Improving communication through better understanding of language and culture

Timeline

Click on the green arrow icon to learn more about the selected landmark events and how they were influential in shaping CAL.

Links in lime color below lead to external sites containing additional information on many of the historical topics below.

CAL Events	Date	U.S. and World Events
CAL offices opened in Bangkok and Manila refugee camps	1980	U.S. foreign-born population reaches 14.1 million Refugee Act Lau Regulations
Directory of Foreign Language Immersion Programs published	1981	Amendment to the Adult Education Act Casteñeda v. Pickard
	1982	Plyler v. Doe
Refugee Service Center and Orientation Resource Center created to meet the needs of emerging refugee populations.	1983	A Nation at Risk decries school quality, sets stage for school reform movement Office of Refugee Resettlement funds Mainstream English Language Training (MELT) project
Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI) prototype developed Basic English Skills Test (BEST) Launched	1984
CLEAR (Center for Language Education and Research) work on language and content integration	1985
CAL presents American Dialect Recordings to Folklife Center at Library of Congress	1986	Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act
National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL) Begins. Original Two-Way Immersion directory published. First National K-12 foreign language survey conducted.	1987
NCLE Opens	1988
National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education Opens.	1989	Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe

Learn more about CAL's history throughout the decades: