Poster for annual celebration of World Braille Day (January 4) with text World Braille Day made by braille alphabet
Today (January 4) was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly last November as World Braille Day to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication for blind and partially sighted people.
The World Health Organization(WHO)
reports that people who are visually impaired are more likely than those with
full sight to experience higher rates of poverty and disadvantages which can
amount to a lifetime of inequality.
There are an estimated 39 million blind people worldwide, while another 253
million have some sort of vision impairment. For many of them, Braille provides
a tactical representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols, so they can read
the same books and periodicals printed as are available in standard text form.
Hands reading Braille
The
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD)
cites Braille as a means of communication; and regards it as essential in
education, freedom of expression and opinion, access to information and social
inclusion for those who use it.
To foster more accessible and disability-inclusive societies, the UN
launched its first-ever flagship
report on disability and development last year, coinciding with the
International Day for Persons with Disabilities on which Secretary General
António Guterres urged the international community to take part in filling
inclusion gaps.
“Let us reaffirm our commitment to work together for an inclusive and
equitable world, where the rights of people with disabilities are fully
realized,” he said.
What
is Braille?
Braille is a tactile representation
of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots to represent each letter and
number, and even musical, mathematical and scientific symbols. Braille (named
after its inventor in 19th century France, Louis Braille) is used by blind and
partially sighted people to read the same books and periodicals as those
printed in a visual font. Use of braille allows the communication of important
information to and from individuals who are blind or partially sighted,
ensuring competency, independence and equality.
Braille English alphabet letters
Night writing, the precursor to Braille, was invented by
French army officer Charles Barbier. It was intended for use by soldiers as a
means of communicating at night without the use of sound and light. Ultimately,
the French military rejected night writing, claiming it was too difficult for
soldiers to use. While attending France’s Royal Institute for Blind Youth,
Louis Braille learned of Barbier’s invention and attempted to improve upon it.
Braille published his work in 1829 and it has since been adapted to many of the
world’s languages.
The Valentin Haüy Association, where Louis Braille worked over a hundred
years ago, continues to promote the use of Braille in France, while translating
documents and books into the language.
It is also trying to find ways to ensure that Braille, and its readers, move
into the digital age – including helping people learn to use digital braille
keyboards, print braille papers, and make websites accessible.
Currently, less than 10% of French internet sites are accessible to people
with a visual, hearing, or motor disability.
Alberta’s government plans to spend $6 million dollars over the next two years to help establish a new program that will bring Indigenous language education into classrooms across the province. “We know that two thirds of Indigenous languages spoken in Canada are at risk, but I can say as well language can live and breathe and grow again if we nurture it,” said Alberta’s Minister of Education David Eggen. “This program will be the first in Canada focused on increasing Indigenous language teacher capacity and expanding resources development for kindergarten to Grade 12 of all Indigenous languages.”
The grant program will provide funding through two streams. The instructor development stream will provide $4 million in funding over two years to First Nations colleges and universities and Indigenous organizations that have a primary mandate to train early childhood education and kindergarten to Grade 12 language instructors in Indigenous languages.
The second stream – the resource development stream – will provide $2 million over two years to organizations that have expertise in developing Indigenous language resources. This will include First Nations and Métis communities, Indigenous organizations and provincial school jurisdictions and post-secondary institutions that partner with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities and organizations.
The deadline for organizations to apply for the funding was Dec. 18, 2018.
Views on the classification of interpreters and translators will be on offer in Huntington Beach, California.
The Association of Language Companies (ALC) will be hosting its annual UNConference January 17-19, in Huntington Beach, California. While this gathering of the brightest minds and leaders in the language service industry always sparks meaningful conversation and idea-sharing, this year’s UNConference features a special focus on the worker classification issue, an issue that has the potential to have profound effects on the industry and on the many sectors of the economy that it serves.
About the
worker classification issue and its effects on the language service industry
Language service companies (LSCs) traditionally utilize either an independent contractor model (75%+ of industry) or a regular employee model when engaging with professional linguists to complete specialized language service projects, like translation and interpreting. The Dynamex ruling puts standards in effect that make it very difficult to operate with an independent contractor model at all – meaning that with an employee model, LSC’s would incur the costs of providing benefits to workers that perform linguistic tasks which increases costs of services to the public and educational sector. Furthermore, some governmental linguists could also be limited in terms of work due to their inability to work outside of the government instead of as an independent contractor.
“Some misguided
people have tried to compare linguists with commoditized ‘gig
economy’ workers, like ride-share drivers or other types of temporary
workers; however, it is critical to realize how incorrect that assertion would
be, since translators and interpreters are highly trained
professionals who have high standards and requirements to be able to
adequately perform the work,” states Rick Antezana, ALC President.
“It is much more
accurate to say that linguists should be classified as ‘knowledge
economy’ workers, since the barrier for entry into performing their duties
is so much higher than the ‘gig economy’ jobs.”
“Translators and
interpreters… perform work in critical and high-risk (sometimes life critical)
areas, such as translating content for pharmaceutical products and medical
devices or interpreting for government officials, in emergency rooms and in
court.”
On August 8, 2018, leaders from the language service industry gathered in Washington DC for the first ALC Advocacy Forum—where they met to strategize their efforts as an industry in response to new, disruptive employee classification regulations—in particular, the Dynamex ruling in California, which narrowed the definition of which workers can be classified as “independent contractors.” The event was organized by ALC in partnership with JNCL-NCLIS.
In January, in California near the heart of these legal developments, and with the help of a panel of industry experts, the conversations, and organization efforts continue.
Trey Calvin explains how to advocate for America’s languages
Imagine if we thought about math the same way we think about world languages in our school system in the U.S. today. Ever thought what that might look like?
To start, most American students wouldn’t even have to worry about studying simple addition and subtraction until high school. And because of the current gap of qualified teachers, students taking sequenced math courses, like algebra I and II, would be forced into the same class period performing the same tasks. But that’s ok, because being proficient enough to grasp Algebra II would require graduate school level training, out of reach for the majority of pupils. The scope and sequence of the Sciences, for instance, would be limited by the level of math proficiency students brought to the classroom. Of course, this is not the case, nor will it be. Subjects like math, science, and English are perceived as the foundations of a basic education, a right provided to all students in order to prepare them to participate in civic life and have more opportunities than the previous generation. But languages are becoming an education right in our society. As our country becomes more diverse, our economy becomes more global, bilingualism is the new prerequisite in fulfilling the promise we make to our students. A 2016 research paper entitled, “Realizing the Economic Advantages of a Multilingual Workforce,” makes the case that because of the social and economic drivers “in the 21st century, language will be as important to business as technology was in the last century.” If we believe that the future is multilingual, then literacy in math is just as important to civic life as literacy in several languages.
Being armed with talking points and data on the importance of languages to national security, the economy, and society doesn’t ameliorate the challenges we face; it merely exposes the gap between awareness and action. Bridging this gap is the purpose of advocacy. Whether you are participating in your local PTA, starting a Seal of Biliteracy program, or writing letters to elected representatives, by communicating with those in power about issues that concern you or your stakeholders, you are an advocate. So, what are best-practices in advocating for a cause? How do you nudge people to take action on an issue that may not even be on their radar?
Preaching to the Choir Back when I started working on political campaigns, I noticed a common practice that I believed was counter-intuitive to the art of persuasion. To me, elections were about presenting all voters with a choice, winning over as many as possible through well-argued policy solutions to issues that mattered to them. Imagine my surprise when the senior political staff would send our candidate to stump in overwhelming “friendly” locations. Our polling showed that this or that neighborhood were already likely to vote for us. I asked why we were sending the candidate out to preach to the choir.
“Because that’s how you get them to sing,” came the shrewd reply. In political campaigning where the winner is the one who has mobilized their base or choir most effectively, this sort of “get out the vote” tactic (GOTV) is key. That means that finding and energizing those who already support you or your cause will be the single largest determining factor of your success. You might see how we can adapt this empowering tool to issue-advocacy campaigns like promoting language learning in the U.S., especially using online media sources. A search for hashtags like #langchat #languagepolicy #leadwithlanguages #2bilit2quit on Twitter surfaces thousands of posts that show the latest research statistics on the world language teacher shortage, or highlight recent Seal of Biliteracy recipients from around the country.
On the other hand, awareness is only the first step in creating change, and can sometimes yield mixed results. In February ahead of our annual Lobby Day in Washington, DC, my organization organized a Twitter campaign to amply support of a House Bill called the “World Languages Advancement and Readiness Act.” People were asked to share the tweet, which contained a link to contact Congress via a letter writing tool. In total, each person had to click 4 or 5 times to share and send the letter. At first, we claimed success: the message reached 500,000 people via social media in the first 24 hours, and our hashtag was even trending at one point. A week later, I took a peek at how many people participated in the letter writing campaign: less than 1% took the next step to write their representatives (it was a pre-written letter, by the way).
Later when we analyzed the results, we found that most people who took the next step to send the letter were repeat advocates, people with whom we had established a relationship in the past. Advocacy moments like these can be frustrating because not all advocacy is equal in impact, nor are all advocacy results easily measurable. In one sense, the campaign succeeded in getting our strongest advocates involved. In another, we simply were not reaching beyond our territory. In moving from awareness to action, we must understand both the importance and the limitation of this tactic. At its best, GOTV tactics generate a feel-good buzz that is good for sustaining the attention of your direct or peripheral supporters. At its worst, GOTV turns into slacktivism: scroll, share, repeat. A 2016 research paper published in the Harvard Business Review1 looked at the effectiveness of a number of issue-advocacy campaigns. The authors landed on several elements, or best-practices, that bridged the gap between what campaigns said to what they achieved. I’ve highlighted the top three:
Simple and inspiring messaging: what you call your campaign matters. Center your campaign around one or two fascinating facts that provide context for the rest of your story.
Strong visual storytelling: studies show people read only about 20% of today’s web pages and are driven more by an image or short video than they are by a text-based, fully rational appeal. There are free design tools online (Canva, Typito) to help you create infographics to drive your story. Focus on a big issue coupled with a request for a small personal action: while most campaigns are calling people’s attention to a big issue, they need to ask them to do something small as a next step and a sign of commitment.
Putting America’s Languages on the Map
In 2014, a bipartisan group of members of Congress asked the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) to undertake a new study of the nation’s language education needs. In response to this request, the Academy created the Commission on Language Learning. The Commission’s final report, “America’s Languages: Investing in Language Learning for the 21st Century2,” was released in 2017 and offers concrete recommendations to improve access to as many languages as possible, for people of every age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. Today, the Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL) is part of a national working group tasked with expanding awareness of the report’s five top-line recommendations:
Increase World Language Teacher Supply
Establish Public-Private Partnerships
Support Heritage Language Learners
Support Native American Languages
Promote International Study
The goal of the working group is to bridge the gap between awareness and action. Our newest tool in development, www.AmericasLanguages.com takes a new approach by setting up an online resource that highlights best-practices and programs that are working to enact any one of the five recommendation of the report. The tool maps out actions already being taken and invites stakeholders in language education –from educators to policymakers– to see and hear success stories across the nation through a dynamic and searchable map. The idea is that by positively recognizing best-practices of programs already doing so much, we can both nudge would-be advocates into replicating these programs and raise awareness of the five recommendations to their networks. At the same time, mapping America’s Languages creates a tangible connection between educators to policymakers, help to closing the awareness-action gap just a little bit more.
Issues During the 116th Congress In recent years, multiple reports have cited shortfalls of languages and culture skills in the U.S. military and intelligence community, finding that our nation’s language deficit could threaten our priorities and missions around the globe. Meanwhile, American business and their clientele are diversifying and globalizing their operations, requiring language skills to access global markets and serve a multilingual population. Research demonstrates that a second language is most easily acquired in one’s youth. Bilingual individuals outperform their monolingual peers in academic achievement, college matriculation rates, job placement, salary earnings, and age-related cognitive decline. Strategic investment in world language learning is therefore best leveraged through elementary and secondary school programs.
For these reasons, JNCL-NCLIS will reintroduce bipartisan legislation into the House and Senate called the World Language Advancement and Readiness Act, to establish high-quality world language programs in our nation’s elementary and secondary schools. The bill would allow the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Education, to authorize competitive grants to support local and state school districts that want to establish, improve, or expand innovative programs in world language learning for elementary and secondary school students.
Also at the start the 116th Congress, JNCL-NCLIS will launch the mapping tool during our annual Language Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill. This year’s theme, America’s Languages, will take center stage as we host advocates from all over the United States concerned about language learning. Language Advocacy Day is both a policy summit with topical sessions on the state of language advocacy in the US, as well as a Capitol Hill visit with 100+ of meetings with Legislative and Executive branches of government. You can learn more about how to participate in these campaigns and more at www.LanguagePolicy.org.
JNCL-NCLIS Appropriations and Legislative Priorities for FY2019 and FY2020.
Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) – Title VI: International and Foreign Language Education Office: NCLIS notes that the FY18 budget request decreases funding to the International and Foreign Language Education (IFLE) programs of the US Department of Education by almost $5m, from the current $72m to $67m. This cut, directed at the overseas programs of IFLE, will significantly damage the Fulbright-Hays programs. We note that, if enacted, this funding level will still remain more than $50m below the FY11 levels. NCLIS requests robust funding for these programs, at or above the FY17 levels, for the remainder of 2018 and for 2019. Increase funding for Title IV, Part A of ESSA – Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (SSAEGs): NCLIS notes that this formula block grant was boosted from $400 million to $1.17 billion in FY19. NCLIS requests that the overall funding increased to the originally Congressionally-approved level of $1.65 billion.
Keep the Office of English Language Acquisition Intact, as established in Title III of ESSA: NCLIS welcomes the request of $800m in 2017 for Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which focuses on English language acquisition among ELLs. NCLIS requests the same level of funding, $800m, FY19. However, the Department of Education has proposed the reorganization of OELA and expects to reveal its plans in January 2019. Defense Language and National Security Education Office (DLNSEO): NCLIS requests robust funding at or above the FY17 level, as well the as the statutory funding level for the National Security Education Program of $16m from the Intelligence budget. NCLIS supports the $1.625m proposed increase in the House draft bill for the Arabic Flagship program. Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC): DLIFLC is the world’s largest language school, and NCLIS requests that Congress fund it at FY17 levels, at $301m, for the remainder of FY18 and requests robust funding at or above FY18 levels for FY19.
Correct the Inaccuracies in Prevailing Wages Rate Determinations for Translators and Interpreters: Translation and interpreting services are frequently procured by the federal government through the General Services Administration (GSA), which requires contractors to compensate employees no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits determined by the Department of Labor. However, current prevailing wage rates for translators and interpreters are inaccurate due to limitations in the survey methodology, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) surveys only regular W-2 employees, while the vast majority of the language workforce is composed of independent contractors. NCLIS recommends that the GAO examine the appropriateness of the OES methodology for industries where the majority of the workforce is composed of Independent Contractors, and the impact of potentially inaccurate prevailing wages on GSA and other government contracting activities in these industries.
Utilize the Trade-Off Model for Language Service Companies: When the government contracts for language services, it solicits and reviews bids using the Lowest Price Technically Available (LPTA) Model, which prioritizes the cost of service and aims to select the bid that offers the lowest price for performance while meeting the minimum technical standard required for the task. The Tradeoff model allows the contractor to prioritize non-cost factors like performance indicators, past performance, risk aversion, reliability, and innovation. NCLIS recommends that, in FY19, the Armed Services Committee should request the Department of Defense to report on the use of LPTA, Tradeoff, and other contracting approaches for the procurement of language services.
Trey Calvin is managing policy analyst at JNCL-NCLIS. The Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL), is a non-partisan 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to ensure that Americans have the opportunity to learn English and at least one other language. Their mission guides their approach to policy, which is why they contend that languages are essential to promote job growth in the 21st century, ensure a robust national security strategy, and to enact social justice practices in our ever-diversifying country.
The National Council on Languages and International Studies (NCLIS) directly lobbies the Legislative and Executive branches of government. JNCL-NCLIS was founded in 1974 in Washington, DC as the policy and lobbying arm for several other major state and national language organizations. It represents a broad coalition of over 150 national and state organizations promoting the language enterprise. www.LanguagePolicy.org
During last month’s midterm elections, education reform was a big issue in many races across the nation. The creation of more charter schools is at the core of most “reformist” agendas, but despite many success stories and the attraction to parents of “school choice,” the idea that charter schools are some sort of silver bullet that will alone improve educational outcomes may seriously undermine the provision of quality public education for all students, especially those who are disadvantaged, minority, or speak English as a second language.
There are about 7,000 charter schools in 42 states and the District of Columbia that operate as autonomous public schools, freeing them from many of the procedural requirements of school districts. They range from small, independent, not-for-profit elementary schools to multimillion-dollar, statewide virtual academies with thousands of students. It’s logical to believe that independently managed schools can better adapt to the learning requirements of diverse communities than schools which are centrally directed. However, it seems that the charter school movement is being hijacked by activists more interested in weakening teachers’ collective bargaining strength than providing diverse educational options. Unfortunately, some supporters of charter schools see them as a way to wrest power and funding from school districts and teacher unions. Between 2009 and 2012, the share of charter schools implementing performance-based compensation increased from 19 to 37%, while the percentage that is unionized decreased from twelve to seven.
“Unfortunately, some supporters of charter schools see them as a way to wrest power and funding from school districts and teacher unions.”
In California, a record $50 million was spent on a battle between two Democrats with pretty similar agendas but different approaches to charter schools. The eventual winner, Tony Thurmond (see p. 11), follows the “proceed with caution” approach when it comes to charters, whereas his rival, Marshall Tuck, is a big supporter of charters unless they are for profit. New governors—many of them Democrats—are expected to propose ambitious budgets with new ways of funding their K–12 systems. This fresh crop of governors and state board members will likely lead to big turnover of state school superintendents in places where they are appointed and to calls for the creation of more charter schools.
In Nevada (see p. 10), there have been recent calls to overhaul the education funding formula to generate more money for certain students, like English language learners, those with disabilities, gifted and talented students, and children from low-income families.
Charter schools have provided a valuable opportunity for educational innovation, and many have become shining examples of excellence. This is especially true of the many dual-language charter schools that have been created over the last few years to meet the needs of students who are multilingual or want to be. Indeed, the fundamental concept that independently managed charter schools are better positioned to serve the needs of a diverse student population than their traditional counterparts seems unquestionable. However, charter schools come in many forms—some are even for profit—and there is little evidence to support the claim that they are more successful than other schools. Our educational challenges are not going to be overcome by simply changing the management structure of our school systems, but charter schools can and should be part of the solution as long as teachers’ rights are not restricted and adequate funding is directed to the students most in need.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) (Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)
According to the agenda for 2019 posted on its website, the U.S. Department of Education’s internal watchdog, the Office of the Inspector General, will be examining the department’s controversial process for dismissing civil rights complaints.
In July, Representative Maxine Waters (D-California) introduced the Education Department Civil Rights Transparency Act, which was co-sponsored by 20 other members of Congress. The legislation would require the U.S. Department of Education to reveal which schools have been accused of violating students’ civil rights, as well as any corrective actions or other resolutions of its probes. For complaints it declined to investigate, the department would have to publicly explain why.
Recently, the department announced that it is only planning to investigate certain potential civil rights violations, whereas it looked at every complaint for potential evidence of systemic discrimination during the Obama administration.
The OIG will examine the department’s oversight of state accountability systems developed under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), paying special attention to the identification of schools and improvement plans. It will also see if the department is properly overseeing the Student Support and Academic Enrichment grants, a $1.1 billion block grant created under ESSA which can be used for a wide variety of purposes, including school safety, counseling, arts education, and college and career readiness.
Management of the $2.5 billion in disaster recovery funds, which were allocated to help K–12 school districts and colleges affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, or Maria or the 2017 California wildfires, will also be scrutinized.
According to a new study, sign languages can help reveal hidden aspects of the logical structure of spoken language, but they also highlight its limitations because speech lacks the rich iconic resources that sign language uses on top of its sophisticated grammar. The study, published in Theoretical Linguistics, is the culmination of more than eight years of research on French Sign Language and American Sign Language (ASL) by Philippe Schlenker, a senior researcher at Institut Jean-Nicod within France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and a global distinguished professor at New York University. Sign languages are considered grammatically very sophisticated and offer unique insights on how meaning works in language in general. In several cases, they make visible a logical structure that must be inferred indirectly in spoken language. For instance, the logical structure of the English sentence “Sarkozy told Obama that he would be elected” is conveyed more transparently in sign language. The English sentence is ambiguous, Schlenker explains, as “he” can refer to Sarkozy or to Obama. Linguists have postulated that this is because the sentence contains some unpronounced—but cognitively real—logical variables like x and y. If the sentence is understood as “Sarkozy(x) told Obama(y) that he(x) would be elected,” with the same variable x on “Sarkozy” and on “he,” the pronoun refers to Sarkozy; if instead “he” carries the variable y, it refers to Obama. Remarkably, in sign language the variables x and y can be visibly realized by positions in space, e.g., by signing Sarkozy on the left and Obama on the right. The pronoun “he” is realized by index pointing. If it points toward the left, it refers to Sarkozy; if it points toward the right, it refers to Obama. Left and right are the visible realization of the unpronounced variables x and y. But sign languages do not just reveal the hidden logical structure of spoken language: they also highlight some of its limitations. While some spoken words can be iconically modulated to resemble what they refer to (think of the word looooooong to mean “very long”), this is a rare occurrence. “By contrast, iconic modulations are entirely common in sign language,” Schlenker observes. He points to the ASL verb for grow (as in “my group has been growing”), which may be signed with broader endpoints to denote a larger growth and may be realized more quickly to represent a quicker growth. “One and the same expression may simultaneously be logical and iconic, as is the case with pronouns,” adds Schlenker, who has previously co-authored work with Deaf consultants and researchers. “If referring to a very tall individual standing, one can point upwards because the head of the person is high; but if the tall person is hanging upside down, one will point downwards instead: the logical variable has a dual life as a simplified picture of the person it denotes.” “Along some dimensions, sign languages are more expressive than spoken language because they combine the same kind of logical resources with far richer iconic means,” he concludes. “They are, in a sense, ‘super languages’—and they have a unique contribution to make to our understanding of human meaning.” The study is available at https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/thli.2018.44.issue-3-4/
Telemundo plans to debut an English-language newscast on YouTube in third-quarter 2019.
The objective is to reach young, millennial Hispanics with news relevant to the demographic. The platform was chosen because U.S. Hispanics over-index on YouTube, notes Romina Rosado, senior vice president of digital media and emerging business, Telemundo Digital Enterprises.
The average age for U.S. Hispanic YouTube users is 27, per Nielsen.
Rosado says the future 20-minute newscast will be monetized through ads and sponsorship, as well as a revenue-share arrangement with YouTube.
The newscast is thanks, in part, to a Google News Innovation YouTube grant, which focuses on empowering news organizations and business models that can sustain growth.
It will be the first Noticias Telemundo production outside the traditional Telemundo platform. (Telemundo has had a YouTube platform since 2007.
“We want to appeal to young Latinos living here in the U.S. who are bilingual and bicultural. We call them “200%ers”: 100% Latino and 100% American. For them, language and platform are simply choices,” says a Telemundo rep.
A major news provider for U.S. Hispanics, the company’s newscasts include “Noticias Telemundo Fin de Semana” with Julio Vaqueiro, “Noticias Telemundo Mediodía” with Felicidad Aveleyra, and the Sunday current affairs show “Enfoque con José Díaz-Balart.”
Telemundo’s goal, Rosado adds, is to “reinvent the traditional broadcast news for the LatinX generation: the multicultural, multiracial, mobile, millennials in the United States.”
During November’s International Education Week, the U.S. Department of Education released its revised international education strategy, “Succeeding Globally through International Education and Engagement,” which starts with the following paragraph: “Today more than ever, an effective domestic education agenda must aim to develop a globally and culturally competent citizenry. It is not enough to focus solely on reading, writing, mathematics, and science skills. Today’s world also requires critical thinking and creativity to solve complex problems, well-honed communication skills, the ability to speak world languages, and advanced mathematics, science, and technical skills.”
Through the new policy guidelines, the department stresses the value of world language education and acknowledges that students must “anticipate and adapt” by mastering “broadly transferable and versatile competencies” like “cultural intelligences,” but there is no mention of funding increases to support world language education.
The report is available at https://sites.ed.gov/international/files/2018/11/Succeeding-Globally-Through-International-Education-and-Engagement-Update-2018.pdf.
The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People’s is well-timed for UNESCO to launch a special website (link is external)
dedicated to the International Year of Indigenous languages (IY2019)
which will be commemorated by UNESCO’s members and partners throughout
2019.
The website will contribute to raising the awareness about this
International Year and about the urgent need to preserve, revitalize and
promote indigenous languages around the world. There are some
6.000-7.000 languages in the world today. About 97% of the world’s
population speaks only 4 % of these languages, while only 3 % of the
world speak 96% of all remaining languages. A great majority of those
languages, spoken mainly by indigenous peoples, will continue to
disappear at an alarming rate. Without appropriate measure to address
this issue, the further loss of languages and their associated history,
traditions and memory would considerably reduce the rich tapestry of
linguistic diversity worldwide.
On the website iyil2019.org (link is external),
relevant stakeholders and interested parties can find information about
the plans for celebrating the IY2019, the actions and measures to be
taken by United Nations Agencies, Governments, indigenous peoples’
organizations, civil society, academia, public and private sector, and
other interested entities. Furthermore, this website will include a
calendar of events, partners’ space for collaboration, access to
resources in video, audio, image and text formats, and information about
different partnership modalities and sponsorship benefits. Users will
learn as well about events in their respective regions, discover how to
participate, contribute and benefit from the rich variety of activities.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
