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February 2015

February 2015 Cover

Cross-Sector Collaboration Promises Progress
Kathy Stein-Smith assesses the role of the Language Enterprise in addressing the U.S. world-language deficit

Relevance of Rights for All
Ayanna Cooper incorporates social justice into the Common Core for English learners

Teaching in Tandem
Myryame Montrose Elder shares the success of co-teaching content and English

Capital Culture
David Tedone shows how all teachers can learn
from the integration of culture in business English programs

Going for a Global High
Report focuses on international students attending U.S. secondary schools

Support for Bilingual Preschoolers
Program offers online tools for educators with bilingual students

TEACH Grants Invest in Educators
Funding for bilingual, ESL, and world-language educators

Last Writes
Richard Lederer brings a Valentine’s Day quiz about classic literary lovers

Reviews Jobshop Source and more.

Preserving Uchinaguchi through Cultural Capital

476368377The culture of Okinawa, Japan is quite distinct from other Japanese islands. It became a part of Japan in 1879, but has a strong American influence because of three decades of military occupation following WWII. Today, 20% of the island is made up of over 30 U.S. military bases. This history has resulted in the near extinction of the Okinawan language, called Uchinaguchi, which was systematically suppressed when the island was annexed by Japan. Because of ubiquitous U.S. presence, Okinawans perceive more of a need for English competence than for learning the language of their ancestors. Once the U.S. ceded control of the island back to Japan in the 1970’s, the island underwent changes that many Okinawans perceived as another occupation, but this time instead of U.S. military projects, Japanese business took over the island. Japanese power over Okinawa can even be seen in the language politics: Uchinaguchi was long considered a dialect of Japanese despite the two languages having less than 60% in common. In 2009 UNESCO recognized Okinawan as its own language along with five others spoken in the region, all of which are endangered. Native speakers are aging and dying off.

More…

What does Bill Gates regret?

This week in an online Reddit chat, Bill Gates revealed his main regret:

“I feel pretty stupid that I don’t know any foreign languages. I took Latin and Greek in High School and got A’s and I guess it helps my vocabulary but I wish I knew French or Arabic or Chinese. I keep hoping to get time to study one of these – probably French because it is the easiest. I did Duolingo for awhile but didn’t keep it up. Mark Zuckerberg amazingly learned Mandarin and did a Q&A with Chinese students – incredible”.

Calling all bilingual college students! Your chance to address the United Nations!

One-World-logoMANY LANGUAGES, ONE WORLD 2015 Student Essay Contest and Global Youth Forum

Seventy students will be selected as delegates to the 2015 United Nations Academic Impact Global Youth Forum where they will create plans of action related to the United Nations Post-2015 Global Development Agenda. The students will present these plans of action at United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

Airfare, Room and Meals will be provided by ELS Educational Services, Inc.
To enter: Write an essay (2,000 words or less) related to the post-2015 global development agenda, in the context of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, and the definition of new goals reflecting the imperative of global sustainable development that recognizes, and is enriched by, cultural and linguistic diversity. You are encouraged to visit the website sustainabledevelopment.un.org for background material in this regard.

Entries must be in an official language of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, or Spanish) that is not your first language and was not your principal language of instruction during your primary or secondary education. To enter, you must be a full-time university student and must be 18 years of age or older by March 25, 2015. Your participation must be sponsored by a Faculty Member or Authorized Representative at the university you are currently attending.
Essay Submission Deadline:
Wednesday March 25, 2015 at 11:59pm EST

Click here for more information

Tonal Languages Like It Hot and Humid

pnasSI201417413 1..4
Distribution of languages with complex tone (red dots) and without complex tone (blue dots) in the ANU database. Darker shading on map corresponds to lower MAT.

A new report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America links the evolution of tonal languages to climate, specifically to heat and humidity. The report, “Climate, Vocal Folds, and Tonal Languages: Connecting the Physiological and Geographic Dots,” is the collaboration of linguists hailing from the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands, and builds off of previous research that correlated the physiology of vocal folds in the larynx, also known as the voice box, to ambient air conditions; more hydrated vocal folds are able have a more robust amplitude for vibration, and therefore effects the speaker’s ability to produce certain sounds. Previous studies have also noted that inhaling dry air affects vocal folds, as it dries out mucous membranes. This study predicts that climatic factors can hinder the use of phonemic tone, and that humid and hot climates would have been more hospitable to the evolution of tonal languages over time.

More…

Quebecer is 2015 TESOL Teacher of the Year

TESOL International Association and National Geographic Learning have announced that Sherry Blok of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, will receive the 2015 TESOL Teacher of the Year Award. The award honors exceptional English language teachers at all levels. Blok will be recognized at the opening session of the 2015 TESOL International Convention & English Language Expo in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Blok is a university lecturer working with adult ESL learners at Concordia University in Montreal. When asked about what motivates her to teach, Blok noted that it was her experience as a child of immigrants, as a language learner, and her first job working for a Canadian tourism bureau that fueled her interest in bridging cultural and language divides through education. These early experiences pushed her to get her master’s degree in second language education at McGill University, which launched her 18-year career at Concordia University. “I’ve always been driven by my desire to learn languages and my interest in multiculturalism,” she said.
The recipient of the TESOL Teacher of the Year Award receives a one-year membership in TESOL International Association; a selection of TESOL publications valued at US$250; complimentary registration, travel, and accommodations for the 2015 TESOL International Convention & English Language Expo, and a cash award of US$1000. The award recipient will also deliver a presentation at the TESOL International Convention.
National Geographic Learning will present the award to Blok at the TESOL international convention, where she will deliver a presentation titled “Global Citizenship: Transformative Practices in ELT Excellence.” Her presentation will discuss the ways that global citizenship education is applicable in the ESL classroom.

GOP Supports Immigration Reform in Spanish Only

President Obama Hosts World Leaders At Nuclear Security Summit
Obama welcomes Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero

For the third year in a row, the Republican Party delivered a Spanish-language response to the President’s State of the Union address. However, for the first time, the Spanish version included something the English-language reaction omitted: a reference to Obama’s proposed immigration reforms.

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who has a long record of opposing Spanish in government communications, endorsed making English the country’s official language during her 2014 campaign, and as a county auditor in 2007,sued to prevent voter forms from being offered in any other language besides English, delivered the Republican response and never once mentioned “immigration” or “border.” She didn’t talk about passing a comprehensive immigration plan through Congress, as the president has called for. Or about the GOP plans to try to reverse the executive orders Obama signed in November that gave legal status to 5 million undocumented immigrants.

But in a Spanish-language response speech, which the GOP had indicated was going to echo Ernst’s address, Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo, of Florida, did talk about immigration. “We should also work together through the appropriate channels to create permanent solutions for our immigration system, modernize legal immigration and strengthen our economy,” Curbelo said in Spanish. “In the past, the president has expressed support for ideas like these, now we ask him to collaborate with us to get it done.”

It appears the GOP is still to decide its position on the issue.

California Needs an English Learner Advocate

177414679Language Magazine is lending its support to twenty Californian education, social justice, and civil rights organizations encouraging the state’s governor, Jerry Brown to appoint an English learner advocate to the State Board of Education.

Nearly 45% of Californians speak a language other than English at home, and in our schools, nearly 1 out of 4 students is identified as an English learner.

Click here for full story

Managing Diversity

Anne Scatchell argues that administrators need specific training to successfully manage culturally diverse classrooms

“I know that I don’t have a background in working with English language learners, but aren’t you using far too many videos in your class?” said the district level administrator. “You need to make sure that you are teaching the curriculum ‘as is.’ We can’t have you teaching any differently than the other teachers.” The principal stood by silently after admitting unfamiliarity with best practice for ELs but sided with his supervisor. Unfortunately, variations on this conversation are being repeated in schools throughout the country.

To read the full story, click here.

Majority of US School Kids ‘Low Income’

For the first time in recent history, a majority of the schoolchildren attending U.S. public schools come from low income families, according to a report by the Southern Education Foundation from the latest data collected from the states by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

The report shows that in 2013, 51% of the students across the nation’s public schools were low income in 2013 – low income is defined as are eligible for reduced-price lunches because their household income is no more than 185% of the poverty threshold. As an example, a student in a household with a single parent with an annual income of less than $27,991 is classified as low income.

According to NCES data, about 30% of Hispanic children under 18 live in poverty, compared with 20% of children nationwide. About 5.4 million Hispanic children live in poverty in the U.S. but Hispanics were the only major racial or ethnic group to see a statistically significant decline in its poverty rate, according in the 2013 census. The drop in the poverty rate among Hispanics – from 25.6% in 2012 to 23.5% in 2013 – contributed to the first decline in the nation’s overall poverty rate since 2006. Poverty rates still remain very high for Hispanics who do not speak English well.

The implications of poverty on the education of the next generation of Americans can’t be underestimated – the top performing nations in international comparisons of student achievement have low rates of childhood poverty.

For more information, visit www.southerneducation.org

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