Listserv Archive
View past announcements and other important entries posted on the Heritage Languages listserv prior to January 1, 2007.
Heritage Languages Listserv
Below we have categorized and archived select featured information from the listserv dating back to January 1, 2007.
Announcements
Training Opportunities
Heritage Languages in the News
Calls for Proposals/Papers
Announcements
The University of Iowa is sponsoring its 21st annual summer program in beautiful colonial Guanajuato, Mexico.
* Earn credit for 2 or 3 courses in Spanish, Latin@/Latin American studies, history, art, and other fields
* Spend 8 weeks in a beautiful setting living with a Mexican family
* Courses taught by Universidad de Guanajuato faculty
* Excursions to other locations within Mexico - usually Pátzcuaro and the Ruta de la Independencia
Requirements: 5 semesters of college Spanish, or placement in your home campus' heritage speaker program. Ability to carry out coursework entirely in Spanish. Priority given to CIC students, but all students are encouraged to apply.
Application deadline: Check with your campus Study Abroad Office.
Applications must reach Iowa by March 8th, 2008, but may need to be processed by your local office first. For example, University of Illinois at Chicago students must complete a First Step, the SAO application, meet with an SAO advisor on the 5th floor of University Hall, and turn in the CIC application no later than Feb. 27th, 2008.
Program details are available here. For more information on the heritage course, contact Professor Kim Potowski, University of Illinois at Chicago, at kimpotow@uic.edu. General program inquiries should be sent to cic-abroad@uiowa.edu.
Posted February 1, 2008
Training Opportunities
Language Acquisition Resource Center (LARC) at San Diego State University: Summer Institutes
Each year LARC offers a group of summer workshops. These workshops serve a dual purpose, they help LARC disseminate the activities of our federally funded project while at the same time providing teacher training to educators from around the world. In recent years these workshops have developed innovative projects and collaborative partnerships.
Posted June 11, 2007
Heritage Languages in the News
Resucing Languages From Extinction
The Experience of the Hoopa Valley, Karuk, and Yurok Tribes
March 21, 2008
Jefferson Public Radio
According to a National Geographic report released last September, more than half of the estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world today will likely be extinct by the year 2100, and languages are dying at the rate of one every two weeks. The Pacific Northwest, Oklahoma, the Amazon Basin, Siberia, and Australia were identified in that report as global hotspots of language extinction. Many languages die as the speakers die off. Other languages die as their words are replaced in the minds of their speakers with the language of a more dominant culture—like English or Portuguese or Russian.
In the United States, the federal government’s policy of forced assimilation in the first half of the twentieth century had a particularly devastating effect on the continuity of native languages. Children were forcibly separated from their families and sent to boarding schools where they were punished for speaking their own languages.
Many Hupa children were sent to a boarding school in Riverside, California, even though a similar institution operated on their own reservation. This arrangement was made apparently to prevent the children from staying in contact with their families. Verdena Parker, the most fluent of the remaining Hupa native speakers, was one of the exceptions. She went to the Hoopa Valley boarding school beginning at age six and was able to maintain regular contact with her family. At seventy-one years old, she is today the youngest of the native Hupa speakers. She credits this to being raised by her grandmother, who spoke only Hupa to her.
Speaking Their Own Language
January 22, 2008
by: Sue Anne Pressley Montes
The Washington Post
Lilian Diaz, an emergency room technician, used to feel apprehensive when a doctor or nurse at her Takoma Park hospital would ask her to interpret for a Spanish-speaking patient. She knew she was chosen because of her Spanish surname, but what if she told someone the wrong thing? Her Spanish was fine for everyday matters, but was it really good enough, she wondered, to explain a life-threatening illness to a fearful patient?
Now Diaz and a dozen of her co-workers have new confidence in their skills. They are the first graduates of a program at Adventist Health Care Systems that trains already-bilingual staff in the technical terms and cultural nuances of interpreting in a hospital setting. It is one way area health-care providers are trying to meet the demand for qualified interpreters to help inform and reassure a growing community of non-English-speaking patients.
Number of immigrants hits record 37.5M
September 11, 2007
by: Stephen Ohlemacher
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Nearly one in five people living in the United States speaks a language at home other than English, according to new Census data that illustrate the wide-ranging effects of immigration.
The number of immigrants nationwide reached an all-time high of 37.5 million in 2006, affecting incomes and education levels in many cities across the country. But the effects have not been uniform.
Students search for the words to go with their cultural
pride
May 7, 2007
by: Fernanda Santos
New York Times
CLOSTER, N.J. — Last summer, watching Al Jazeera’s reports of the war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, Fidele Harfouche was startled to realize that in addition to understanding the Arabic spoken by the anchors, she could, for the first time, read some of the words marching across the bottom of the screen.
Ms. Harfouche, 20, was born in Lebanon, but moved to this verdant Bergen County borough of 9,000 people when she was 6, before learning to read and write in Arabic, the language she and her parents still speak at home. Her mother often tried to sit her down for lessons, but Ms. Harfouche said she avoided them, feigning headaches or claiming that she was too consumed with schoolwork.
“I wanted to fit in so badly,” she said. “I figured if I practiced English, if I spoke English well, I’d be an American, like the other kids in my school.”
But during her sophomore year at Drew University, a small liberal arts college not far from here, Ms. Harfouche signed up for a class in classic Arabic in a quest to become fully literate in her mother tongue. It’s a move that many immigrants who came to the United States as children and those who were born here to immigrant parents have been making, said language experts, who refer to such students as “heritage speakers.”
After-school institutions in Chinese and Korean immigrant communities:
A model for others?
May 2007
by: Min Zhou and Susan S. Kim
Migration Information Source
The extraordinary educational achievement of the children of Asian
immigrants has attracted a great deal of media and scholarly attention.
The 2000 US census shows that about one-third of Asian Americans
are US born and that 50 percent of US-born Asian Americans between
the ages of 25 and 34 have at least a bachelor's degree — a rate
more than 20 percent higher than non-Hispanic whites.
What is more striking is that young Asian Americans — not only
the children of foreign-born physicians, scientists, and engineers,
but also those of uneducated, low-skilled, and poor immigrants
and refugees — have repeatedly shown up as high school valedictorians
and academic decathlon winners, and have enrolled in prestigious
colleges and universities in disproportionately large numbers.
Past studies have consistently found that ethnicity has varied
effects on the educational outcomes of immigrant children. Asians
fare significantly better than whites in school outcomes such as
grade point average, while blacks and Hispanics fare significantly
worse. Social scientists have attempted to account for significant
intergroup differences either from a cultural or a structural perspective.
The exceptional educational achievement of Asian Americans has
often been attributed either to Confucianism, which places high
value on education (the cultural argument), or to immigration selectivity,
which generally favors individuals from urban middle-class backgrounds
(the structural argument). In the end, however, social scientists
have used the "ethnicity" dummy variable to measure "culture" as
well as "structure" but have kept the exact meaning
of ethnicity in a black box.
This article seeks to explain the effect of ethnicity on educational
outcomes by comparing the ethnic systems of supplementary education
in the Chinese and Korean immigrant communities in Los Angeles.
We trace the development of ethnic language schools and other private,
ethnic, after-school institutions to illustrate how ethnicity can
create tangible resources and an advantageous social environment
conducive to education.
S.D. lawmakers set up Indian education office
March 5, 2007
Sioux City Journal
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota lawmakers have sent to Gov. Mike Rounds a plan to give South Dakotans a better understanding of American Indian culture by making it a permanent priority in public schools.
Both legislative chambers have passed a bill offered by the Republican governor that would set up an Indian Education Office and an Indian Education Advisory Council with representatives from each of the state's nine tribes.
Posted March 6, 2007
When foreign language isn't foreign
December 15, 2006
by: Elizabeth Redden
Inside Higher Ed
Vanessa Fonseca, now a graduate teaching assistant in the University of New Mexico’s Sabine Ulibarrí Spanish as a Heritage Language program, said it took her all of two minutes to figure out a non-heritage Spanish class she stumbled into as an undergraduate was not for her.
It wasn’t just that Fonseca and her sister comprised two of the three Hispanic students in a class of about two dozen. It was also that once her fellow students started speaking, Fonseca, who had been exposed to the language as a child largely through her grandparents’ conversations, in addition to her schoolwork, realized that she’d been misplaced. The other students were at a different level, she said. Not higher, not lower. Just different.
“I knew the first day of class that it wasn’t what I was looking for,” said Fonseca, who quickly switched to the heritage language program, where she said a different instructional approach better suited her needs.
Posted August 6, 2006
Association stresses importance of languages
by: Jerry Reynolds
Indian Country Today
WASHINGTON - The Native code talkers of wartime and national lore took another tour of duty July 12, serving as the centerpiece of the National Indian Education Association's effort to win congressional backing for Native language immersion school funding.
The Navajo and Lakota veterans, all in or near their 80s, needed all the military bearing they could muster for a day that began in the mid-morning on Capitol Hill and ended that night with a celebratory reception at the National Museum of the American Indian. They were still standing when NIEA President Ryan Wilson urged them to take a seat; and still a turnout in the hundreds couldn't get enough, snapping picture after picture as the crowd thinned. In the meantime, former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Tex Hall hailed their accomplishments and the long track record of volunteer military service among Natives.
Read the full article online.
Calls for Proposals/Papers
Posted on March 5, 2008:
Sponsors of the Second International Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization and Multilingual Education in Ethnolinguistic Communities invite scholars and practitioners to submit abstracts for parallel presentations.
Download a PDF detailing this call for papers.
Deadline for receipt of abstracts: 30 March 2008
Final notification of acceptance: 15 April 2008
For more information about the conference, please see http://www.seameo.org/ld2008.
Posted October 1, 2007:
National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages
Eleventh International Conference, Madison, Wisconsin
April 24-27, 2008
Theme: LCTLs and Globalization: Challenges, Expectations and Possibilities
The Eleventh Annual Meeting of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) is scheduled for April 25-27, 2008, in Madison, WI (with a pre-conference workshop scheduled for Thursday, April 24th). Proposals are solicited for individual papers, colloquia, and poster sessions. Proposals should fall broadly within the conference theme, "LCTLs and Globalization: Challenges, Expectations, and Possibilities." Although proposed presentations may focus on individual languages, they should address issues that clearly relate to more than just that one language. Presentations may address the linkage between language study and globalization, curriculum and material development, methodology, bilingual education, heritage language learners, autonomous and self-instructional settings, outreach and advocacy, and the use of technology in teaching languages. Other topics such as teacher training, professionalization, research, and assessment are also welcome.
Individual papers are to be 20 minutes long. A paper should focus clearly on issues related to the main conference theme. Papers may be based on research or practical experience. Colloquia are to be 90 minutes long. A colloquium proposal should specify three or more presenters who will address the conference theme. Preference will be given to colloquia that cut across different languages or language groups. Poster and presentation sessions may focus on completed work or work in progress related to the teaching and/or learning of less commonly taught languages. They may be in either the traditional poster format, such as presentation of materials or of research completed or in progress, or demonstrations of instructional or information technology.
Proposals may ONLY be submitted in electronic format using the attached NCOLCTL Session Proposal Submission Form. This form is also available at the NCOLCTL website. The Proposal Submission form is a "fillable" PDF file that can be completed with Adobe® Acrobat® or Reader® and then submitted to NCOLCTL via e-mail. This is the only format in which Proposals may be submitted. The form contains detailed instructions for its use. Please contact the NCOLCTL Secretariat with any questions. For a proposal to be considered, all fields of the form, including, title, abstract, proposal, type of session, technology needs and contact information must be completed in full. Incomplete proposals may be disqualified.
The deadline for receipt of proposals is Friday, November 30, 2007. Applicants will be notified by the Program Committee by Monday, January 21st, 2008 whether or not their proposal has been accepted. At least one presenter from an accepted presentation will be required to pre-register. Details about pre-registration will be provided in the acceptance notification.
If you have any questions regarding Proposal submission, please contact the NCOLCTL Secretariat at:
ncolctl@mailplus.wisc.edu
NCOLCTL
4231 HumanitiesBuilding
455 N. Park Street
Madison, WI 53706
Tel: 608-265-7903; FAX 608 265 7904.
Posted September 25, 2007:
“Documenting Creole Language and Culture”
Conference Dates: July 31-August 3, 2008
Location: Pheasant Run Resort, St. Charles, Illinois (just outside of Chicago)
Although language is an essential part of everyday life, few of us think about how vital human speech is to the transmission of thoughts and ideas. Studies have shown the strong link between language and culture; language determines how its native speakers view the world. Language allows us to share ideas, teach children about their heritage, and gives us a way to disseminate our cultural ideals.
Since language remains such a fundamental part of culture, the theme for the 2008 Creole Heritage Conference is “Documenting Creole Language and Culture.” The Creole Heritage Conference strives to bring together Creole cultural constituents and researchers to share knowledge within a relaxed setting. This unique event draws participants from across the country who have a desire to preserve and promote Creole culture. The Creole Heritage Conference seeks presentation proposals from academics, professional and community researchers who have undertaken studies in any area that relates language to a cultural component. This conference will combine a substantial scholarly component with community-oriented activities (family history exhibits, genealogy workshops, and city tours.)
In preparation for the scholarly component of the conference, we are issuing this call for papers on any topic relating to Creole people, culture, and language. While the primary focus of the conference is on the Creole people and culture of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, we also welcome contributions that examine the broader context of Creole societies to which Louisiana belongs.
In addition to individual papers, we encourage submission of proposals for panels consisting of three or four papers organized around a coherent theme and that include a panel chair. The organizers reserve the right to make changes in the overall configuration of panels.
Some topics of interest may include but are not restricted to:
• Food names and the Creole culture
• Place names in the natural environment
• Music as a way of language transmission
• Passing language on to the next generation of Creole children
• Oral history documentation of Creole elders
• Origins of Creole languages and dialects
• Language in literature
• Terminology of traditional occupations
• Language and Community
• Origins of specialized terms for material culture
• Geographic analysis of Creole languages
• Endangered language research methods
• Linguistic studies of Creole French
Please note that all presentations will be limited to 20 minutes with 10 minutes for questions and answers. Presenters are required to pay the conference registration fee and are welcome to become Creole Heritage Center Members.
Deadline for submission of abstracts: January 15, 2008
Notification of Acceptance: February 15, 2008
Preferred Form of Submission: Send your abstract (500 words or less) as an email attachment in Word format to colsonj@nsula.edu. Within the body of the email message (but not on the attachment page containing the abstract), please provide the title of your submission as well as your name, institutional affiliation (if any), and full contact information, including mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and email address.
Alternative form of submission: Send a hard copy of your abstract (500 words or less) to:
Janet Colson
Louisiana Creole Heritage Center
Northwestern State University,
NSU Box 5675
Natchitoches, LA 71497.
On a separate sheet of paper from your abstract, please provide the title of your submission as well as your name, institutional affiliation (if any), and full contact information, including mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and email address.
Posted September 24, 2007:
Filipino as a Global Language:
Future Directions and Prospects
1st International Conference
Filipino and Philippine Literature Program Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literature University of Hawaii at Manoa March 17-19, 2008
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The conference will be an avenue for bringing together scholars, writers, language teachers, researchers and other practitioners from around the world to discuss issues pertaining the role of Filipino as a global language. Participants can be teachers, researchers, program administrators/coordinators and other practitioners who are directly involved in the promotion and nurturing of the Filipino language, literature and culture. This first conference is geared towards establishing a tradition of scholarly meetings of this kind among practitioners in the field of Filipino language, literature and culture studies.
Its goal is to provide a venue for the exchange of ideas among teachers, researchers, program administrators, writers, and other agencies involved in the promotion and nurturing of the Filipino language and culture for the purpose of:
1) describing/sharing existing state-of-the-art programs
2) identifying program needs as well as available resources
3) sharing ideas, research results, resources, assessment tools, and practices on teaching, program administration, and
language promotion
4) fostering cooperation, and collaboration in doing research
5) raising consciousness on the importance of the national language to minimize regionalism and
6) advocacy
Topic: Papers will need to directly focus on one or more of the following Curriculum Development, Needs Analysis and Syllabus Design Program Development, Administration and Coordination Translation, Interpretation and Dubbing Teacher Training and Professional Development Language and Politics Heritage Language Learners: Needs Assessment and Curriculum Development Materials Development Research Funding and Grant Sourcing Teaching Culture Filipino Linguistics: An Overview and Directions Language Teaching Approaches Service Learning, Community Sourcing, Student Organizations Articulation, Assessment and Implementation of Standards Language Teacher Certification Program Evaluation Methods and Practices Teaching Literature Filipino in the Media and Diplomacy Poster Sessions will be on Filipino Programs Outside the Philippines
SECOND DEADLINE: October 5, 2008
For details on proposals and abstracts, click here.
For more information please contact: Ruth Mabanglo, PhD, or Elvira Fonacier, DALL.
