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May 2012

May 2012 Cover

The Secret of Mayan Success
Kristal Bivona catches a glimpse of Mayan language preservation in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Making Spanish Work
Michelle Buehring offers advice on instituting a workplace Spanish program

Interview with Rod Ellis
Answers on the line between research and practice, and task-based teaching

Striking Gold Down Under
Kristal Bivona shares her experience of the English immersion destination that lives up to the promise of its name: The Gold Coast

Travel Guiding
There has never been such a variety of ways to learn away from home, so Language Magazine offers some suggestions

Integrating Immersion Programs
Mark Rentz explains how and why universities should re-align their Intensive English Programs to better serve the long-term goals of students and the university as a whole

Last Writes Richard Lederer and the humanness of language

April 2012

April 2012 Cover

2012 ELL Software Guide
Technology has revolutionized the way that languages are taught and practiced
Tying Cable to Realia
Melissa Conroy and Amy Ferryman explain how SCOLA is working with local cable TV providers to offer low cost international programming for the classroom
A Day in the Life of a Learner
Ivannia Soto reveals how shadowing learners enables educators to monitor their use of academic language
The New Rationale for Dual Immersion
James Crawford and Sharon Adelman Reyes believe that the key to active learning is the approach to curriculum
Pour Toujours, le Canadien!
Kristal Bivona charts the ongoing demand for French Canadian and suggests where it can be sated
Spanish Valor
With prices dropping, Daniel Ward can’t find any reasons to put off a study trip to Spain
Reviews Kara Hunter gives us some historical pronouncements
Last Writes Richard Lederer about a path to self discovery

New Arabic Center in Beijing Symbolizes Chinese-Emirati Exchange

Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emitates (U.A.E.) celebrated the opening of a newly remodeled center for Arabic language and Islamic studies in Beijing, China. The Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Center for Arabic Language and Islamic Studies is the newest addition to the Beijing University of Foreign Studies and will serve as a site of cultural exchange between the China and the U.A.E.

The center was first built in the 1990’s after the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, for whom the center is named, had ordered its construction. In 2009, a renovation of the center was carried out at the behest Shaikh Mohammad. In a speech at the unveiling, Shaikh Mohammad stressed that he hoped the center would bridge Arab and Chinese civilizations and deepen relations and mutual understanding. In addition to funding the renovation, Shaikh Mohammad donated $1.12 million to support the center’s educational programs along with 1,000 books.

In a welcome address, Professor Yang Xueyi, chairman of the Beijing Foreign Studies University Council, praised Shaikh Mohammad for his generosity. Together Professor Xueyi and Shaikh Mohammad planted a tree of friendship in the center’s garden.

Reading Across America

Read Across America week commenced on March 2. This celebration of literacy also commemorated the birthday of Dr. Seuss and promoted his book, The Lorax, which was adapted into a film starring Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, and Danny DeVito. To kick off the event, Efron and DeVito went to the New York Public Library, where they read The Lorax to about 300 children.

In a statement, President Obama proclaimed March 2, 2012 to be Read Across America Day.

“Parents and caregivers can play an essential role in developing fundamental skills by reading aloud regularly, helping children explore new words and concepts, and instilling enthusiasm for language and storytelling,” Obama remarked. “These first lessons help pave the way for a love of reading that can last a lifetime. As children move from the living room to the classroom, teachers, librarians, and families use books to reinforce reading proficiency and build critical thinking skills that provide the foundation for a world-class education.”

This week, schools around the country have shared stories about their promotion of literacy through Read Across America. Many schools have taken the opportunity to foster literacy in languages other in English. In Billings, Montana, high school students read Dr. Seuss to elementary students in English, Spanish, and French. Spanish teachers in Fairfield, Connecticut took part in Read Across America by reading Spanish-language translations of Dr. Seuss books. An elementary school in Santa Ana California invited parents and grandparents to bring in heir favorite children’s books to class to read out loud in English or Spanish.

The National Education Association started the Read Across America program to foster literacy and reading for pleasure in K-12 education. Their website offers lesson plans, classroom decorations, and links to organization that offer free resources to teachers. The NEA provides lists of bilingual books and other texts dealing with multicultural themes, such as Asian-American books and Native American books.

March 2012

March 2012 Cover

Creating Your Own Space
Mindy Broderick raves about the functionality of Wikispaces for language classes
Talking in the Library
Jason Teshuba describes how access to online language learning programs is invigorating America’s libraries
Recognizing the Learner
Nile Stanley and Yue Meng explore the effect of culture on the learning process
Reading for Number One
Bruce B. Brown examines how independent reading can transform the route to English language acquisition
Eat Up the Big Apple
Lizzie Olster finds something for every student in New York City
In from the Outside
Kristal Bivona sees the value in traveling abroad for teacher development
Heading South for Spanish
Jennifer Timm discovers why Colombia and Chile are among South America’s most popular learning destinations
Reviews Connie K. Ho with enlightening Spanish stories for children
Last Writes Richard Lederer with a Charles Dickens quiz

Equatorial Guinea Strengthens Connection to Portuguese

by Kristal Bivona

Portuguese was declared an official language of Equatorial Guinea last year in an effort to create a bond with other Lusophone countries and earn membership into the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLC). While membership into the CPLC is still under review, Equatorial Guinea signed a Covenant of Technical Cooperation in February with the CPLC’s Instituto Internacional da Língua Portuguesa (International Institute of the Portuguese Language), an organ that aims to promote the Portuguese language within Lusophone countries while serving as a cultural ambassador in other countries.

The covenant outlines plans for a team of Lusophone linguists to travel to Equatorial Guinea to study Portuguese Creole from the Annobón province, which was an uninhabited island until Portuguese colonization in the 15th century. Due to geographic and cultural isolation, the Portuguese Creole spoken in Annobón is close to the Portuguese spoken at the time it was settled. The linguists hope to contextualize this archaic form of Portuguese on the spectrum of Lusophone languages and publish their findings. The Covenant also laid out a plan to develop the implementation of Portuguese in Equatorial Guinea and manage the cohabitation of Portuguese, Spanish and French as the three official languages.

Latvians Reject Proposal for Russian as Official Language

On Saturday, February 18, Latvians rejected a proposal to give Russian status as an official language of the state. According to the Christian Science Monitor, Russian is not only considered the mother tongue of the country’s former Soviet occupiers but is also spoken by one-third of the Baltic country’s 2.1 million population. Ethnic Latvians saw the proposal as an encroachment on the country’s independence.

The Central Election Commission reported that 75 percent of the voters were against instituting Russian as an official language.

“Latvia is the only place throughout the world where Latvian is spoken, so we have to protect it,” said Martins Dzerve, 37, in an article by the Christian Science Monitor. “But Russian is everywhere.”

However, there is a small percentage who believes that Russians should have been approved as a national language. This includes the country’s ethnic Russians and other minorities, many of whom live in the eastern part of Latvia close to Russia.

“Society is divided into two classes – one half has full rights, and the other half’s rights are violated,” said Aleksejs Yevdokimovs, 36, in a Christian Science Monitor article. “The Latvian half always employs a presumption of guilt toward the Russian half, so that we have to prove things that shouldn’t need to be proven.”

Government officials reflected on the dissension between those who supported and those who opposed the proposition. In a New York Times article, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, who was against the proposal, expressed gratitude for Latvian voters who denied the resolution but encouraged government officials to find a conciliatory solution between the two groups.

“What we need to think now is what additional measures could be done on integration and naturalization policies, including more opportunities to study Latvian,” said Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis in a telephone interview with the New York Times. He added, “It is clear that we need to look at what more we can do.”

To learn more about the issue, read the original articles here and here.

Inuit App for Children

To help his daughter retain the Inuit language, Vancouver-based Qajaaj Ellsworth has created an online game and application software. The language is indigenous to the North American Arctic as well as parts of subarctic Labrador.
Ellsworth’s product, Ilinniarnaqsivuq (Time for School), will focus on children age three to seven. It features three languages, English, Inuktitut¸ and Inuinnaqtun, to teach vocabulary such as animals, the alphabet, weather, colors, and numbers. Ellsworth hopes his application will be used both in school and at home.
“I have a daughter who is almost four years old, who is very comfortable with technology. She likes to play with our iPad, but there’s not much access to Inuktitut-language material,” Ellsworth told the Vancouver Sun.

February 2012

Teachers Matter

February 2012 Cover

Somewhat surprisingly for an Administration that has made little headway in terms of education policy, the President’s State of the Union Address (see news, page 9) made education one of its key themes. The importance of teachers and their training was also mentioned: “Teachers matter. So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let’s offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones.”

However, the President also recognized the reality: “At a time when other countries are doubling down on education, tight budgets have forced States to lay off thousands of teachers. We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000.” More.

IN THIS ISSUE:

nechE s’@chE wAsOwû — This Land Gives to You
J’Nisha Towne documents the heroic effort to preserve the Euchee language

Institutional Choices
Language Magazine asks leading educators to weigh in on the pros and cons of university-affiliated institutes and private language schools

Teachers Doin’ It for Themselves
Kristal Bivona analyzes plans to put language and technology at the forefront of teacher education

Reading, Writing, and Giving Back
Kristal Bivona gets inspired by voluntary literacy projects

Crossing the Cultural Divide
Abdelilah Salim Sehlaoui argues that language educators must develop cross-cultural communicative competence

Increasing American Exports to China
Connie K. Ho explains how the government-backed 100,000 Strong Initiative is promoting study in China

Small Town, Big City
Lizzie Olster moons over Boston as a study abroad locale

Bilingual Boom
Funding resources to meet the growing demand for dual-language educators

Spotlight on Service-Learning
Connie K. Ho introduces StudyShare.org, the new hub for service learning

Last Writes
Richard Lederer on mighty Charles Dickens

Get Lit

Confetti

Aishah Allah speaks about her involvement with Get Lit, a nonprofit based in Los Angeles that fosters literacy through poetry. Students interpret and perform classic poetry and write their own response poems and original poetry. Language Magazine‘s upcoming February issue takes an in-depth look at non-state organizations that engage young readers and writers with literature outside of class.

To get involved with Get Lit, click here.

Aishah Allah Interview and her poem “Confetti”

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