are racialized and clearly refer to non-White peoples. States’ rights has always been code for slavery. So when supporters of the Confederate flag and those who hail Confederate generals of the Civil War explain that they were pro states’ rights, they either don’t really know what they are talking about and simply are repeating what they have heard or they really are opposed to the abolition of slavery, and if all had gone well, Southern states would have been allowed to keep Black people enslaved. “All lives matter” has become a counter-discourse to “Black lives matter.” We no longer view this phrase as coded language. Discourse such as this is blatantly dismissive of the racism faced by Black people in the U.S. We know that all lives matter. So, when we say that Black lives matter, we do not mean that only Black lives matter, or that they matter more than other lives. We are highlighting the need to protect the lives that are in danger. All lives can’t matter until Black lives matter. Likewise, when scholars of Black languages holler “Black languages matter,” we are highlighting the race-based linguicism and marginalization faced by speakers of Black languages in the U.S. context (Baker-Bell, 2020; Cooper and Bryan, 2020).
Make Me Wanna Holler: Position Statements on Anti-Black Racism Unlike in BLM movements of the past, the murder of George Floyd is a call to action for (language) education professionals. Education professionals cannot be silent on social justice issues. Floyd’s second-grade teacher, Waynel Sexton, wrote in a Facebook post, “I taught George Perry Floyd in second grade. He was a quiet student and a good boy. He wrote of becoming a Supreme Court judge. How could his dream have turned into the nightmare of being murdered by a police officer? It just breaks my heart” (Magee, 2020). Every Black male whom language education teachers come into contact with in their classrooms could be a George Floyd, with both his aspirations and dreams and his fate of being killed at the hands of those charged with protecting and serving. This makes us wanna holler! Individuals and organizations must call out coded language and discourses that covertly racialize terms, marginalize people, and silence history, even when they come from the very institutions by which we are employed or in which we claim membership. English language education and literacy organizations have inherently embraced Crummell’s second concept of English as the “language of freedom” (p. 13). The utility and value of English literacy is at the core of these organizations’ missions, so it should be natural for us to operate in a way that is truthful, honest, and supportive of members who have been oppressed by racial and linguistic violence. For example, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is dedicated to “improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education.” In addition, NCTE describes its mission as “to promote the development of literacy, the use of language to construct personal and public worlds, and to achieve full participation in society, through the learning and teaching of English and the related arts and sciences of language” (NCTE, 2020). In its position statement1 regarding the killing of George Floyd and the BLM revolution, NCTE refers to its past and present work, urges everyone to vote in November to resolve the problem, and studiously avoids the use of the word Black. Nevertheless, it credibly offers links to explicitly anti-racist work it has produced and “member gatherings” it holds. Although it provides concrete actions, its position statement is more about the organization’s beliefs than specific commitments it will make. The Literacy Research Association (LRA) describes itself as a community of scholars dedicated to promoting research that enriches the knowledge, understanding, and development of lifespan literacies in a multicultural and multilingual world. LRA is committed to ethical research that is rigorous, methodologically diverse, and socially responsible. Central to its mission, LRA mentors and supports future generations of literacy scholars. In its position statement,2 LRA did manage to foreground anti-Blackness and anti-Black violence. It names “Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities” explicitly and directly calls for scholars to focus their energy on the dismantling of racism. It is able to refer to the work of Haddix (2019) and Willis (2019) countering deficit-based narratives, and the statement is much closer to the promises of direct action than those of many other organizations. Nevertheless, Toliver et al. (2019) highlighted the ways in which marginalized voices often go unheard at LRA conferences. One of the members said: “I dream LRA will one day commit to equity and justice, not to a superficial stance on substantive diversity that exists in name only. I dream that calls for proposals that highlight activism, love, and radical courage are met with membership-wide excitement and joy, not disdain and cynicism. I dream [that] LRA can learn to love the minoritized scholars who inhabit the space and that all members from dominant identity and academic positions will understand that making room for others does not mean they are being pushed out of the organization. LRA, as an international organization, is big enough for all of us” (p. 55). LRA still has work to do within its membership. Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) International Association’s mission is to advance the expertise of professionals who teach English to speakers of other languages in multilingual contexts worldwide. It suggests that this is accomplished through professional learning, research, standards, and advocacy. One of its core values is a commitment to equity, diversity, multilingualism, multiculturalism, and individuals’ language rights. Although its statement was one of the first to be released, it leaves a lot to be desired, as it does not go as far as many of the other statements. The position statement3 begins by describing the association’s “sadness, disgust, and anger at the senseless killing of George Floyd,” but the statement does not center anti-Blackness in the discussion, referring only to a “person of color.” In his June 2020 blog, Gerald argues that “our field of English language teaching (ELT), or TESOL, intentionally centers whiteness without naming it, and that this upholds white supremacy in a variety of harmful ways.” He decries TESOL’s statement, aptly asking TESOL members to read the message and count how many times the word Black is used. The sad truth is that Black does not appear once. And the statement can be perceived as the organization praising itself for its supposed progressivism “during uncertain and turbulent times,” lamenting that “equality and justice for all” have yet to be achieved. The buzzwords equity, diversity, multilingualism, and multiculturalism make appearances, followed by an invocation of Dr. King that manages to also implicitly condemn revolutionary action by urging “peaceful protests,” despite King’s actual beliefs and words on the subject. Finally, the International Literacy Association (ILA) manages to get much closer to the ideal for such a position statement,4 as it proposes the sort of concrete action needed for systemic change and, most importantly, commits to making changes within its own practices. The ILA criticizes the overwhelming Whiteness of academia, pledges to improve the BIPOC submission and publication rate at its journals, and unique among these organizations, discusses funding. It is, however, a bit abstract, as the association promises to “get involved in efforts to fund more literacy research that addresses inequities across racial groups” (emphasis ours), so who knows what will come of it, but any promise that excludes the reality of economic exploitation is likely to fall short. Nevertheless, the ILA’s statement was strong and a better model for language education organizations.
Fight the Power: Making the Performative Actionable In their 1990 album, Public Enemy sang “Fight the power. We’ve gotta fight the powers that be!” Now is the perfect time for (language) education organizations to fight the power. They must look critically at their policies and practices with regard to social justice issues and inclusivity. As Gerald (2020) states, “We can’t fix a problem we can’t name. And we cannot fight anti-Blackness as long as we center and remain invested in whiteness” (para. 6). We must encourage change at both the structural and individual levels. We use we deliberately, as both of us have been, or are, members of several of these organizations and have thus benefited from their work in some fashion. Nevertheless, we feel it is vital to be critical so that they might prioritize the need to be more inclusive. Education organizations must go beyond listening sessions, climate surveys, the hiring of diversity officers, and the appointment of committees. As Gerald (2020) proclaims and what organizational servant leaders are now learning is that statements must be a combination of both linguistic specificity about anti-Blackness and an action-based institutional commitment, be it past, present, or future, to dismantling oppressive systems that exist and impact their memberships. We provide an example of an action-oriented statement from an unlikely source, Raaka,5 a very small Brooklyn-based chocolate company. In the immediate aftermath of the uprising, Raaka sent out a message6 affirming “solidarity with our Black employees, friends, and neighbors.” They acknowledged those in their midst who identify as Black and who were most likely the most wounded by seeing an image of someone who looked like them be killed by the police. More importantly, they closed their online store for several days and pledged to donate their assumed proceeds to necessary causes, which they then named, an immediate financial step taken. Like Raaka, language education organizations must be able to show the ways in which they contribute financially to making their organizations more inclusive. On an annual basis, how many Black and Brown scholars are supported through organization-based fellowship and mentorship programs? Are there programs that specifically assist with the professional development of Black and Brown language/literacy graduate students and junior scholars? Are Black-identifying groups within the organization encouraged, supported, and viewed as a resource? Raaka also provided links to Black-owned chocolate companies (that is, their competitors) and urged people needing treats to spend their money there. A few days later, they reopened their store, but they provided screenshots of their donation receipts to Black organizations. Yes! Raaka was willing to provide receipts, literally. We argue that education organizations, too, must be willing to provide receipts. Are we auditing existing social justice and diversity programs to see if they are truly leveling the playing field? Are we utilizing existing structures where we can offer our services and solicit expertise? For example, Historically Black Colleges and Universities have been training language and literacy teachers from the beginning of their existence. State-funded HBCUs do not get nearly as much funding as their predominantly White counterparts (see a most informative article in Diverse Education),7 so it would be an amazing gesture for language education organizations to reach out, encourage, and support these and other U.S. minority-serving institutions by providing pro bono professional development opportunities; to consult with faculty from minority-serving institutions to assist with webinars; and to seek them out to contribute to research publications and grant-writing opportunities. In ending its statement, Raaka acknowledges, “We have a lot of work to do to be actively anti-racist as a small company, but we’re listening and learning.” Whereas most of the professional organizations are proud of what they feel they have already done, this company, in our view, has done by far the best work as it pledges to continue learning, as should all who seek to dismantle anti-Blackness, The contrast is clear and sharp, and that these organizations, composed as they are of language scholars, could not find the right words for this crucial moment is deeply disappointing, though, unfortunately, not altogether surprising.
We Will ‘Rise Up’… Hopefully In conclusion, we can only hope that (language/literacy) education organizations that benefit teachers and students within the U.S. and across the globe will rise up. The overall themes of position statements should probably not begin with claims of inclusivity and/or superior ability to make their Black and Brown members feel welcome. Like with most of the institutional structures in the U.S., there is too much evidence to the contrary. We must take this opportunity, the here and now, to acknowledge the raciolinguistic ideologies (Flores, 2020; Rosa, 2019), linguistic imperialism (Canagarajah, 2002; Phillipson, 2006), and White supremacist thought inherent in English language teaching. As language professionals who identify as Black, we will continue to do our parts in re-imagining what language organizations can be if only they take this moment to create actionable goals that are specific (related to decentering Whiteness in literacy and language teaching), measurable (monitor diversity/inclusivity goals and keep receipts as Raaka does), attainable (be realistic by utilizing the expertise of your Black and Brown members… and don’t expect this expertise to be provided for free), relevant (stay the course because acknowledging dominant positioning can be hard for those who benefit from it), and time-based (the time for equity and inclusion is now!).
References Baker-Bell, A. (2020). “Dismantling Anti-Black Linguistic Racism in English Language Arts Classrooms: Toward an anti-racist Black language pedagogy.” Theory into Practice, 59(1), 8–21. Canagarajah, S. (2008). “The Politics of English Language Teaching.” Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 1, 213–227. Cooper, A. C., and Bryan, K. C. (2020). “Reading, Writing, and Race: Sharing the Narratives of Black TESOL Professionals.” In Language Teacher Identity in TESOL (pp. 125–142). Routledge. Crummell, A. (1862). “The English Language in Liberia.” In The Future of Africa. Charles Scribner. Flores, N. (2020). “From Academic Language to Language Architecture: Challenging raciolinguistic ideologies in research and practice.” Theory into Practice, 59(1), 22–31. Gerald, JPB. (2020). “TESOL, White Supremacy, Whiteness, and Anti-Blackness.” Uncharted TESOL Blog, the New School, June 24, 2020. https://blogs.newschool.edu/unchartedtesol/2020/06/24/tesol-white-supremacy-whiteness-and-anti-blackness/ Haddix, M. (2019). Presidential address delivered at the 69th annual conference of the Literacy Research Association. https://youtu.be/2RqC0fNWCU0 Magee, N. (June 5, 2020). “George Floyd’s Second-Grade Essay Reveals He Wanted to Be a Supreme Court Justice.” theGrio. https://thegrio.com/2020/06/05/george-floyd-2nd-grade-letter-supreme-court-justice/ Phillipson, R. (2006). “Language Policy and Linguistic Imperialism.” In An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method (pp. 346–361). Rosa, J. (2019). Looking Like a Language, Sounding Like a Race. Oxford University Press. Toliver, S. R., Jones, S. P., Jimenez, L., Player, G., Rumenapp, J. C., and Munoz, J. (2019). “This Meeting at This Tree: Reimagining the town hall session.” Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 68, 45–63. DOI: 10.1177/2381336919869021 Willis, A. I. (2019). “Race, Response to Intervention and Reading Research.” Journal of Literacy Research, 51, 394–419.
Kisha C. Bryan is an advocate for language learners and literacy/language teachers who are often marginalized due to their racial, ethnic, and/or linguistic identities. She is an assistant professor of ESL education at Tennessee State University, current co-chair of the Diverse Voices Task Force in the TESOL International Association, and a 2017–2019 Literacy Research Association STAR Fellow.
JPB Gerald is an education doctoral student at CUNY–Hunter College, whose scholarship focuses on language teaching, racism, and Whiteness. You can find his public scholarship at jpbgerald.com and his excessive Twitter opinions @JPBGerald.
Mandarin Matrix is offering online classes for children learning Mandarin as a second language. The Mandarin Matrix Online Classroom is open to children in elementary school and middle school and is designed to strengthen and support the four aspects of literacy: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Newsela, a K–12 instructional content platform, has announced a partnership with NWEA to help teachers meaningfully differentiate instruction and engage all learners at a time when widening learning gaps call for even more tailored instruction. NWEA’s MAP Growth reading assessment gives educators the data needed to understand what students are ready to learn. That same data can now be used to automatically set student reading levels on Newsela.
Newsela offers authentic, relevant instructional content at five reading levels, ranging from current events and popular culture to primary sources, historical fiction, and examples of real-world phenomena. NWEA’s MAP Growth assessments support growth for students, illuminating each student’s learning needs, and help teachers to target instruction and administrators to make well-informed system-wide decisions. Used together, Newsela and MAP Growth will help districts to quickly know students’ starting points and provide authentic content they can access.
“When teachers assess their students, there should be zero lag time between receiving assessment results and plunging into lessons that are powered by hyper-engaging, authentic content that specifically addresses the assessment results,” said Matthew Gross, CEO of Newsela. “By combining NWEA’s premier benchmark assessments with Newsela content that students love, teachers can finally achieve that goal.”
Newsela customers will be able to opt in to connecting NWEA MAP Growth data and Newsela together, and when they assess their students using MAP Growth, the data will be used to automatically set the students’ reading levels. They can then differentiate instruction with Newsela content using the Lexile® measure of reading level. The next time students take the MAP Growth assessment, their Newsela reading levels will be updated automatically, so instruction will continue to meet them where they are.
“As the education community turns its attention toward recovery from COVID-19 school disruptions, having powerful tools that integrate quality growth data with instruction is critical,” said Chris Minnich, CEO of NWEA. “I am excited for this partnership with Newsela that will help enhance the abilities of educators and ultimately help all kids learn.”
According to a new report by the Pew Research Center, only 23% of U.S. adults who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino have heard of the term Latinx, and just 3% say they use it to describe themselves, according to a nationally representative, bilingual survey of U.S.Hispanic adults conducted in December 2019 by Pew Research Center. The gender-neutral pan-ethnic label has emerged as an alternative to Hispanic and Latino, and has been used by media outlets, corporations, governments, and universities alike to describe the nation’s Hispanic population.
The term Latinx came into the cultural mainstream when many countries and cultures were aiming to begin using more gender neutral pronouns in different languages. The term was officially added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2018, and according to the dictionary’s website, “The male/female binary is inherent in the Spanish language, which lacks a neuter noun form. Thus, nouns are either masculine, generally indicated by an “-o” ending (Latino), or feminine, indicated by “-a” (Latina). The same applies to Portuguese and other Western Iberian languages. Latinx purposefully breaks with Spanish’s gendered grammatical tradition. X signifies something unknown and is used in Latinx to connote unspecified gender. A similar use of “x” is in Mx., a gender-neutral title of courtesy that is used in place of gendered titles, such as Mr. and Ms. It has been suggested that the use of “x” in Mx. influenced Latinx.”
According to the Pew Research Center, While only about a quarter of U.S. Hispanics say they have heard the term Latinx, awareness and use vary across different subgroups. Young Hispanics, ages 18 to 29, are among the most likely to have heard of the term – 42% say they have heard of it, compared with 7% of those ages 65 or older. Hispanics with college experience are more likely to be aware of Latinx than those without college experience; about four-in-ten Hispanic college graduates (38%) say they have heard of Latinx, as do 31% of those with some college experience. By comparison, just 14% of those with a high school diploma or less are aware of the term. In addition, the U.S. born are more likely than the foreign born to have heard the term (32% vs . 16%), and Hispanics who are predominantly English speakers or bilingual are more likely than those who mainly speak Spanish to say the same (29% for both vs . 7%). Young Hispanic women are among the the most likely to use the term.
Among those aware of Latinx, one-in -three say it should be used to describe the nation’s Hispanic or Latino population. Across demographic subgroups, the term Hispanic is preferred by about half or more of respondents. Those who are third generation or higher (72%) are among the most likely to prefer
Hispanic. Even among those who have heard the term Latinx, 50% say they prefer Hispanic to describe the nation’s Hispanic or Latino population.Meanwhile, immigrants, college graduates and predominantly those who speak mainly Spanish are among the most likely to prefer the term Latino.
With its background in substitute teacher placement, Swing Education is answering the need of families seeking in-home teachers to help their children with distance learning during school closures with its Bubbles service. This new service, created in response to families wanting to create small in-home learning groups called pandemic pods or learning pods, where students complete distance learning assignments at home with the support of an in-person teacher, utilizes Swing’s extensive network of classroom teachers to match families with qualified K–12 educators.
Parents can request a teacher for a learning pod of anywhere from two to eight students. The company uses a comprehensive matching process to quickly find the best-fit teacher for the learning pod. All educators are W-2 employees and undergo and complete an extensive screening, including fingerprinting, background checks, and health screens.
Swing Education handles the teacher and pod agreements, as well as weekly teacher payroll, to make the process as easy and streamlined as possible for families. All participating families have ongoing access to the learning pod support team.
Swing Education is also working with funders to provide scholarships for students from low-income families or children of teachers in order to make Bubbles accessible to as many families as possible.
The Bubbles service is currently available for families in California, Arizona, Texas, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, DC.
The Centre for Education & Training (TCET) has announced a program to provide free English and French language assessments and referrals to training. TCET’s Language Assessment Services is funded in part by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada and by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.
Since 1992, TCET have assessed the language proficiency of over 310,000 immigrants to Canada, and referred them to a variety of federally and provincially funded language courses and programs.
Federally-funded Language Training Programs include:
LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada)
ELT (Enhanced Language Training)
OSLT (Occupation Specific Language Training)
LINC Home Study
CLIC (Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada)
CLIC en ligne
Provincially-funded Language Training Programs include:
ESL (English as a Second Language)
SLT (Specialized Language Training)
BTW (Bridge to Work)
FSL (French as a Second Language)
Since late March, they have been delivering services remotely in response to COVID-19. Their language assessment team continued to connect with clients, answer their questions, and provide them with resources to explore while waiting for a language assessment. They have worked hard to remain available to those who depend on our services.
Their assessment team is very pleased to share that they are now conducting online language assessments. Available in English and French, these FREE online assessments are low stakes, task-based assessment instruments based on the 12 Canadian Language Benchmarks. In two language skill areas of Reading and Listening, the tools assess general English or French proficiency on a scale from Benchmark 1 to 8.
As the new school year nears, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is offering advice for parents of the more than 1 million U.S. children who receive school-based treatment for speech and language disorders to help their children perform and adjust to new virtual and modified in-person learning environments.
Virtual Settings
Below are some specific challenges that children with speech and language disorders may have in virtual settings—and tips for improving their success.
Challenge #1: Being Understood. For example, a child who has trouble with pronouncing certain sounds, or a child who stutters, may be harder to understand via remote connection.
How to Help: Parents can make sure their teacher knows what supports or strategies the child needs. These may include asking a child to repeat what they said, say it using different words, type it in the chat, draw it on a whiteboard, or use gestures if others don’t understand. Parents also can encourage the teacher and classmates to tell the child if they don’t understand them.
Challenge #2: Understanding. For example, a child with a language disorder or social communication disorder may miss certain cues from the teacher that normally occur in person and that aid in comprehension—such as pointing to portions of the text when reading.
How to Help: Make sure that the teacher knows what supports or strategies your child may need. These may include use of captioning, additional “wait time” to allow the child to process information, or rephrasing of messages if the child doesn’t seem to understand. Parents can encourage their child to speak up if they didn’t understand—and even develop a script for doing so (e.g., “I didn’t get it—say it again, please”).
Challenge #3: Distraction. Children with speech and language disorders may be more easily distracted—by other children on the screen, noises or activities occurring in their own home, or the learning platform/technology itself.
How to Help: Consider the physical setup of the child’s work area, such as seating comfort, screen glare, and lighting. Try to find a quiet spot, accounting for noise from appliances (e.g., dishwasher, washer/dryer); from other people in the house; or from outside (e.g., from open windows). Eliminate technology-based distractions by closing other applications, turning off alerts, and covering distracting parts of the screen (e.g., their own image or those of particular classmates) with sticky notes.
Challenge #4: Social Isolation/Limited Social Practice. Children with language disorders and social communication disorders generally require lots of interaction with peers to improve social skills.
How to Help: Ask the teacher if it’s possible to use breakout rooms with smaller groups for some lessons or set up after-school virtual activities. Organize phone calls and virtual play dates. Use social stories (short stories that illustrate a particular situation that may be challenging for children) to help explain the need for separation.
Challenge #5: Screen Fatigue. This is an issue for all children, but for those with speech and language disorders who put more effort into communication under normal circumstances, the extra energy it takes to communicate virtually can make them especially susceptible to screen fatigue.
How to Help: Make room in the daily schedule for “ramp-up time” if a child needs additional time to get ready to learn or “cool-down time” to transition out of learning. Using a visual schedule to show the times for various tasks—and to highlight upcoming fun activities or breaks—can help. Also, provide lots of movement opportunities: pair review of educational content with physical activity (e.g., practice times tables during a walk around the block), and alternate educational time with physical time, when possible.
Challenge #6: Participation in Asynchronous Activities. Students may struggle to stay motivated or complete activities that are expected to occur outside of live class time, such as watching pre-recorded videos.
How to Help: Consider the timing of meals, sleep, medication, and sibling schedules to find the best time to complete these tasks.
Challenge #7: Role of Parent as Facilitator/Educator. A pain point for many families, parents of children with speech and language disorders have additional challenges as they try to help their child with school while also meeting their unique needs.
How to Help: Communicate with the teacher and school speech-language pathologist about challenges. Parents can even take a video of some challenges in action so professionals can offer feedback. Use a visual schedule to show “practice with mom” or “homework with dad” time. Consider cooperative groups or pods to share responsibilities with other families if you feel it’s safe (share your child’s communication needs with other parents or helpers).
In-Person Settings
The physical school environment will look very different, and change can be especially hard for children with speech and language disorders.
Challenge #1: Changes From Familiar Routines. New restrictions on where children can go in the building, where they eat lunch, where they have recess, and who they work and share materials with will require them to “un-learn” much of what they know. Children may also be challenged by new seating and classroom arrangements, and restricted interactions (e.g., no hugs, high fives, or fist bumps).
How to Help: Help a child be prepared for these changes—use social stories, visual schedules, and other visual supports to help set expectations. Have them practice telling the teacher if they’re not feeling well or need to use the bathroom.
Challenge #2: Mask/Face Covering Use by Students. Students may be bothered by masks or find them uncomfortable. They also won’t be able to see facial expressions and other visual cues that aid in communication with their peers when solid face coverings are used.
How to Help: Use social stories on wearing a mask, decorate and personalize the child’s mask, have them practice wearing the mask at home for longer periods of time to increase tolerance, and help them identify a “mask model”—someone the child looks up to who wears a mask. Practice using and interpreting facial expressions using the eyes and upper part of the face at home with the child.
Challenge #3: Mask Use by Teachers/School Staff. Limited physical views of facial expressions makes understanding the teacher’s meaning, intent, and emotion more difficult. It also may be harder to recognize familiar people.
How to Help: Review pictures of friends, teachers, and staff without masks—and talk about how a child can identify those people (e.g., focus their attention to the person’s eyes, hair, and other distinguishing features).
Challenge #4:Following infection control routines. The need for frequent handwashing or use of hand sanitizer may be difficult to understand for some children.
How to Help: Social stories, visual schedules, sharing videos from familiar favorites (e.g., Sesame Street), or timing 30 seconds of handwashing to favorite songs can all help. Some children may be taking part in hybrid scenarios this fall, which can pose the challenges presented by both virtual and in-person settings—as well as the added challenge of a constantly varying routine. In such cases, visual schedules, checklists, and large color-coded wall calendars are helpful for children with speech and language disorders.
A new study, Education and Cognitive Functioning Across the Life Span published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest links brain benefits over the span of a lifetime to increased education. The new study states that the number of years of formal education completed by individuals is positively correlated with their cognitive function throughout adulthood and predicts lower risk of dementia late in life. However, contrary to that proposition, the study finds that associations between education and aging-associated cognitive declines are negligible and that a threshold model of dementia can account for the association between educational attainment and late-life dementia risk.
Essentially, this means that people with more education have a higher level of mental function in early and middle adulthood, so the effects of brain aging are less obvious initially. These individuals who have increased education throughout their lives may have a longer period of mental impairment before going below the “functional threshold” — the point when brain decline becomes so obvious it interferes with daily activities, the study authors explained. This means that increased education can essentially extend the amount of time before dementia kicks in to become unavoidable. “Improving the conditions that shape development during the first decades of life carries great potential for improving cognitive ability in early adulthood and for reducing public-health burdens related to cognitive aging and dementia,” researchers stated.
The study goes on to state that there may be benefits in delineating the models of education from childhood, adolescence, and into early adulthood, instead reserving intensive education experiences for middle and later adulthood. “Our review strongly suggests that investments during these earlier periods of life might reduce the individual and societal costs associated with late-life cognitive impairments and dementia—not because individuals will show less cognitive decline when they are older but because they will be able to afford more decline before reaching a threshold below which they no longer can lead independent lives,” the study goes on to say.
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