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About CALIn the NewsCAL periodically posts links to online news articles that reference information related to our work and mission. These links are provided for informational purposes only, and the opinions expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of the Center for Applied Linguistics. Challenges and tips for raising bilingual children As the conversation about bilingualism spreads throughout the country, more and more parents are looking for resources when it comes to raising their children to be multilingual. Nancy Rhodes, director of Foreign Language Education at the Center for Applied Linguistics, says that over the last 10 years or more, they’ve seen an increase in parents going to school districts and asking them to start language programs for early education classes. Read the rest of the article online. Saint Francis High School responds to trend to study Chinese According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, thousands of schools across America have decreased their foreign language offerings in the last decade. In the midst of this decline, however, there appears to be a race by schools to offer instruction in Chinese. Read the rest of the article online. A French take on Mandarin immersion in Los Angeles Chinese teaching growing in US, helped by Beijing Susan Wang couldn’t speak English when she arrived in California from Taiwan, aged 16. Now 49, she heads a school offering US children a similar experience, plunging them into a Chinese world. Read the rest of the article online. Milford Catholic to implement Spanish immersion program MILFORD – Kindergartners in Milford Catholic Elementary School will not simply learn Spanish next fall, they will be immersed in it. Read the rest of the article online.
Foreign language immersion improves chances of student success In the not so distant future, speaking a foreign language may be yet another thing elementary school children can do with ease. Take for instance Utah and Delaware, where state money is being used to implement foreign language immersion programs. This is in light of the U.S. Dept. of Education’s recent zeroing out of federal dollars for foreign language programming. Read the rest of the article online. Text messaging: The downfall of man? My name is Liana, and I am a textaholic. This, unfortunately, is not a new development. I refused to admit my problem years ago after announcing “BRB”(be right back) to a group of friends – in person. I have managed to dodge the consequences of texting the wrong person with a message intended for somebody else, anybody else. Multiple times. Read the rest of the article online. Expert: U-46 bilinigual program a top example for other districts A bilingual education expert told a federal judge Thursday that the bilingual program in Elgin Area School District U-46 was an exemplary program that provided high quality professional development for teachers and welcomed parent involvement to foster academic success for students. Read the rest of the article online. Dora Johnson, 74, was a formidable advocate at work, in community For 40 years, Dora Johnson helped feed the hungry and homeless of Washington in the soup kitchens of Martha’s Table and St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church. She insisted meat be added to the basic meal of beans and rice. “Why?” she was asked. “It already has plenty of protein.” Read the rest of the article online. Foreign Languages and U.S. Economic Competitiveness Americans are lousy at learning foreign languages. We all know the historical reasons – the United States was long a big, largely monolingual country with a fairly self-sufficient economy. U.S. economic and military might (and that of the British Empire before) spread the English language across the world, so that English became the global second language and the de facto language of international business. Read the rest of the article online. CHCCS Parents Decry FPG Magnet Plan Process CHAPEL HILL- Parents angry over the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City school board’s plan to change Frank Porter Graham Elementary into a magnet say the process lacked transparency, and they worry it will have negative repercussions throughout the district. Read the rest of the article online.
Bilingual Buds names Director for NJ campus; announces expansion plans to Grade 5 Bilingual Buds, a preschool/primary school on the forefront of immersion education, has named Renee Reyes to head its Summit, NJ campus. The school, known for its pioneering approach to academics in an immersion setting, will grow to Grade 5 under her leadership. Read the rest of the article online. Results show programs lead to greater success Throughout the United States, dual-language programs are expanding as communities embrace the successful educational model that prepares students to become truly bilingual, bicultural and biliterate. The Austin school district is a leader in this important educational movement, offering dual-language programs at almost 70 elementary schools. During the next two years, the district will add Chinese to its portfolio of programs, which already include Spanish and Vietnamese. This expansion is exciting news because dual-language programs work. The debate is over. El debate ha finalizado. Read the rest of the article online. Duval school system to open Newcomer School for those new to United States A Duval County high school will be home to a special program designed to serve the school district’s growing number of international students, including many whose families escaped war or oppression in their homelands. Read the rest of the article online. Educational center unveils world's largest learning map Likened to the human genome project for education, the Dynamic Learning Maps Alternate Assessment Consortium, led by the University of Kansas’ Center for Education Testing and Evaluation, has unveiled the world’s largest learning map, a structure of student learning that includes more than 3,000 skills students should master by high school graduation and more than 5,000 pathways, or connections, between skills. Read the rest of the article online. PBS KIDS GO! Web Series Oh Noah! Offers New Videos And Games Oh Noah!, the fun and funny PBS KIDS GO! web series (pbskidsgo.org/noah) formerly known as Noah Comprende, is rolling out an impressive line-up of new animated interactive videos and games that introduce kids to Spanish. Games embedded in the videos, together with other interactive challenges and adventures on the website, provide children ages six to eight with an engaging introduction to Spanish vocabulary and common phrases. Read the rest of the article online. Adventures in Drool: One, Dos, Trois Are your children bilingual? Being bilingual has a number of benefits for adults and children. New studies are finding that people who speak two or more languages have higher IQs, improved math skills and increased creativity. Read the rest of the article online. Early childhood foreign language instruction on the rise in Tri-Cities, elsewhere From the doorway, the classroom activities look similar to those in which most American preschool students participate. A teacher – in this case a slender, young man named William Li – sits on a rug on the vinyl-tiled floor. Two boys, Will Behan, 5, of St. Charles, and Landon Fanale, 4, of Geneva, sit on the rug facing him. Read the rest of the article online. CCISD expands language learning opportunitie LEAGUE CITY — More language learning opportunities soon will be available at the elementary school level in the Clear Creek Independent School District. Read the rest of the article online. Global Languages Standardized test preparation and career training sometimes overshadow foreign language education in Louisiana, although it has been proved that proficiency in speaking a second language increases a student's overall academic achievement — including higher math and verbal standardized test scores — and contributes to cultural awareness, a marketable asset in any career. Read the rest of the article online. Willmar's Chinese language classes underscore trend WILLMAR, Minn. — Tang Beiyi is no stranger to teaching an unfamiliar language. But usually she teaches English back home in Chengdu, a city of 14 million and growing in southwest China. This year Beiyi finds herself in Willmar, teaching Mandarin to Willmar High School students. Read the rest of the article online. Dual-language lessons growing in popularity At Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School, students are taught lessons every week in a combination of Spanish, English and Mandarin. The public school, which has more than 400 students on its wait list, is hoping to eventually add a fourth language, the principal says, to better prepare pupils for the global economy. Read the rest of the article online. More course choices for sixth-graders at Winnetka’s Skokie School In response to parents’ concerns, School District 36 has modified its proposed changes to the sixth grade foreign language and band and orchestra programs. The district will allow sixth-graders to choose any two of the following five courses: band, orchestra, Spanish, French or art, music and drama in a sequence. Read the rest of the article online. Speaking no English When a student comes to Union City speaking no English – especially from a country where he lacked the basic schooling necessary to become literate in his own language, much less in math and science – it obviously presents a challenge. “Our Port of Entry program addresses the needs of newly-arrived immigrant students with little to no formal education, interrupted education, or who never graduated from eighth grade in their native countries,” said POE Director Chris Abbato last week. He ran the same program in Elizabeth for 11 years until he took over Union City High School’s (UCHS) Port of Entry program in 1999. Read the rest of the article online. District says Spanish-immersion program raises test scores CAVE CREEK – Desert Willow Elementary School teacher Luz Ordosgoitia colors water red to show her sixth-grade science class that density affects how water and several other liquids separate when mixed. As the liquids form layers in a beaker, she asks which is the water. “¡Rojo!” they reply in unison. In Ordosgoitia’s class, nobody is allowed to speak English whether they’re learning about physics, chemistry or biology. It is part of a foreign language-immersion program that focuses on teaching half of the day’s subjects in Spanish to children from preschool to eighth grade. Read the rest of the article online. Chinese spoken at Meridian elementary school Adam Li holds up a tomato and asks his kindergarten class to identify it. “Fan qie!” a half-dozen students eagerly call out. Li next holds up a potato. The students quickly respond: “Tu dou!” In the classroom next door, Susan Parker stands before her first-grade class using an interactive smart board to show various monetary combinations. She points to a $1 bill and a penny, inquiring about the amount. A dozen kids raise their hands. Parker calls on 6-year-old Keirstan Knutson. Read the rest of the article online.
"You Speak German Well... for an American" Contrary to popular belief, the above-mentioned phrase is decidedly not a compliment, regardless of the intentions of the speaker. These words can be said in English, in German, or with any variety of well-meaning tones of voice. The phrase remains the worst sort of backhanded compliment: an unintentional one. The unsaid statement behind the phrase is, "I'm surprised you can speak a foreign language well, because most Americans can't." My immediate reaction is to refute such a claim: What the hell does my Passport have to do with my knowledge of German? Since when does citizenship determine foreign language proficiency? Unfortunately, when my righteous anger died down, I came to a terrible realization. They might be right. Read the rest of the article online. Outward Bound As the U.S. Republican presidential primary has staggered on over the past few weeks, one candidate was forced to sing "America the Beautiful" to shore up his patriotic bona fides after having been accused of speaking French. But there is good news for those who believe that talking in the language of l'amour is the first step to a socialized medical system that will force priests to distribute condoms with communion wafers: Fewer and fewer schools are actually teaching French. Read the rest of the article online. Is Darien's proposed early foreign language program worth it? It was déjà vu for Darien's education community recently when the Board of Education decided to put the new elementary world language program on the chopping block during the upcoming budget negotiations. Parents filled the Town Hall auditorium to near-capacity last Tuesday for the school budget public hearing, and nearly every voice spoke in support of the program. "We believe the investment is a sound one," said Sarah Schneider Zuro, a representative of the Council of Darien School Parents. "The parents of Darien school children say, 'Yes.' World language is a significant part of the foundation that we want to build for our schools." Read the rest of the article online. Livening up language: BEA schools embrace teaching Spanish at elementary level Several years ago, Marsha Sackash, Angela Smith and other Bald Eagle Area educators wanted to add a Spanish language program for the elementary grades. But they ran into several hurdles, in an era when tight budgets and increased standards under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 have prompted many districts to abandon foreign language programs at the elementary and middle school levels. Read the rest of the article online. Educator Says Mandarin Is Hot Language Bibb County Schools Superintendent Romain Dallemand has the community buzzing with his plan to revamp Bibb County Schools. He calls the plan the "Macon Miracle." The new deal offers over 100 different ways to restructure the school system. In addition to year-round schooling, a reduction in teaching positions and the possible closing of several schools, one of the most talked about aspects of the plan is the call to make it mandatory for Bibb County students to learn Mandarin Chinese. Read the rest of the article online. Language immersion classrooms: Programs are popular, diligence translates to performance Student performance results from Canada, where language immersion has been a staple for over 30 years, are impressive. They've found that children enrolled in French-immersion programs consistently outperform their non-immersion counterparts. For example, on the 2009 Program International Student Assessment (PISA) exam, an assessment of student performance by country, Canadian students enrolled in French immersion scored about 50 points higher on the reading examination than their non-immersion peers, according to data compiled by Statistics Canada. To put those numbers in perspective, Canadian French-immersion students average scores are higher than the average score for China, the top performing country in the survey. Immersion students scored an average of 573 on their reading exam, while non-immersion students averaged 523 points. China's average was 554. Canada as a whole scored 524. Read the rest of the article online. New Mandarin-Immersion School Attracts Families from Albany and Beyond School mornings for Albany resident Erin Coyne begin by cajoling her 6-year-old out of bed at 6 a.m. to get her in the shower, dressed, fed and to the San Pablo Avenue bus stop by 7:15 a.m. to catch the 72R to downtown Oakland. Coyne's daughter, Myra, is a first-grader at a new public K-8 Mandarin-immersion school in Oakland Chinatown called Yu Ming Charter School, which begins its day at 8:15 and runs until 2:45 p.m. Read the rest of the article online. The growing alternative to English-only education (CNN) - Republicans vying for the GOP presidential nomination are debating and disagreeing about the economy and foreign policy, but they backed each other on one issue this week: the English language. At Monday's debate in Florida, Newt Gingrich said this week he supports English as an official language of the United States: "I think it is essential to have a central language that we expect people to learn and to be able to communicate with each other in," he said. Read the rest of the article online. Study Shares Newcomer Schools' Best Practices When adolescent immigrants enroll in American public schools, time is not on their side. Within as few as four years, they must learn English, master academic content, and adapt to American culture. Some, lacking formal schooling, may not be literate in their native languages. But a small number of programs around the United States offer promising practices for teaching such students for other school districts to emulate, according to a new national research study from the Center for Applied Linguistics. Read the rest of the article online. Dual-language class faring well at Summit Middle School On Tuesday morning, children from Ivanna Aguerre's sixth-grade humanities class lined up outside Summit Middle School for a fire drill, as did students from neighboring classrooms. But there was one difference: Aguerre's instructions, along with the responses from her class, were all given in Spanish. The sixth-graders are the first batch of students from Dillon Valley Elementary to have gone all the way through the school's dual-language program, which started in 2005. This is not only their first year at the middle school, but the school's first experience with kids who have been through the curriculum. Read the rest of the article online. Dual-language classes on the rise in Central Florida When it comes time for math and phonics at Spring Lake Elementary School, first-graders in an experimental classroom stop speaking English and start learning in a language that's foreign to many of them. For about an hour a day, students at the Seminole County school who have never spoken Spanish will learn their numbers and letters, sing and play games completely in Spanish. Read the rest of the article online. For an archive of past news stories click here. |
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