About CAL
News Archive -2006
Because the direct links to these articles change as news organizations move articles to archives on their Web sites, we have provided links to the home page of the appropriate news outlet for those with inactive links. Many of these Web sites retain archives that can be accessed by visitors, some free and some for a small fee. If you are interested in any of the articles posted in our archive, please visit the appropriate news Web site for more details.
The Journal News (White Plains, NY)
December 16, 2006
White Plains to add "dual language" kindergarten
A committee of parents and staff began exploring the idea [of dual language kindergarten] in June, and White Plains school board members unanimously approved the program Monday. The aim is to help students become bilingual and better versed in other cultures. Administrators also point to research that says learning a second language promotes brain development in young children.
"These little guys are so proficient," said George Washington School Principal Terri Klemm. "It breaks down so many barriers, and it really allows them to just embrace the world. I'm very envious of them."
Visit the Journal News Web site.
Inside Higher Ed
December 15, 2006
When Foreign Language Isn't Foreign
Classes for heritage language learners – those students with either some basic level of proficiency or a cultural or familial tie to a language, depending on whose definition you use – have gained increasing attention from educators in recent years. Many American colleges now have enough heritage speakers not only of Spanish but of languages like Russian, Arabic, Chinese and Hindi — languages that are increasingly important educationally — that colleges are considering how best to teach heritage and non-heritage students.
All of the sudden, with the government in need of a quick solution in a post 9-11 world, reaching heritage language learners, those students who oftentimes are already partway to proficiency, became a federal priority.
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Westport News (Westport, CT)
December 13, 2006
School Board Unsure of Language Program
The [Westport] Board of Education is not sure whether the school district should continue a language instruction program that teaches Spanish to students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
At last Monday night's meeting, the board was presented with a study by the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) comparing students who studied Spanish in just the fifth grade through the Foreign Language in Elementary School (FLES) program and those who studied the language in grades kindergarten through fifth.
Members of the board said CAL's figures did not show a significant difference in the learning proficiencies between the two teaching programs.
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North Jersey Media Group
December 3, 2006
Immigrant teens pose challenge for schools
Creating programs and training teachers [to teach adolescent immigrants] would cost precious dollars at a time when North Jersey school districts are trying to rein in spending. But if those programs aren't put in place, struggling immigrant students will encounter problems as they enter the workforce, putting a strain on the local economy, experts say.
The state hopes to avert these problems by pumping money into bilingual programs for middle- and high-school students and changing the way they are educated, officials said.
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The Washington Times
November 27, 2006
Immigrants tackle English
Non-native speakers attending public schools have access to programs that teach English and prepare them for their academic careers. But adults needing to learn English have to seek out ESL or ESOL classes offered through community centers, continuing education programs, community-based organizations, churches and social welfare agencies.
As immigration increases, ESL and ESOL classes are experiencing an influx of people speaking many different languages, says Joy Peyton, vice president of the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Northwest and director of the Center for Adult English Language Acquisition (CAELA), a project of CAL.
Visit the Washington Times Web site.
St. Petersburg Times
November 24, 2006
Turning kids' tongues toward Asia
The call to expand foreign language instruction carries national urgency. The Homeland Security Department considers knowledge of Chinese languages critical to the nation's future.
In recent years, schools across America have responded to growing political and economic pressure by adding nontraditional languages to classrooms long dominated by Spanish and French.
However, the transition isn't a simple one.
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The Journal News
November 14, 2006
Schools to lobby against English testing change
Several school superintendents from South Orangetown, White Plains, New Rochelle and other districts plan to give the public a crash course on a testing change that many critics say will only frustrate and punish immigrant children.
Before this school year, students who spoke little English had up to three years to work on their proficiency before taking the standard reading and writing test that others take in grades 3 to 8. Now, students have just one year's exemption.
That will hurt the children and their schools, critics say.
Visit the Journal News Web site.
The Houston Chronicle
November 7, 2006
Program gives students a bilingual start
Two-way bilingual immersion is popular among English- and Spanish-speaking parents who want their children to be fluent in the two languages. Research has shown that two-way students outperform their peers in more traditional bilingual programs.
Whereas the goal of a transitional bilingual program is to move children toward an all-English curriculum within a few years, the two-way program aims to promote bilingualism and proficiency in both languages throughout the student's schooling.
Visit the Houston Chronicle Web site.
The Washington Post
November 5, 2006
Foreign Affairs
Local language educators say a growing number of adults who, now well past the age when conjugating verbs could make or break one's grade-point average, want to learn a second tongue.
At the International Language Institute, a private school in Washington, enrollment in Mandarin, Hindi, Arabic and Farsi classes has doubled since last year. Berlitz International reports that between 2000 and 2005, the number of students enrolled in Arabic classes at its Washington location rose 95 percent.
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Spartanburg Herald-Journal
October 23, 2006
Fitting foreign language instruction into elementary schools no easy task
Nearly all middle schools in [Spartanburg, S.C.] offer an introduction to a sample of foreign languages and cultures, called "exploratory" courses.
But when it comes to offering foreign language to younger children, some districts offer no language exposure until high school, while others introduce it to kindergartners.
This wide variety of foreign language programs is a national phenomenon, says Ruta Couet, consultant for Modern and Classical Languages at the state Department of Education
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San Diego Union-Tribune
October 23, 2006
Education is Spoken Here
Because Spanish speakers spend their early years learning largely in their native language in dual immersion classes, the method is looked on suspiciously by some as backdoor bilingual education.
California's voters banned most native-language instruction for non-English-speaking students when they passed Proposition 227 in 1998. Sheri Annis, who was a spokeswoman for the measure and is now a consultant based in Washington, D.C., said she's concerned that native Spanish-speaking children enrolled in Spanish immersion programs are being exploited and should be in English-only classes.
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Naples Daily News
October 17, 2006
Sounding American
The 12-week course at the Naples Language Center aims to ingrain the sounds of English into students' speech patterns, thereby reducing the influence of their native language. All over the world people pick out the accents of foreigners, says Carolyn Adger, director of the Language and Society division of the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, D.C. But because English is spoken by so many different people, Americans may be the most aware of them — and the most critical, she says.
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Atlanta Journal Constitution
October 15, 2006
Making Choices on Language Learning
My Filipino mother-in-law came to the United States fluent in four languages – Tagalog (the official Filipino language), her village’s dialect, Chinese and English. My father-in-law was fluent in two – Italian and English. Is my husband an amazing linguist able to speak in multiple tongues? No, but he can cuss in several languages.
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Home News Tribune
October 10, 2006
Domestic Work Force Needs Foreign Languages
A new study finds that Spanish is giving way to English among Southern California's heavily Latino population. The research also forecasts that Mexican immigrants arriving in Southern California today can only expect that only five out of every 100 of their great-grandchildren will be fluent in Spanish. According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, "Only 8 percent of American college students study another language." Among the general population, the percentage is far lower. And that's the trouble.
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The News Observer
October 9, 2006
Arabic Courses Increase in Popularity
At UNC-CH, about 130 students take Arabic, up from 17 in 2000. In September, the Asian Studies department at UNC-CH petitioned for a new concentration in Arabic cultural studies, which could be offered as early as next spring. At Duke, enrollment in Arabic language classes has tripled in the past five years to more than 80 students. Only about 97 schools across the United States offer Arabic classes, says Dora Johnson of the Center for Applied Linguistics.
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Stockton Record
October 6, 2006
Student Center Weighed
School district officials are considering an expansion of Stockton Unified'sservices for newly arrived immigrant students with the development of a kindergarten through 12th-grade "newcomer center" to offer instruction in subjects such as language arts and math - as well as an introduction to California's public education system. According to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Applied Linguistics, the most effective newcomer programs nurture relationships with families and community organizations.
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Arkansas Democrat Gazette
September 25, 2006
Springdale: Youths Act Out English lesson
Students are taught in Springdale’s eight “new arrival centers,” using a teaching method called “suggestopedia” or “accelerated learning,” said Marsha Jones, Springdale’s assistant superintendent for elementary instruction. Betty Ansin Smallwood of the Center for Applied Linguistics said it’s unusual for a school district to use suggestopedia as its primary method to teach English language learners. The center is a Washington-based nonprofit that researches and offers guidance on language instruction.
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Ed.magazine
Summer 2006
¿Habla Inglés?
According to the Unz initiative, bilingual education classes would be dismantled and replaced with one-year immersion programs expected to help English-language learners achieve proficiency in a fraction of the time previously allotted. “Certainly, [the Unz initiative] sends a message that their native languages are not valued and that English monolingualism is the desired outcome for themselves as individuals and for society as a whole,” says Liz Howard, an assistant professor at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut and a former senior research associate at the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL).
Read the rest of this article online.
The Connection Newspapers
August 29, 2006
Hola First Graders
School officials see a multitude of benefits to introducing foreign languages in elementary schools. Learning a new language should also boost academic performance in other areas, school officials contend. A recent study by the Center for Applied Linguistics found that studying a second language while young hones complex thinking and increase sensory skills, a school report on foreign language stated.
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Access North Georgia
August 26, 2006
'Mom, I'm a nino!': Georgia's First Bilingual Public School Opens
Teaching children in their native tongue as well as English has been common throughout U.S. history. The historical goal, like that of most language programs targeting immigrants, is to help students become more proficient in English without falling too far behind in coursework. The predominance of English, however, has been the underlying value,with bilingual education losing ground whenever the debate over immigration heats up, said Donna Christian, president of the Center for Applied Linguistics.
Visit the Access North Georgia Web site.
The Washington Post
August 26, 2006
With a Changing World Comes An Urgency to Learn Chinese
In January, President Bush unveiled a $114 million initiative aimed at increasing the number of so-called critical languages, such as Chinese and Arabic, taught in U.S. schools. There is no official tracking of Chinese programs, but about 96 public and private U.S. schools offer Arabic, according to the National Capital Language Resource Center, a joint project of Georgetown and George Washington universities and the nonprofit Center for Applied Linguistics.
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The Courier Journal
August 15, 2006
A Place to Nurture a New Language
With roughly 5,400 non-English speaking students in the district, Jefferson County has had to adapt its schooling. As part of that response, the district today is opening its Newcomer Academy in Shawnee High School, which will teach about 210 immigrant students in grades six though 11. Newcomer academies are popping up across the nation to reach growing numbers of immigrant children, according to the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, and other education research organizations.
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The Journal News
July 28, 2006
Immigrant Children, Regardless of Skill, Must Take Standard Exam
Even if they know little English, New York's immigrant children in grades three to eight this year will take the same test for reading and writing that native speakers take. The testing of English language learners is a matter of debate among educators, said Dorry Kenyon of the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington. "It's a difficult issue that I think every state is trying to grapple with," Kenyon said. He is assisting New Jersey and a dozen other states on developing English proficiency standards.
Vist The Journal News Web site.
Newsweek
July 24, 2006
English Spoken Here
Despite a post-9/11 call for more public-school language classes, especially in Arabic and Chinese, too few students venture beyond English. "A lot of school administrators and principals are feeling under such pressure to improve their test scores in reading, English and math that they are dropping foreign-language instruction," says Nancy Rhodes, director of foreign-language education at the Center for Applied Linguistics.
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Education Week
March 29, 2006
Students Taking Spanish, French; Leaders Pushing Chinese, Arabic
The melody of children's voices fills the morning air as a kindergarten class at Woodstock Elementary School here begins the day with a folk song. Once the boys and girls settle on the carpet, teacher Shin Yen reads from an oversize picture book, stopping often to prompt her pupils to repeat new words and answer questions about the story and characters.
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Los Angeles Times
March 22, 2006
Interest in Learning Arabic Soars
Coming of age during the 9/11 attacks and war in Iraq, some of the students in UCLA's advanced Arabic class want to launch diplomatic or military careers. Others seek to delve into the Koran and Islamic culture. And some simply love a mind-stretching, tongue-twisting challenge. No matter the reasons, they help fuel a trend that has made Arabic the fastest-growing spoken language of study at U.S. colleges and universities.
Visit the KTLA Web site.
East Valley Tribune
March 19, 2006
Can We Talk the Talk?
It’s almost 8 p.m. on a Thursday, but Steve Barber’s classroom at Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale isn’t empty. A woman dressed in a pink embroidered pantsuit stands in front of a dozen students, drawing Chinese characters on the board, and students such as Stephenie Evanuska, 17, take a stab at pronouncing each word. The room is decorated with books about China and Korean cuisine, and words in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Korean dot the white board.
Visit the East Valley Tribune Web site.
Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram
February 9 , 2006
State Gives English Immersion New Attention
Mindful of mounting pressure to have all students—even those who do not speak English well—post high marks on federally mandated tests, the State Board of Education will discuss requiring teachers to primarily speak English when teaching students who don't speak the language well. English immersion would be an alternative to bilingual classes, now used in most Texas districts, in which students are taught in their native language while learning English.
Visit the Dallas Forth Worth Star-Telegram Web site.
Richmond Times Dispatch
January 10, 2006
Learn Spanish, Learn Arabic?
At most U.S. middle and high schools, as well as those in the Richmond area, students take one of only a handful of foreign-language courses. Spanish is the most popular, followed by French, Latin and German. Within the past few years, more school systems nationwide and in metro Richmond have begun offering Japanese courses. But the nation's education officials say that's not enough.
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