All of the Nordic languages; Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian are descended from Old Norse, the language of the Vikings. These languages have all evolved in different ways over the past 1000 years, so they are very different from each other. Deep in central Sweden, there is another, lesser known Nordic language that is at risk of going extinct. This very rare Nordic language, known as Elfdalian, was previously regarded as a dialect, but leading linguists now agree it is a separate language.”Often Norwegians, Danes and Swedes can understand each others’ languages and dialects. But Elfdalian can’t be understood by any Scandinavians apart from the ones that grow up with it, and that is why we consider it a separate language,” Yair Sapir, a linguistics expert who lives in Copenhagen and teaches at Lund University in Sweden told The Local.
Elfdalian Language Helps Norse Historians
May The Fourth Be With You, In Navajo
The anticipation for the upcoming addition to the Star Wars movie franchise makes this year’s Star Wars Day particularly lively. According to the origin story on the official Star Wars website recognized by Lucasfilm, the phrase was first used on May 4, 1979, the day Margaret Thatcher took office as UK prime minister. The Conservative party allegedly placed an ad in the London Evening News which read, “May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations.” The growth and popularity of May 4th as official Star Wars Day can attest to the iconic franchise’s wide international reach, with festivals happening all over the world. While the movies include their own constructed languages (C-3PO is a translator of over 6 million forms of communication), they have been translated, subtitled and dubbed in over 50 different languages across the globe, including Navajo. May 4, 2015 marks the two-year anniversary of the casting call for Navajo Star Wars.
Social Media Speeds Up Language Evolution
John Sutherland, a professor of English from University College London, led a study that confirmed the English Language is evolving faster than ever due to social media and communication technology. Sutherland’s study on common social media and “text speak” terms found that most British parents were baffled by the language used by their children. According to the study, which was commissioned by Samsung for a phone launch, there was a “seismic generational gap” between the older and younger generations when it came to how modern informal language was used.
May 2015
All the School’s a Stage
Pilar Alvarez, education director at the Young Storytellers Foundation, explains how the organization boosts literary confidence
Boosting Brain Power
Erin Bell documents reading improvement through the implementation of research-based programs
Cutting to the Common Core: Mathematically Speaking
Judit Moschkovich offers teachers recommendations for supporting English learners in mathematics classrooms
Formulae for Math Success
A selection of products designed to help English learners master the nuances of the new math standards
Action Replay
Michael Moody explains how video can give educators insight into their performance
Spanish in the 21st Century
Daniel Ward predicts a successful future for the language of Cervantes
The Wizardry of Oz
Clever schemes, vibrant cities, and stunning landscapes make Australia a great bet for students
Last Writes On Mother’s Day, monster moms share their wisdom with Richard Lederer
The Changing Conflict of the Common Core
A recent paper on the importance of policy implementation as it relates to educational standards by Ashley Jochim and Lesley Lavery explores the creation and implementation of the new Common Core State Standards. In a idealistic effort to ensure that “all students, regardless of where they live, are graduating high-school prepared for college, career, and life,” (Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI), 2015), the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) began an initiative to change and improve the standards across school subjects addressed in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The Common Core State Standards were adopted by forty-five states with support from both sides of the political spectrum. By 2015 states were slated to have fully implemented the standards, but the policy that began with broad support and relatively little controversy now has increasing opposition. Five states have rescinded and dozens more have introduced legislation to rethink participation and bring education policy back to the state level.
Bilingualism delays Alzheimer’s by at least four years
A recent study at Belgium’s Ghent University has established that the symptoms of Alzheimer disease (AD) manifest themselves about four to five years later in bilinguals as opposed to monolinguals, confirming previous findings. In bilinguals, the disease onset was estimated at the age of 77, while in monolinguals, this was at the age of 73.Between March 2013 and May 2014, 69 monolingual and 65 bilingual Belgian patients suffering from probable Alzheimer’s disease (AD) participated in the study. Psychologists Evy Woumans, Michaël Stevens, and Wouter Duyck, together with neurologists Patrick Santens, Anne Sieben, and Jan Versijpt determined the age of AD manifestation and AD diagnosis for both language groups.
Results showed that the age of AD manifestation was 71.5 in monolinguals and 76.1 in bilinguals. A similar difference was found for the age of AD diagnosis; for monolinguals this was 72.5 and for bilinguals it was 77.3. Analyses controlled for other confounding factors, such as education, profession, and socioeconomic status, which actually had a negative effect.
These findings confirm previous research suggesting that bilingualism can slow down cognitive ageing and contribute to cognitive reserve. It seems that constantly and actively controlling two languages is like a workout for the brain. It challenges our grey cells and keeps them from degenerating.
Scottish Businesses Call for Compulsory Foreign Language Education
The Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) has pinpointed Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Arabic and Russian as “international languages of business” and is calling for compulsory foreign language education during all years of schooling in order to make future Scottish firms more competitive in the international export market. The SCC has called on the Scottish government to implement the measure by 2020 to ensure that businesses have sufficient cultural and language skills to tap into a number of growing economies. “If we want to be more international, then we need to think more international, beginning in our schools, where international business languages must be taught from primary school right through to the end of secondary schooling and beyond,” said SCC director and chief executive, Liz Cameron.
Texas Protects Dual Language Education
Texas has been an advocate for dual language education since 1973 when former Governor Dolph Briscoe signed into law the Bilingual Education and Training Act, which abolished the English-only teaching requirement imposed in 1918. This April, Texas Senator José Rodríguez’s Senate Bill 159, which will help maintain and expand cutting-edge dual-language education in schools across the state, including programs in the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD), passed the Senate and will now move to the Texas House. “This bill clarifies the requirements for teachers in two-way dual language programs,” Rodríguez said. “Without this bill, successful programs in the EPISD and across the state could have been disrupted. This is good news for those interested in cutting edge educational programs, which EPISD has been a leader in and which are expanding across the state.”
German’s Economic Clout
German may be the tenth most-spoken language in the world in terms of native-speakers, but, according to a socio-linguist at the University of Duisburg-Essen, it is not only the fourth most-popular language to learn, after English, French, and Chinese, but also the fourth most important economic language in terms of the gross national product (GNP) yielded by its speakers, after English, Chinese, and Spanish. “People get the impression that when you learn German, you are gaining access to countries that are flourishing economically, which in turn brings better career opportunities as well as education and training,” says professor Dr. Ulrich Ammon. Currently more people are learning German than Spanish, despite the enormous number of Spanish native speakers around the world. Professor Ammon can see this continuing in the future: “German will never challenge English, which is the truly international language, but prosperity can continue to make a difference, particularly if Spain continues to struggle economically”.
Africa’s Linguistic Diversity
The African continent is home to one third of the world’s 6,000 languages, but less than one seventh of the world’s population. Europe, which has the reputation for bilingualism due to its many close countries, has only about 300 languages. A study of 100 residents of a city in Western Uganda showed that the average speaker there spoke 4.37 languages. The most commonly known languages on the continent are English, Arabic, French, and Swahili. Humanity’s African origins have not only led to high genetic diversity, but have also helped spur linguistic variation. “There’s been a lot of time for cultural diversity, linguistic diversity, and genetic diversity to accumulate in Africa”, University of Pennsylvania geneticist Sarah Tishkoff told the Monitor.
