July 29, 2012

Teachers Pay Teachers: Material-Sharing Website

From http://www.teacherspayteachers.com

The Teachers Pay Teachers website is a place where teachers can buy and sell their own created teaching materials. Many of the materials are also offered for free. Currently there are 12, 074 items for foreign languages. Browse the foreign language offerings at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/PreK-12-Subject-Area/Foreign-Language

Here is an example - a booklet for elementary Spanish learners about plants: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-EBook-to-teach-about-plants-in-Spanish

31 Reasons To Learn a Foreign Language

French teacher Carrie Gold recently posted on FLTEACH:

I get a big kick out of memes and those tumblrs with hundreds of reasons or examples of things. I decided to follow the format of the latter, and typed up a list of 31 reasons for learning a foreign language. I threw in a couple of "just because" things I could think of (like learning about other countries), but the majority of the reasons I pulled from research articles, books, or governmental publications (the citations are included). I included memes in a bunch of them, as well. I plan on talking about one reason in class about once a week during the next school year, and posting them on the classroom wall to keep up there during the year.

I'm pleased with how the little project turned out, and I wanted to share it with whomever would like to use it. I've posted the document on my Wiki. http://goldlanguage.wikispaces.com/Why+Take+French%3F . Please feel free to download and use the document, and to adapt it/add to it according to your needs.

Gold, C. [FLTEACH] Why study a foreign language. FLTEACH listserv (FLTEACH@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU, 15 Jul 2012).

IRIS: A Database of L2 Data Collection Instruments

From http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-3170.html

IRIS - the new database of instruments and materials used to collect data in second language research - is now available at http://www.iris-database.org

Researchers can upload and download materials used in published L2 research and in approved PhD theses, from all theoretical and methodological perspectives.

The database is searchable by author, research area, instrument type, L1, L2, target feature, amongst many other parameters.

A few examples of data collection materials are: interview protocols, language tests, observation schedules, pictures, questionnaires, software scripts, sound files, teaching intervention tasks, word lists, but there are many other possibilities.

Read the full press release at http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-3170.html
Visit the IRIS project website at http://www.iris-database.org/iris/app/home/index

Global Issues Poetry Activity

From http://www.esletc.com

Here is an activity for intermediate and advanced English language learners. The resources include poems for students to read, discussion prompts, and guidelines for students to write their own poems. Read more at http://www.esletc.com/2012/07/20/teacher-development-day-summer-2011-presentation-global-issues-poetry-activity

The Best Resources On Using Improvisation In The ESL/EFL/ELL Classroom

From http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org

ESL teacher Larry Ferlazzo has begun a list of resource for ideas on using dramatic improvisation in the classroom. Read through and contribute your own at http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2012/07/23/the-best-resources-on-using-improvisation-in-the-esleflell-classroom

Cool Spanish: Spanish Slang

A topically-organized guide to some Spanish slang is available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/cool

Spanish Simply Blog: Ideas and Resources for Young Students

From http://www.spanishsimply.com

Spanish Simply is written to record ideas that elementary Spanish teacher Tadina Ross has used in her classroom. Ms. Ross also reviews software applications and other resources for young Spanish learners.

Here are two recent posts: a simple song for talking about hot and cold (http://www.spanishsimply.com/2012/06/temperature-song-tengo-frio-tengo-calor.html ) and resources and ideas for teaching body parts (http://www.spanishsimply.com/2012/07/manos-y-pies-teaching-other-parts-of.html ).

The blog is available at http://www.spanishsimply.com

Top 10 French Gestures

Here is a list of 10 French gestures. Click on each one to go to a page with a fuller explanation and a picture. http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/topgestures.htm?nl=1

The American Philological Association’s 2012-2013 Placement Service Is Now Open

Are you a classicist looking for a job, or an organization with a position for a classicist? The automated system for the 2012-2013 APA/AIA Placement Service is now open and accepting registrations by candidates, subscribers, and institutions.

Learn how you can use this system at http://apaclassics.org/index.php/apa_blog/apa_blog_entry/2012-2013_placement_service_now_open

English and Ancient Greek Text of the Olympic Ode Recited by London’s Mayor

London 2012 Olympics: Boris Johnson to recite Olympic Ode in ancient Greek
By Sophia Heath
July 23, 2012

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson will recite an Olympic ode for the first time at the Opening Gala for the International Olympic Committee on Monday evening. Mr Johnson, who studied classics at Oxford, will recite the poem that he commissioned for the Games in both Greek and English.

The ode was created by Oxford academic Armand D'Angour who wrote the poem in ancient Greek with modern lyrics and then translated the six verses into rhyming couplets.

The Mayor said: 'I am delighted to have the opportunity to declaim Dr D’Angour’s glorious Olympic Ode at the Opening Gala, a work that breathes new life into the ancient custom of celebrating the greatness of the Games through poetry.

“I have no doubt that the members of the International Olympic Committee are fully versed in ancient Greek, but to ensure the elaborate puns can be fully appreciated I shall have the pleasure of vocalising the Ode twice, once in Greek and then again in English.

“I shall try to resist the temptation to regale the attendees a further time in Latin, though I cannot make any promises."

Read the full article, which includes the text of the ode in English and in ancient Greek, at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9420192/London-2012-Olympics-Boris-Johnson-to-recite-Olympic-Ode-in-ancient-Greek.html
For more background information, see this blog entry: http://rogueclassicism.com/2011/10/27/primus-a-boris

German Games Night in Washington, DC

Come enjoy German games and a glass of wine at the Goethe-Institut in Washington, DC! Games by German designers are enjoying increasing popularity outside their native country. This evening of board and card games will feature classics such as Bohnanza alongside newer favorites including Asara, Settlers of Catan, Lost Cities and Carcassone. Participants are invited to bring their favorite games and friends for the fun.

The activity will take place 6-9 PM on August 17th. For full details go to http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/was/ver/en9518520v.htm

Olympic Games Vocabulary in German

A list of helpful vocabulary in German for talking about the Olympic Games is available at http://german.about.com/od/vocabularytips/a/Olympic-Games.htm?nl=1

German Perspective on the Olympic Games

A series of short articles about German athletes and their backgrounds will be growing on this Germany.info website in the coming days: http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/08__Culture__Sports__Events/06/07/2012-olympics.html

Article: Program at Pitt Tackles Tough Baltic Languages - Baltic Studies Summer Institute

From http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/program-at-pitt-tackles-tough-baltic-languages-644540

Program at Pitt tackles tough Baltic languages
By Elizabeth Bloom
July 13, 2012

Thirteen students are in Pittsburgh for the summer to take Estonian, Latvian or Lithuanian courses as part of the Baltic Studies Summer Institute, known as BALSSI.

BALSSI is a traveling language program that resides at an American university for three consecutive summers and then moves on to another school. This is the first summer of at least three that Pitt is administering BALSSI out of its normal summer language offerings.

Students have come from across the country to participate in six weeks of intensive language study, from June 4 through today. They are in class for five hours every weekday and do several hours of homework each night.

The small enrollment reflects the populations of the Baltic countries, some of which are smaller than the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/program-at-pitt-tackles-tough-baltic-languages-644540/#ixzz21fy1pK9X

Article: Brazilians Push for Portuguese Classes in Florida

From http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-portuguese-programs-schools-broward-20120714,0,4558818.story

Brazilians' clout brings push for Portuguese classes in Broward
By Marc Freeman
July 14, 2012

As their influence grows, Brazilians in South Florida want to spread the word — in their language.

To make that happen, educators are launching an online petition and survey to push for the first Portuguese classes in Broward County Public Schools. They are targeting the Deerfield Beach and Pompano Beach areas.

Leaders of business and cultural groups say Brazil's influence in Florida will continue to flourish leading up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

"Portuguese language is becoming more and more a popular language because Brazil will host the World Cup and the Olympics," said Anete Arslanian, president of the Miami-based American Organization of Teachers of Portuguese.

"Many people want to learn Portuguese to travel to Brazil," she said. "This seems to be the right moment to get the programs started."

Read the full article at http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-portuguese-programs-schools-broward-20120714,0,4558818.story

China Seeks Education Link with San Diego

From http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/15/china-seeks-education-link-with-san-diego

China seeks education link with San Diego
Wants foreign partnerships to improve its classrooms
by Maureen Magee
July 15, 2012

As China continues its path toward superpower status, its educational leaders are looking to San Diego and other cities abroad in forging partnerships that will reshape Chinese classrooms — from kindergarten to college.

Since 2010, China has sent more college students overseas than any other country. It is establishing international education collaborations and exchange programs at a dizzying rate.

Faculty members at Chinese universities are eager to form exchange programs in the United States, in part to learn what it takes to make a top academic program.

This fall, the University of California San Diego will open the Fudan-UC Center on China through a partnership with Fudan University in Shanghai, a venture that’s been billed as the first such initiative by a major Chinese university.

The center will serve all UC campuses by providing lectures, symposia and access to databases for researchers and students at the system’s 10 campuses — from San Diego to Davis.

Meanwhile, China has given New York University once-inconceivable access to its country by allowing the institution to operate a full, degree-issuing liberal arts campus in Shanghai next year. “Classes will be conducted in English and in accordance with the principles of academic freedom associated with American colleges and universities,” according to a news release issued by N.Y.U.

Other American universities have similar ventures in the works, including Berkeley, Yale and Duke.

Read the full article at http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/15/china-seeks-education-link-with-san-diego

Learning Hebrew on the Streets, With Walls as Assigned Reading

From http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/world/middleeast/learning-hebrew-on-the-streets-with-walls-as-assigned-reading.html?_r=1

Learning Hebrew on the Streets, With Walls as Assigned Reading
By JODI RUDOREN
July 21, 2012

Guy Sharett’s Hebrew lessons are taught in a walking classroom, on the streets and alleys of Florentin, his neighborhood here, where new vocabulary words are mixed into an ever-changing curriculum.

“Get out from the TV, start to live,” Mr. Sharett translated one scrawled Hebrew slogan at the start of class one recent evening, trailed by a dozen students thirsty to understand the life of the Tel Aviv street as much as the revived ancient language spoken on it.

He pulled out a little white board to break down the graffiti before him. The first part of the slogan, “Tzay mayhatelevizia,” used the imperative — get out — while “tatchil lichayot,” start to live, was in the future tense. “It sounds to us too pompous and too archaic,” he explained, “so we just use the future.”

Mr. Sharett, 40, has a day job at a television company, but has been giving private Hebrew lessons for several years. Besides the graffiti course, he offers one-offs touring the city’s spice market (“Wake up and smell the Zatar”); shopping and cooking with a famous chef (“While chopping, we learn the names of the vegetables”); and watching the local version of “American Idol,” with frequent use of the pause button to translate slang and jokes (“This is Israeliness 101,” he said).

Read the full article at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/world/middleeast/learning-hebrew-on-the-streets-with-walls-as-assigned-reading.html?_r=1

Be One of 1000 Libraries To Receive Muslim Journeys Bookshelf

From http://www.ala.org/programming/muslimjourneys

The Muslim Journeys Bookshelf is a collection of 15-20 books selected to help public audiences in the United States become more familiar with the people, places, history, faith and cultures of Muslims around the world, including those within the U.S. The Bookshelf will be awarded to 1,000 libraries across the country in December 2012, for use in presenting public programs in 2013. Advisors to the project include distinguished scholars knowledgeable about Muslim worlds, librarians, and other cultural programming experts. A companion website will expand the resources available for reading, understanding, discussing, and going beyond the limited scope of the books.

Muslim Journeys is presented by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative, in cooperation with the American Library Association’s (ALA) Public Programs Office.

Public libraries, community college and academic libraries, and state humanities councils are eligible to apply for the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf.

Applications are invited from June 15, 2012 through September 25, 2012.

For more details go to http://www.ala.org/programming/muslimjourneys

Georgetown University Press to Publish Al-cArabiyya Journal

From http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-3127.html

Georgetown University Press is delighted to assume the publication of Al-cArabiyya, the annual, peer-reviewed journal of the American Association of Teachers of Arabic (AATA). Volumes 44 and 45 (2011-2012), a joint issue edited by Dr. Reem Bassiouney of Georgetown University, will be the first issue, and it will be available in December 2012. Al-cArabiyya is the only scholarly journal with a focus on Arabic language, linguistics, literature, and pedagogy.

Read the full press release at http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-3127.html
Visit the AATA’s website at http://www.aataweb.org

Native American Languages Act: Twenty Years Later, Has It Made a Difference?

From http://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/native-american-languages-act-twenty-years-later-has-it-made-difference

Native American Languages Act: Twenty Years Later, Has It Made a Difference?
By Kelsey Klug
July 19, 2012

Native Americans lost control of the education of their children when the United States government forcibly enrolled them in residential schools designed for assimilation into an “American” mold. … In these institutions, children were severely punished, both physically and psychologically, for using their own languages instead of English. These experiences convinced entire generations of Native people that their children would be better off learning to speak only English. Hoping to spare their children the pain they once went through, parents stopped passing their languages on to their children, and thereby stopped creating fluent speakers of those languages. As a result, numerous languages indigenous to America are now severely in danger of losing their last native speakers.

…Yet, United States government policy has officially changed quite significantly: in 1990, Congress passed the Native American Languages Act (NALA), recognizing that “the status of the cultures and languages of Native Americans is unique and the United States has the responsibility to act together with Native Americans to ensure [their] survival.” This legislation promised a lot to Native communities, stating that it was now the policy of the United States to “preserve, protect, and promote” Native Americans’ rights to use their Indigenous languages anywhere, including “as a medium of instruction” in schools.

Read the full article at http://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/native-american-languages-act-twenty-years-later-has-it-made-difference

Article: Groups Bring New Life to the Cherokee Language

From http://www.carolinapublicpress.org/10572/groups-bringing-new-life-to-ancient-cherokee-language

Groups bring new life to the ancient Cherokee language
by Katy Nelson
July 17, 2012

Bringing the Cherokee language back to life after centuries of assimilation is uniting enrolled members of the Eastern Band, faculty and staff members at Western Carolina University and enrolled members of the two other federally recognized Cherokee tribes, the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees.

Last week, representatives of the sister tribes met on the Qualla Boundary for a language consortium to add new words to the Cherokee lexicon. The group meets quarterly to keep a language spoken for hundreds of years relevant for the youngest generation of students at New Kituwah Academy and an Oklahoman immersion school.

Read this extensive and detailed article at http://www.carolinapublicpress.org/10572/groups-bringing-new-life-to-ancient-cherokee-language

Article: Wanted: Temp Attorneys With Foreign-Language Skills

From http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443295404577543223388869162.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

Wanted: Temp Attorneys With Foreign-Language Skills
by Jennifer Smith
July 23, 2012

Unemployed lawyers looking for work in a lousy job market might want to brush up on their Korean or Chinese.

As international business disputes proliferate, law firms are bringing in flocks of attorneys with a flair for languages, although the jobs are almost always temporary.

In fact, law firms and corporations that used to hire translators fluent in languages such as Japanese, Hebrew or Spanish now figure they can get legal skills in the bargain.

"For legal matters, translators and attorneys with foreign-language skills are probably in the same price range—you get more bang for your buck," said Michael Reichwald, president of Yorkson Legal, a New York agency that supplies law firms and corporations with foreign-language-proficient lawyers and paralegals.

Read the full article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443295404577543223388869162.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

International Baccalaureate Is Seeking Examiners in Finnish, Japanese, Ndebele, and Korean

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is currently seeking experienced individuals to take on the role of Examiner Responsible for the following courses:

Japanese A: language and literature
Finnish literature
Ndebele A Literature
Korean ‘B’

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a non-profit educational foundation offering challenging programs for a worldwide community of schools. It is now represented in over 120 countries and in over 2,000 schools. The IB provides an international pre-university curriculum and an international university entry qualification, which gives access to higher education on a worldwide basis. You may be interested to visit the public website at http://www.ibo.org for more details.

One of the characteristics of the IB's diploma program is that students are required to study, as one of six subjects that constitute the diploma, one of three ‘Language A’ course, each designed to develop high social, aesthetic and cultural literacy, as well as communication skills. The IB’s Language A: language and literature course is for students aged 16-18 who have experience of using the language of the course in an academic context. The course is firmly based on the study of both language and literature, with a focus on how the study of texts produced in a language is central to how we see and understand the world in which we live. The texts studied on this course will be diverse and in the literature elements will also include works studied in translation. At the end of the two years, students are expected to be able to focus closely on the language of the texts they study and will be aware of the role of each text’s wider context in shaping its meaning. Formal analysis of literary works as well as an understanding of critical literacy are desired outcomes of this course.

The duties of examiner responsible include the setting and marking of examinations and may involve occasional (paid) travel to the IB curriculum and assessment center in Cardiff, UK.

Please note that this position is part-time, involves no relocation, and is usually undertaken in addition to existing work commitments. In addition, examiners will be given clear instructions and be well supported throughout the process.

We are seeking an experienced individual with the following background:
· Native / fluent speakers of the language in question
· Qualified to at least degree level, ideally in the language and/or literature of the language in question
· Teaching experience
· Examining experience (desirable but not essential).

The IB is committed to offering the Language A: language and literature course in diverse languages, and regularly provides these examinations in sixteen different languages for its international candidature. We would be very keen to hear from all individuals with the above experience.

If you wish to apply, or would like further information, please contact the Examiner Training and Recruitment Department by e-mail (examrecruit at ibo dot org).

Job: Director of the Office of English Language Acquisition and Academic Achievement, Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) is looking for a proven visionary leader in ELL programming to oversee the Departments’ Office of English Language Acquisition and Academic Achievement. The desired individual will have a proven track record of managing State, or District, ELL program implementation, sound fiscal management and measured achievement, while maintaining compliance with all applicable state and federal laws.

The Director of OELAAA will lead in the planning, management and development of statewide policy for academic leadership, curriculum development, program and staff supervision, staff deployment and fiscal management for ELL programs throughout the Commonwealth.

The selected candidate will:
Lead and manage the operations and implementation of federal and state ELL programs and grants such as, Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English Language Learners (RETELL) Initiative, Title III of No Child Left Behind, the Question 2 Ballot Initiative, and WIDA (World Class Instructional Design & Assessment), to name a few.
Direct the design, development and implementation of state wide professional development programs to improve and promote district implementation of ELL instruction and curriculum serving ELL students.
Coordinate with, and seek input from, state and national educational associations for ELL, including directing the Urban ELL Director Network and other relevant statewide networks.
Serve as the Department’s primary liaison with the United States Department of Education.
Proactively collaborate with all programmatic units with the ESE, as well as all district stakeholders, to ensure concise adoption, implementation and measurement of ELL programs.

Preferred Qualifications: The successful candidate will have:
at least five years of experience in ELL educational administration, including supervision of professional staff at a district or state level;
current knowledge of federal and state laws pertaining to English language learners;
excellent fiscal management relating to budgets and grants management;
documented experience in designing and delivering professional development for teachers, school and district administrators;
proven experience developing data assessments and measurements that statistically document ELL program success, opportunities for future growth and the need for new program and/or policy design.
must have excellent written and presentation skills to effectively communicate program initiatives and achievement milestones across a wide stakeholder audiences;

Educational Qualifications: Ph.D or Ed.D in Applied Linguistics or related field

Application: To learn more about this opportunity, please visit the website at http://www.doe.mass.edu/jobs . Interested candidates should submit a cover letter with résumé to: HRMAN at doe dot mass.

Employment Opportunity: Director of the Office of English Language Acquisition and Academic Achievement (OELAAA), MA. NCELA List (NCELA@HERMES.GWU.EDU, 27 Jul 2012).

COFLT-WAFLT PNCFL Conference Scholarship

PNCFL is happy to provide two scholarships for each member state (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY) to attend the COFLT-WAFLT (PNCFL) Fall Conference, to be held in Vancouver, WA October 11-13. All applicants must be current members of their member state (which automatically includes PNCFL membership). The scholarship covers: FREE 8-hour ACTFL OPI Familiarization Workshop on Thursday, October 11; FREE basic conference registration for Friday and Saturday, October 12-13. All scholarship recipients will need to cover their travel costs, including airfare, lodging, parking, and meals. All applicants must be received by August 1, 2012. Applications will be reviewed by the PNCFL board and applicants will be notified by August 20, 2012.

Apply at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dDFGTDExUjU1bUZhaHFaRjZzb3NJY1E6MQ

Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Annual Convention

From http://www.aseees.org/convention.html

ASEEES 44th Annual Convention in New Orleans
November 15-18, 2012
Convention Theme: “Boundary, Barrier and Border Crossing"

One of the core activities of the Association is the annual convention. Held in the fall, the convention takes place each year in a different city and is generally hosted by one of the Association's regional affiliates. This international forum makes possible a broad exchange of information and ideas, stimulating further work and sustaining the intellectual vitality of the field.

Early registration ends August 17.

For full details go to http://www.aseees.org/convention.html

Call for Papers: Working Papers in TESOL & Applied Linguistics

From http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-3082.html

Teachers College, Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL & Applied Linguistics is an on-line journal (http://www.tc.columbia.edu/tesolalwebjournal) dedicated to publishing research in progress in the fields of TESOL and Applied Linguistics.

Within a conceptual framework that values an integration of theory and practice, the journal publishes full-length articles dealing, in a principled way, with language, language acquisition, language teaching, and language assessment. The journal also publishes interviews, short commentaries, and book reviews.

The Editorial Board is currently accepting manuscripts for review for the Fall 2012 issue. Submissions from both within and outside the TC community are welcome. The deadline for submission is September 2, 2012 (Sunday).

View the full call for submissions at http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-3082.html

Call for Papers: New Research in Old High German Literature and Linguistics

From http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-3104.html

Two special sessions on Old High German Literature and Linguistics will be held at the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies, at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 9-12, 2013.

Faculty, graduate students, and independent scholars are invited to submit abstracts for papers on any linguistic, philological, or literary aspect of the Old High German corpus.

Call Deadline: 20-Sep-2012

View the full call for papers at http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-3104.html

July 2012 Issue of the NCLRC Language Resource Newsletter

From http://www.nclrc.org

The July 2012 issue of the National Capital Language Resource Center’s newsletter is out and available online. This month’s issue focuses on the Communities standard and includes a host of ideas for bringing our world language communities where we live alive and into the hearts and minds of our students.

The newsletter is available at http://www.nclrc.org/newsletter.html

Book: Bilingual Pre-Teens

From http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415807289

Bilingual Pre-Teens: Competing Ideologies and Multiple Identities in the U.S. and Germany
By Janet M. Fuller
Published by Routledge

Description: This volume examines the connection between socio-economic class and bilingual practices, a previously under-researched area, through looking at differences in bilingual settings that are classified as "immigrant" or "elite" and are thus linked to socio-economic class categories. Fuller chooses for this examination bilingual pre-teen children in Germany and the U.S. in order to demonstrate how local identities are embedded in a wider social world and how ideologies and identities both produce and reproduce each other. In so doing, she argues that while pre-teen children are clearly influenced by macro-level ideologies, they also have agency in how they choose to construct their identities with relation to hegemonic societal discourses, and have many other motivations and identities aside from social class membership which shape their linguistic practices.

Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415807289

Book: Researching Online Foreign Language Interaction and Exchange

From http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=66312&concordeid=431155

Researching Online Foreign Language Interaction and Exchange: Theories, Methods and Challenges
By Melinda Dooly and Robert O’Dowd
Published by Peter Lang International Academic Publishers

Summary: This book provides an accessible introduction to some of the methods and theoretical approaches for investigating foreign language (FL) interaction and exchange in online environments. Research approaches which can be applied to Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) are outlined, followed by discussion of the way in which tools and techniques for data-collection in diverse online contexts can contribute to our understanding of online foreign language interaction. The compilation of chapters presents a comprehensive overview of key issues in virtual, intercultural and multimodal research contexts and gives insight into the particular challenges and situations which this area of language learning implies.

Researching Online Foreign Language Interaction and Exchange addresses the needs of researchers and new-comers to the area who are hoping to learn about the current state of the field by providing overviews of varying approaches and extensive literature review as well as extracts of real data to illustrate the theories, methods or issues in question.

Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=66312&concordeid=431155

July 16, 2012

Spell Checker in Over Twenty Languages

You and your students can use SpellChecker.net to check your spelling in over twenty different languages: http://www.spellchecker.net/spellcheck

Select the language from the box at the right, type or paste your text in the main box, and then click on Spell Check in the bottom left corner of the box.

Languages Online Now Has Macedonian, Turkish, Chinese, Spanish, and English

We described the Languages Online website in a 2007 InterCom article: http://casls.uoregon.edu/intercom/site/view-article.php?ArticleID=6157

The game-making templates, interactive tasks, and printable worksheets are now available for learners and teachers of Macedonia, Turkish, Chinese, Spanish, and English; in addition to French, German, Indonesian, and Italian.

Languages Online is available at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/languagesonline

Find Song Lyrics at International Lyrics Playground

International Lyrics Playground

The International Lyrics Playground website has the lyrics to over 36,687 songs, in many languages. Unfortunately, the songs are arranged alphabetically; you can’t search by language. Also, the site only deals with lyrics to songs from before 1985. Within these limitations, the site is a good resource for finding the lyrics to songs: http://lyricsplayground.com

Realia from Europe

A collection of realia resources for twelve different European languages is available at http://www.ielanguages.com/realia

FLTEACH FAQ’s: Collections of Contributors’ Ideas

The FLTEACH listserv is a very active list for language teachers. Over the years, people have collected contributors’ ideas for particular topics and organized them into a collection of FAQ’s. If you’re looking for ideas or discussion of issues common to language teaching, these compilations are a gold mine. See what’s available at http://web.cortland.edu/flteach/flteach-FAQ.html

Website Lists Where You Can Find Reviews of Language Learning Software

An annotated list of links to websites and organizations that review language learning software is available at http://webpages.charter.net/tbob/softwrev.html

The Best ESL/EFL Blogs

From http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org

ESL teacher and prolific blogger Larry Ferlazzo has a post listing his favorite blogs that he follows: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2009/06/12/the-best-eslefl-blogs

Sources for Spanish Audio

An FLTEACH listserv user recently contributed a list of links to sources of audio in Spanish:

http://voicethread.com
http://woices.com
http://www.audiria.com
http://spanish-podcast.com
http://www.spanishpodcast.org
http://www.notesinspanish.com
http://radiolingua.com/shows/spanish/coffee-break-spanish
http://medicalspanishpodcast.com
http://spanishpod.com
http://www.podcastingnews.com/forum/links.php?id=32

Thompson, V. [FLTEACH] audio sources- Spanish. FLTEACH listserv (FLTEACH@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU, 3 Jul 2012).

Free Internet Resources for Learning Spanish

An annotated, Spanish-language list of free resources on the Internet for learning Spanish is available at http://eoilacorunaenespanol.blogspot.com/search/label/Aprender%20por%20Internet

French Webquests

From http://french.about.com

About.com has a rough outline of a webquest activity for French students, including materials for setting up the project as well as links to About.com pages dealing with different topics. It is available at http://french.about.com/od/teachingresources/a/webquest.htm?nl=1

AP Latin Teacher Community: Online Resource

Are you teaching AP Latin? The College Board’s AP Latin Community Teacher Community website is a good place to go for resources, ideas, information, and a chance to discuss topics with your colleagues. Learn more and join at https://apcommunity.collegeboard.org/web/aplatin/home

Two Articles about the Ancient Olympics

Here are two articles about the ancient Olympics. The first deals with the clothing that athletes wore to complete (or more specifically, the lack of athletes’ clothing): http://thedartmouth.com/2011/11/14/news/nudity . The second deals with the ideals behind the ancient games and contests the assertion that the games were “War without the shooting”: http://graecomuse.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/war-minus-the-shooting-ideals-behind-the-ancient-olympic-games

See Three German Films in Washington, DC, This August

From http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/was/ver/en9518534v.htm

Watch three films at the Goethe-Institut in Washington, DC, this August. Schedule:

Monday, August 13, 6:30 pm
Three (Drei)

Monday, August 20, 6:30 pm
When We Leave (Die Fremde)

Monday, August 27, 6:30 pm
The Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Die Höhle der vergessenen Träume)

For full details, go to http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/was/ver/en9518534v.htm

GermanTPRS Listserv

This listserv discusses issues specific to teaching German using TPRS. In addition, you can share TPRS ideas, mini-stories, and other materials you have used in your German classroom successfully.

Join the list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GermanTPRS

Online Italian Lessons

Do you know someone who wants to learn some basic Italian through independent study? This website has a series of beginning grammar-based Italian lessons and lists of useful phrases: http://www.onlinelearnitalian.com

Online Romanian Resources

This is a list of web pages offering lessons, activities, tips and resources to learn Romanian: http://babelanmicroblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/web-pages-to-learn-romanian-online-for.html

Slovenian Resources: Institute for Slovenian Studies of Victoria

From http://www.thezaurus.com/ISSV

The Institute for Slovenian Studies of Victoria’s website, Thezaurus.com, was designed as an online library of Slovenian language and culture archives to support and stimulate the study of Slovenian.

Resources include an online gallery of Slovenian art, links to language learning resources, a collection of Slovenian literature in English translation, forums on language and culture, an online magazine, and online language learning materials.

Explore the Thezaurus website at http://www.thezaurus.com

Book: Latvian: An Essential Grammar

From http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415576925

Latvian: An Essential Grammar
By Dace Praulinš
Published by Routledge

Description:
Latvian: An Essential Grammar is a concise, user-friendly guide to the basic grammatical structures of Latvian. Presenting a fresh and accessible description of the language, this engaging grammar uses clear, jargon-free explanations to set out the complexities of Latvian in short, readable sections.

Key features include:
clear grammar explanations
frequent use of authentic examples
pronunciation guide, bibliography and subject index.

This is a reference source both for those studying Latvian independently and for students in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types to back up their studies.

Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415576925

Annotated Bibliography of Websites about East Asia Designed for K-12 Educators

From http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org

An annotated bibliography of links to resources about East Asia for K-12 educators is available at http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/content.cfm/k12_educator_websitelinks

Chinese Athletes To Watch in the Olympic Games

If you and your students are planning to follow the Olympic Games this summer, here are some Chinese athletes to watch: http://chineseculture.about.com//od/historyofchina/tp/Guangzhou-Asian-Games-2010-Chinese-Athletes.htm

Also, here is information about the members of the Chinese gymnastics teams: http://chineseculture.about.com/od/historyofchina/a/London-2012-Games-Chinas-Gymnastics-Team-2012.htm?nl=1

Chinese Language Tools on the Web

From http://www.wku.edu/chineseflagship

A list of Chinese language tools on the Web is available from the Chinese Flagship program at Western Kentucky University at http://www.wku.edu/chineseflagship/lang_tools.php

Online Arabic Resources

A collection of links to online resources for learning Arabic is available at http://www.aldeenfoundation.org/usefulresources.php

Virtual Foreign Exchange Program Will Give Students Global Skills

From http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/07/16/virtual-foreign-exchange-program-will-give-students-global-skills

Virtual foreign exchange program will give students global skills
Michigan’s Oxford Community Schools to establish pioneering program with sister schools in China
By Raishay Lin
July 16, 2012

Today’s students need to prepare for a globalized world, business leaders often say—but sending students abroad is usually too expensive for cash-strapped schools or parents. One Michigan school district is taking a unique approach to this challenge by establishing a virtual foreign exchange program so that students can take classes from teachers in other countries.

This fall, Oxford Community Schools will launch a virtual exchange program that allows American and Chinese students to take online classes taught by teachers on the other side of the globe.

Oxford’s launch of the program will begin with three virtual English classes for the students in China: TOEFL preparation, ACT preparation, and English composition.

Oxford students in Michigan, in turn, will be able to take virtual Mandarin language and Chinese culture classes taught by Chinese teachers, most likely beginning in the spring semester.

Read the full article at http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/07/16/virtual-foreign-exchange-program-will-give-students-global-skills

Employment Opportunity: Ardmore Elementary Principal, Bellevue School District, WA

Ardmore Elementary in the Bellevue School District is a special school site with a Mandarin Dual Language program as well as a large ELL population. They are looking for an experienced Elementary Principal, who understands language acquisition, diversity, and is bilingual and bicultural, for the 2012-2013 academic year.

Essential Functions: Bellevue principals and assistant principals must serve as leaders and managers. First and foremost, they are expected to be instructional leaders. They are expected to spend the majority of their time, energy, and talents focused on the quality of education being offered at their schools. An instructional leader is one who thinks about the tremendous complexity of teaching and learning, who spends the majority of the professional day devising ways to improve the quality of instruction at all levels of the school, who observes instruction regularly, who provides feedback that is candid and powerful, and who designs staff development programs that meet the real needs of teachers.

In addition, principals’ management responsibilities include:
Ability to lead staff to work collaboratively in professional learning communities;
Ability to develop and lead school based teams in the improvement of instructional practices;
Establishing and maintaining appropriate behavioral standards;
Running an efficient and highly organized school;
Communicating frequently and comprehensively with all stakeholders;
Securing supplementary resources and using all resources appropriately.

Reporting Relationships:
Reports to Elementary Director of School Support

Professional Qualifications:
Possess or qualify for immediate issuance of a valid Washington State Administrative credential;
Have at least three years of demonstrated successful teaching experience and at least one year of educational leadership and/or supervision experience;
Specific training as a school administrator, holding a master’s degree or its equivalent, preferred;
Training and/or experience working with students with a variety of educational abilities, skills, and cultures; including special needs, transitional bilingual, special education, and/or “at-risk”.

Criteria, Characteristics, and Qualifications:
Possess administrative knowledge, skills, and experience;
Possess knowledge and skills related to Title 1, Dual Language, ELL and EBD programs;
Express ideas clearly for different audiences in oral presentation and in written communication;
Provide positive, collaborative and visionary leadership;
Have current experience, knowledge, and commitment to needs of children; young adults and/or maturing adolescents.

The most competitive candidates will have the following characteristics:
Bilingual, Bi-literate and Bi-cultural;
The ability to provide appropriate and innovative supervision and leadership to the instructional program;
The ability to seek out relevant and current data, analyze and research complex information;
The ability to reach logical conclusions, make high quality decisions, and set priorities;
Successful experience working with students with a variety of educational abilities, background, skills, and cultures;
Successful experience responding to and engaging in a diverse multi-cultural and multi-racial community;
Successful experience involving others in solving problems and guiding them to accomplishment;
Successful experience as a strong facilitator and skilled at group process; positive attitude, sense of collegiality;
Successful experience in leading discussions, and a good sense of humor;
Other criteria may be established by the selection committee.

Application: The posting will appear on the employment page of Bellevue Schools. Find more information about this position using the following link: https://employment.bsd405.org/JobPostingsBrowse.aspx

Employment Opportunity: Ardmore Elementary Principal, Bellevue School District, WA. NCELA listserv (NCELA@HERMES.GWU.EDU, 16 Jul 2012).

AP Annual Conference

From http://apac.collegeboard.org

AP Annual Conference
Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin
Lake Buena Vista, FL
July 18–22, 2012

July 18–22, 2012

The AP Annual Conference is the largest professional development gathering of the AP Program and Pre-AP communities, AP Coordinators, school counselors and administrators from across the United States and throughout the world.

Register at http://apac.collegeboard.org/registration

3rd International Conference on Filipino as a Global Language

From http://www.ctflc.org/resources/events/3rd-international-conference-filipino-global-language

3rd International Conference on Filipino as a Global Language
August 3-5
CSB International Conference Center
Manila, Philippines

The conference will be a venue 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.

Visit the conference website at http://www.filipinoglobalconference.com

International Conference on Language Proficiency Testing in the Less Commonly Taught Languages

From http://www.stc.chula.ac.th/Conference.html

International Conference on Language Proficiency Testing in the Less Commonly Taught Languages
August 17-18, 2012
The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand

The main goal of the conference is to promote the understanding and the use of language proficiency testing among Thai language professionals and to provide a venue for conference participants to exchange knowledge and experience in language instruction and language proficiency testing. The conference also aims to bring together language teachers, educators, administrators and other stakeholders especially in the Less Commonly Taught Languages to discuss, share research, theory, and best practices on current language proficiency testing, language teaching of the LCTL, both for native and non-native speakers.

Visit the conference website at http://www.stc.chula.ac.th/Conference.html

2nd International Conference on Chinese as a Second Language Research

From http://linguistlist.org/callconf/browse-conf-action.cfm?ConfID=140124

2nd Conference on Chinese as a Second Language Research
17-Aug-2012 - 19-Aug-2012
Taipei, Taiwan

CASLAR is a biennial conference with the goal to bring together scholars from all over the world whose research focuses on the acquisition, development and use of Chinese as a second language to survey available knowledge in the field, exchange ideas and initiate research projects. The conference is a part of the CASLAR movement that aims to transform a field from a primarily experienced-and practice-based discipline into a discipline based on and supported by research and theory.

Visit the conference website at http://ecourse.sce.ntnu.edu.tw/caslar2012

Call for Papers: 35th Annual Language Testing Research Colloquium

From http://www.ltrc2013.or.kr

The Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC) is the annual conference of the International Language Testing Association (ILTA). The 35th LTRC will be held in Seoul, South Korea, from July 3rd (W) to 5th (F), hosted by Seoul National University (SNU).

Pre-conference workshops will take place on July 1 (M) and July 2 (T).

The theme of LTRC 2013 is Broadening Horizons: Language Assessment, Diagnosis, and Accountability.

View the full call for papers at http://www.ltrc2013.or.kr/call/call1.asp

Book: Input, Interaction and Corrective Feedback in L2 Learning

From http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780194422468.do#.UAGKXnCXSkA

Input, Interaction and Corrective Feedback in L2 Learning
By Alison Mackey
Published by Oxford University Press

Publisher’s description:
Provides a thorough overview of research in the field of language interaction (an area of growing interest within the field of SLA studies)
Makes suggestions for future areas and topics of research
Goes into more detail than the typical coverage of second language interaction in introductory courses, textbooks, handbooks, and linguistics encyclopedias
Author is a leading researcher in the field, as well as being expert in second language acquisition research methodology

A study of the role of language input, interaction, and corrective feedback in second-language learning and Second Language Acquisition research.

Visit the publisher’s website at http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780194422468.do#

Book: The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism

From http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415496476

The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism
Edited by Marilyn Martin-Jones, Adrian Blackledge, and Angela Creese
Published by Routledge

Description: The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism provides a comprehensive survey of the field of multilingualism for a global readership, and an overview of the research which situates multilingualism in its social, cultural and political context. The handbook includes an introduction and five sections with thirty two chapters by leading international contributors.

The introduction charts the changing landscape of social and ethnographic research on multilingualism (theory, methods and research sites) and it foregrounds key contemporary debates. Chapters are structured around sub-headings such as: early developments, key issues related to theory and method, new research directions.

This handbook offers an authoritative guide to shifts over time in thinking about multilingualism as well as providing an overview of the range of contemporary themes, debates and research sites. The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism is a resource for postgraduate students of multilingualism, as well as those studying education and anthropology.

Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415496476

July 14, 2012

Curriculum Idea: Adopt a Country

From http://spanishplans.org

Read about a Spanish teacher’s year-long project, in which he had each class he taught adopt a Spanish-speaking country to refer to throughout the year, at http://spanishplans.org/2012/07/11/adopt-a-country

AirPano: Panoramic Aerial Photos from Around the World

See a collection of panoramic aerial photos from all over the world at http://www.airpano.com . There are currently about 100 different sites in the collection.

Book: A Grammar of Spoken English Discourse

From http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=168764&SearchType=Basic

A Grammar of Spoken English Discourse: The Intonation of Increments
By Gerard O'Grady
Published by Continuum

Description: David Brazil's pioneering work on the grammar of spoken discourse ended at A Grammar Of Speech (1995) due to his untimely death. Gerard O'Grady picks up the baton in this book and tests the description of used language against a spoken corpus. He incorporates findings from the last decade of corpus linguistics study, notably concerning phrases and lexical items larger than single orthographic words and ellipsis. He demonstrates the added communicative significance that the incorporation of two systems of intonation ('Key' and 'Termination') bring to the grammar.

O'Grady reviews the literature and covers the theory before moving on to a practical, analytic section. His final chapter reviews the arguments, maps the road ahead and lays out the practical applications of the grammar. The book will be of interest to researchers in applied linguistics, discourse analysis and also EFL/ESL.

Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=168764&SearchType=Basic

California Works on New English-Language Development Standards

From http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2012/07/california_works_on_new_englis.html

California Works on New English-Language Development Standards
By Lesli A. Maxwell
July 9, 2012

California education officials are moving ahead to revamp the state's English-language development standards so that they are aligned with the academic demands of the common-core standards in English/language arts. The state education agency has published the draft ELD standards for each grade level, along with loads of other supporting documents, and is asking for feedback before final adoption later this summer.

This is noteworthy for a couple of reasons. For one, the sheer size of its English-language learner population—roughly 25 percent of the public school enrollment statewide—often makes California's policies and practices on English-language learners a signal of what other states may do later. Second, California is, once again, part of a group of states seeking to win a multimillion dollar federal grant to design a new assessment of English-language proficiency that will measure the language demands of the common standards.

Read the full article at http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2012/07/california_works_on_new_englis.html

Read a related blog post at http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2012/07/07/california-releases-draft-eld-esl-standards and see the draft standards at http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/eldstandards.asp

Jacqueline Ross TOEFL Dissertation Award

From http://www.ets.org/toefl/grants/jacqueline_ross_dissertation_award

The purpose of the $2500 Jacqueline Ross TOEFL Dissertation Award is to recognize doctoral dissertation research that makes a significant and original contribution to knowledge about second or foreign language tests and testing and/or the use and development of such tests and testing.

September 1st is the deadline for receipt of summary and abstract, letter from advisor and official proof of dissertation acceptance.

For full details go to http://www.ets.org/toefl/grants/jacqueline_ross_dissertation_award

PowerPoints, Worksheets, and Videos Dealing with the Spanish Civil War and Franco

From http://mfljones.wordpress.com

A collection of PowerPoint presentations, worksheets, and YouTube clips dealing with the Spanish Civil War and Franco has been assembled by a British Spanish teacher and is available at http://mfljones.wordpress.com/2012/06/10/la-guerra-civil-espanola-franco

Spanish Food Flashcards, Photo Prompts, and Cultural Essays

From http://learning.latienda.com

La Tienda is a family-owned company that sells ingredients and accessories for making Spanish food. Besides their food business, they also provide some learning resources on their website:

A set of flashcards of different cooking ingredients and recipes, with audio of their pronunciation and English descriptions of their flavor and use: http://learning.latienda.com/flash-cards.php

A collection of images from modern-day Spain that can be used as prompts in a language class: http://learning.latienda.com/hablo-images.php

Articles in English and Spanish about different aspects of Spanish culture: http://learning.latienda.com/study-guide.php

Verbs in Spanish: Blog Dedicated To Using Spanish Verbs Correctly

Verbs in Spanish is a blog dedicated to Spanish verbs. You can use its grammar explanations, exercises, lists of applicable verbs, and reading activities to supplement your students’ learning. The blog is available at http://www.verbs-in-spanish.blogspot.com

Teaching Resources from the French Heritage Language Program

From http://www.facecouncil.org/fhlp/resources.html

Since 2005, the French Heritage Language Program has helped over 1,000 children, students and adults from underserved communities of francophone background maintain a good working knowledge of the French language and keep strong bonds with their respective cultures and identities. Now they also have some helpful teaching resources on their website. These include ready-to-use cultural projects and an annotated list of helpful websites for French teachers and learners.

Browse the resources at http://www.facecouncil.org/fhlp/resources.html

Article: Cajun French Struggles for Survival

From http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/05/4611037/in-cajun-land-a-reveille-to-french.html

In Cajun land, a reveille to French heritage
By SEAN COCKERHAM
July 5, 2012

There's a major effort in Louisiana, a state named for the French king Louis XIV, to reverse the trend [of language loss] and restore the French language. It's part of a resurgence in cultural pride, and there are signs that the decline in French speakers has slowed. Among the last hopes is the nation's largest French immersion program, in which every subject except English is being taught in French to kindergarteners through eighth-graders. Just under 4,000 students in nine parishes are in the program, typically with teachers imported from France, Belgium, Quebec and French-speaking African nations.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/05/4611037/in-cajun-land-a-reveille-to-french.html#storylink=cpy

Dickinson College Commentaries Support Readings of Classical Texts

From http://dcc.dickinson.edu

The Dickinson College Commentaries feature Latin and Greek texts with explanatory notes, vocabulary, and graphic, video and audio elements, for readers of Greek and Latin. Currently texts include Caesar excerpts to be used in the College Board's Advanced Placement Latin course and Sulpicius Severus’ Life of St. Martin. Ovid’s Amores Book 1 is to be added this summer.

This is an updated and expanded version of a previous site (http://wiki.dickinson.edu/index.php/Caesar_Gallic_War) that was described in an InterCom article last year (http://casls.uoregon.edu/intercom/site/view-article.php?ArticleID=12630). For full information about the commentaries and the project, go to http://dcc.dickinson.edu/about-dcc

The Dickinson College Commentaries are available at http://dcc.dickinson.edu

Online Game: Kidnapped (Entführt)

A vicious dragon has kidnapped the beautiful princess. At once our heroic prince is on his way to defeat the dragon and save her! Or is it the other way around? Try for yourself and play Kidnapped (Entführt), the Goethe-Institut’s interactive fairy tale game—and use your German along the way!

The game is available at http://www.goethe.de/lrn/prj/mlg/mud/spi/deindex.htm

German Teenage Slang

From the About.com website: Here is a handful of German slang that can be heard at times from teenagers. Keep in mind that not all German teenagers speak this way and that slang may vary from region to region.

http://german.about.com/od/dictionaries/a/German-Teenage-Slang.htm?nl=1

Russificate: Russian Language Blog

From http://learnrussianweb.net/about

Russificate is a free Russian language blog for learners of all levels and Russian language teachers. It contains a variety of grammar, vocabulary and communication exercises, podcasts, reading materials, Russian songs with exercises, etc. The blog is divided into more than 60 sections and based on interactive exercises, which can be done online. All materials are free.

Browse through the blog online at http://learnrussianweb.net

Cool Italian: Italian Slang

An online guide to young peoples’ Italian slang is available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/cool . The words are arranged by topic, and are accompanied with audio recordings.

WebSaru: Online Japanese Dictionary

An online Japanese-English dictionary is available at http://www.websaru.info

Search results display the Japanese word in Kanji or Kana, pronunciation in Hiragana if exists , the English meaning, and sentence examples using the word.

Funding for Japanese Immersion Teachers To Attend a Conference

From http://www.jflalc.org/jle-2012-carla.html

The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles will conduct a support program for Japanese language immersion teachers to participate in the Fourth International Conference on Language Immersion Education by Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) in Minneapolis, MN on October 18 – 20, 2012.

The deadline to apply is July 25, 2012.

For full details go to http://www.jflalc.org/jle-2012-carla.html

Navajo Word of the Day

The Navajo Word of the Day blog has a daily post with a new word, information about its usage, and an audio clip: http://navajowotd.com

Companies Combine Soccer Training with Language Immersion

From http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/08/4614603/ex-kennedy-high-star-offers-soccer.html

Ex-Kennedy High star offers soccer-language immersion programs around the world
By David Caraccio
July 8, 2012

With an eye toward playing soccer at the college level, Elk Grove High School junior Megan Wilson got a chance last summer to improve her game in a way she never thought possible.

Wilson trained with elite players from around the world at a soccer academy in Madrid, one of eight international venues operated by EduKick Inc., a company founded 11 years ago by Joey Bilotta, 47, a former soccer standout at Sacramento's Kennedy High School who also played for professional teams in the capital and elsewhere.

Wilson's soccer skills weren't the only thing that improved. Her three-week EduKick program also featured Spanish immersion courses.

Think of your typical exchange program that offers travel and study abroad – the type parents and high school students have been taking part in for decades. Now add intense soccer training in the world's strongest futbol nations – such as England, Spain, Brazil and Italy – and you have an idea of what EduKick is selling.

Another player in the market is Pleasant Hill-based International Futbol X-change, founded by Michael Carlson, a former player, in 2003. Carlson said he didn't model his company after EduKick. IFX, which has recruited players from Sacramento, places students individually with host families and on various youth clubs rather than together at academies.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/08/4614603/ex-kennedy-high-star-offers-soccer.html#storylink=cpy

U.S. Colleges Show Trend Toward Internationalization

From http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/us/09iht-educbriefs09.html?_r=1

U.S. Colleges Show Trend Toward Internationalization
By CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZE
July 8, 2012

U.S. colleges and universities are becoming more international, even if second-language education is decreasing and funding is stagnating in some cases, according to a study released last month by the American Council on Education.

“Mapping Internationalization on U.S. Campuses” examined funding, degree requirements, curriculums, admissions, hiring policies and self-perception to measure to what extent U.S. universities are looking outside the country.

“We are constantly reminded that in order to compete in the 21st century, the U.S. work force must be prepared to operate across borders,” said the council’s president, Molly Corbett Broad.

The report found that a majority of institutions reported an increase in internationalization in the last three years. When asked whether the trend had accelerated, 93 percent of doctoral institutions and 78 percent of master’s institutions said yes. However, only 47 percent of the schools that thought they were becoming more international had more money dedicated to the process now than five years ago.

In one of the sharpest increases, 68 percent of institutions claim that international background and experience were considered when hiring faculty, up from 32 percent in 2006.

Foreign language studies have become less commonplace. Only 37 percent of undergraduate students now have to learn a foreign language to graduate, down from nearly 53 percent in 2001.

American Councils and The RAND Corporation Investigate Effects of Dual-Language Immersion on Student Achievement

From http://www.americancouncils.org/news/gu/American_Councils_and_the_RAND_Corporation_Will_Investigate_Effects_of_DualLanguage_Immersion_on_Student_Achievement

American Councils for International Education is pleased to announce the award of a new, three-year research grant from the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. In partnership with the RAND Corporation and Portland Public Schools, American Councils launched a study on July 2, 2012, entitled “The Effect of Dual-Language Immersion on Student Achievement in the Portland Public Schools,” that will examine the effect of dual-language immersion on student achievement in English language arts, mathematics, and science. The link between foreign language study and educational performance in other K-12 subject areas is a matter of concern for educational policymakers and educators in many countries.

American Councils will collaborate with RAND, a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis, on project design and implementation. American Councils will also be responsible for assisting in establishing metrics for student achievement in science, technology and related fields at the elementary and secondary school level, as well as metrics for second-language acquisition within the context of a dual-language immersion K-12 program.

Read the full announcement at http://www.americancouncils.org/news/gu/American_Councils_and_the_RAND_Corporation_Will_Investigate_Effects_of_DualLanguage_Immersion_on_Student_Achievement

Job: Applied Linguistics: Assistant Professor, University of Hawai'i at Manoa

From http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-2995.html

Assistant Professor, with specialization in second language acquisition in instructional contexts (position number 82418), University of Hawai'i at Manoa, College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature, full-time, tenure track, to begin January 1, 2013 or August 1, 2013. The Department of Second Language Studies offers a BA, an MA and a PhD in Second Language Studies as well as an Advanced Graduate Certificate.

Application Deadline: 30-Sep-2012

View the full job posting at http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-2995.html

Job: Computer Assisted Language Learning: Instructional Technologist, University of Michigan

From http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-3037.html

The University of Michigan Language Resource Center (LRC) seeks an instructional technology specialist who is a creative, user- centered, energetic individual to support the development and implementation of technology in enhancing instructional activities for University of Michigan foreign language, literature and culture courses. Candidate must have a passion for teaching and learning; be intrigued by languages and cultures of the world; preferably with personal experience in foreign language learning and/or in foreign language teaching.

Application Deadline: 20-Jul-2012

View the full job posting at http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-3037.html

New PhD Program in Language Acquisition and Bilingualism at the University of Texas at El Paso

From http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-2988.html

The Language Acquisition and Bilingualism (LAB) Ph.D. concentration is a new option for students who wish to gain solid training in both psychological and linguistic theory and methodology. The program offers students advanced training in the research methods of psychology, particularly those relevant to the study of language, and in the theory and description of linguistic structure, which will significantly enhance their language-oriented research. Students have the opportunity to complete the M.A. degree in either Psychology or Linguistics on the path to the Ph.D. in Psychology, depending on coursework and research options selected.

Learn more about the new program at http://academics.utep.edu/Default.aspx?tabid=47115

Workshop: Online Technology for Language Learning

Online technology for Language Learning

Language teachers interested in using iPads, or similar online devices in language teaching are invited to take part in an online workshop.

This workshop will link into a symposium of language professionals being held at The Bolles School, Florida 18-19 July 2012.

Initially participants will be asked to play the role of a student and complete an online language learning task. The next stage involves participants (as teachers) setting online speaking/ listening/ reading/ writing tasks for their students to complete.

Please contact peter at schoolshape dot com to register your interest and receive further details.

You can reserve a place at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dGw0cFZkRHJZSzJEc25QNVNjSjByVlE6MQ

Smith, P. [FLTEACH] Online technology for Language Learning. FLTEACH listserv (FLTEACH@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU, 9 Jul 2012).

UC Curriculum Integration Institute for Fall 2012: Marketing, Sales and Service with Language Other Than English

Apply now to the Fall 2012 UCCI Institute for the opportunity to contribute to the design of groundbreaking courses that integrate Marketing, Sales and Service with Language Other Than English (LOTE). At the UCCI Institutes, teams of teachers, administrators and/or curriculum developers design innovative courses to be submitted to UC for “a-g” approval and designated as CTE; once approved, these courses are made available for adoption by any high school in California.

Accepted applicants will receive a $600 stipend and have Institute expenses (registration, meals, lodging) covered by UCCI. In addition, your school or district will be reimbursed a total of $250 to cover substitute costs for the weekdays when you are attending the Institute.

Learn more and apply at http://www.ucop.edu/ucci
The application deadline is August 13, 2012

D’Ambruoso, L. UC Curriculum Integration Institute for Fall 2012. CLTA e-mail, 11 Jul 2012.

Call for Papers: Assessing Second Language Students with Learning and Other Disabilities

From http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-3009.html

Call for Papers for an Edited Volume Entitled 'Assessing Second Language Students with Learning and Other Disabilities'
Edited by Dr Dina Tsagari & Dr George Spanoudis (University of Cyprus)
To be published with LIT Verlag

The population of students is becoming increasingly diverse, both culturally and linguistically. The numbers of children diagnosed with specific learning differences, SpLD (e.g. dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder) as well as those with other disabilities like visual, hearing or physical impairments, is steadily increasing today; so is the number of students enrolled in special education. This situation, combined with greater awareness of individual human rights, has led to an increased demand for appropriate testing and assessment provision. This is of particular concern to second or foreign language test providers (Taylor, 2012) and teachers (Kormos and Smith, 2012; Kormos and Kontra, 2008), who are very often faced with the challenge of having to offer special arrangements (accommodations) to second language learners (SLLs) with disabilities: they need to depart from the established testing procedures and alter their protocols, administration and/or content in order to accommodate the special needs of SLLs with disabilities.

In this context, the intended volume seeks to discuss the theoretical, ethical and practical considerations involved and explore the theoretical models and research findings that better identify the language and special needs of SLLs with SpLD and other disabilities and evaluate the effectiveness of accommodation practices employed so far. Studies of both high-stakes tests and classroom-based assessments that are related to the special needs of SLLs are invited conducted by professionals and researchers working in the area of psychology, special education and second/foreign language testing and assessment. The ultimate aim is to create a compilation of papers based on both theoretical and research chapters that address the fair assessment of this special population of SLLs.

View the full call for papers at http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-3009.html

Call for Papers for the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Stanford Forum for African Studies

From http://stanfordfas.wordpress.com

Call for Papers for the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Stanford Forum for African Studies
Mobile Africa
Stanford University, California October 26-27, 2012
DEADLINE: July 31, 2012

The Stanford Forum for African Studies (SFAS) invites proposals for papers by graduate students, scholars, and faculty on the topics of mobilization and mobility – of people and power, of goods and technology – and how this movement affects social, economic, and political processes and practices in Africa today.

Go to http://stanfordfas.wordpress.com to download the full call for papers.

Book: Youth Culture, Language Endangerment and Linguistic Survivance

From http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?k=9781847697394

Youth Culture, Language Endangerment and Linguistic Survivance
By Leisy Thornton Wyman
Published by Multilingual Matters

Summary: Detailing a decade of life and language use in a remote Alaskan Yup’ik community, Youth Culture, Language Endangerment and Linguistic Survivance provides rare insight into young people's language brokering and Indigenous people's contemporary linguistic ecologies. This book examines how two consecutive groups of youth in a Yup’ik village negotiated eroding heritage language learning resources, changing language ideologies, and gendered subsistence practices while transforming community language use over time. Wyman shows how villagers used specific Yup’ik forms, genres, and discourse practices to foster learning in and out of school, underscoring the stakes of language endangerment. At the same time, by demonstrating how the youth and adults in the study used multiple languages, literacies and translanguaging to sustain a unique subarctic way of life, Wyman illuminates Indigenous peoples’ wide-ranging forms of linguistic survivance in an interconnected world.

Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?k=9781847697394

Book: Online Second Language Acquisition

From http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=168763&SearchType=Basic

Online Second Language Acquisition: Conversation Analysis of Online Chat
By Vincenza Tudini
Published by Continuum

Description: A book-length exploration of the role of online chat in supporting the teaching and learning of foreign languages is well overdue. Tudini's new book takes a Conversation Analysis approach, which is new to online Second Language Acquisition. It provides observable, previously undocumented insights into how native speakers and learners pursue the learning of foreign language and culture during online text chat.

It looks at dyadic chat between native speakers and learners, with examples drawn from a corpus featuring 133 learners and 584 native speakers of Italian. This unique book contributes to our understanding of how conversation in a foreign language unfolds between native speakers and learners in an online social environment, rather than in the classroom.

It will be of interest to researchers in second language acquisition and conversation analysis, as well as language teachers.

Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=168763&SearchType=Basic

July 7, 2012

Five Ways To Assess Oral Communication

From http://ochoamores.typepad.com/morespanish/2012/07/five-for-friday-5-ways-to-assess-oral-communication-face-to-face.html

Teacher Sherry Amorocho writes:

“In addition to the digital ways that I assess oral work, I have several informal ways of checking my students’ speaking skills. I don’t want to stifle emerging communicative skills by taking off points for mistakes, so most of these checks are based on effort rather than accuracy. My grades are weighted, and these informal assessments will be listed under the ‘participation’ category along with the formal assessments I talked about in the previous post.”

Read her five suggestions at http://ochoamores.typepad.com/morespanish/2012/07/five-for-friday-5-ways-to-assess-oral-communication-face-to-face.html

Salem State University Announces $1.9m Grant To Train ESL Teachers

From http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/salem/2012/06/by_ryan_mooney_globe_correspon.html

Salem State announces $1.9m grant to train ESL teachers
by Ryan Mooney
June 29, 2012

Salem State University announced this week the receipt of a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the Massachusetts Department of Education to be used for the training of English Language Learning (ELL) teachers. The university will partner with Salem, Lynn, and Revere to train current teachers in Secondary English Immersion (SEI) and put new SEI-certified teachers into the three school systems.

The announcement of the new program - coming on the heels of a $1.5 million grant awarded to the Bentley Elementary School, which faces the threat of a state takeover after being tagged with a Level 4 designation last fall - should bode well for Salem's overall school turnaround plan, which puts an emphasis on SEI as the district's non-English-speaking student demographic continues to grow each year.

Read the full article at http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/salem/2012/06/by_ryan_mooney_globe_correspon.html

Study: Bilingual Ed. Better for Non-ELLs

From http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2012/07/study_bilingual_ed_a_boon_to_n.html

Study: Bilingual Ed. Better for Non-ELLs
By Lesli A. Maxwell
July 2, 2012

There's a robust body of research that has examined how the various forms of English-language instruction impact the ability of ELLs to acquire English and achieve academically, but a group of researchers is taking a completely different look at this question.

How, they ask, do bilingual education programs—in which some instruction is delivered in an ELL's native language—spill over to impact the performance of students who are not learning English?

The researchers use Texas—home to the second largest concentration of ELLs in the nation and where Spanish bilingual education programs still exist in public schools across the state—to try and answer this question. Their findings were released in a working paper today from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

In districts offering bilingual education, the test scores of non-ELLs whose home language is not Spanish were raised "significantly." Because these kids were not Spanish speakers, they never would have been candidates to participate in bilingual education, therefore, researchers conclude, there were "program spillover effects."

The researchers offer some possible explanations, many of which can be boiled down to differences between the composition of classrooms in bilingual programs versus those in ESL programs.

Read the full article at http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2012/07/study_bilingual_ed_a_boon_to_n.html
The report is available for $5 at http://papers.nber.org/papers/w18197

Federal Agency Clarifies Mandate on Accreditation of English-Language Programs

From http://chronicle.com/article/Agency-Clarifies-Mandate-on/132723

Federal Agency Clarifies Mandate on Accreditation of English-Language Programs
By Karin Fischer
July 2, 2012

Weeks after it caused a furor by suggesting that university-run English-language programs would have to receive separate accreditation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security late Friday issued a policy statement clarifying how such programs can demonstrate they are covered by institutional accreditation.

While the department did not back off its insistence that campus-run programs produce proof of accreditation under a 2010 law—something program directors contend the legislation never intended—the new guidance will go a long way toward allaying concerns, language-program officials said this weekend.

Read the full article at http://chronicle.com/article/Agency-Clarifies-Mandate-on/132723

More Tour de France Resources

Here are some more Tour de France resources:

A French-language blog post at http://fjfle.blogspot.com/2012/07/sport-tour-de-france-2012.html

Interactive maps for each stage of the race at http://www.cyclingthealps.com/#tour-de-france-2012-stage-1

Some cycling vocabulary at http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/cycling.htm

French in Belgium

Read a blog post about differences between Belgian French and Parisian French at http://blogs.transparent.com/french/french-in-belgium

Bastille Day Celebrations in the US

A French-language, non-exhaustive list of Bastille Day celebrations around the United States is available at http://www.france-amerique.com/articles/2012/07/03/bastille_day_celebre_a_travers_tout_le_pays.html?

Virgilius: Collection of Links to Vergil Resources

The Virgilius website houses well-annotated links to online resources dealing with Vergil. Explore it at http://www.virgilius.org

New Website Is Dedicated to Greek and Roman Numbers

From http://www.nvmeri.org

Here is a new website dedicated to Greek and Roman numbers. Read what its creator’s description:

“Welcome to the Ancient Numbers Page. It is a work in progress, and many features will be added in the coming weeks and months.

“Aim: To help my students and the general public better understand ancient Greek and Roman numbers, and how they were represented. Different subpages will provide explanations, calculators, and graded quizzes. Some in each category are already done, and can be reached through the links in the User Menu on the left.”

Explore this website at http://www.nvmeri.org

Blog Post: New Sports in the Ancient and Modern Olympics

From http://ancientandmodernolympics.wordpress.com

Read a blog post about the confusion around which sports are introduced into the modern Olympics, and similar changes over time in the ancient games, at http://ancientandmodernolympics.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/new-sports-in-the-olympic-programme

This post would serve as a good conversation prompt for language students.

Telenovela for German Learners: Jojo sucht das Glück

From http://www.young-germany.de/nc/news-verwaltung/news-singleview/article/jojo-sucht-das-glueck-language-series-premieres-new-season.html

The second season of Deutsche Welle's telenovela series for German learners “Jojo sucht das Glück”—or “Jojo's Search for Happiness” as it's called in English–premiered July 5th at the International German Olympics (IDO). This time around Jojo, a Brazilian student learning the ropes of life in Germany, will feature new characters, a new love interest, and a dip in the working world as Jojo tries out jobs waitressing and interning at an event management agency.

Catch up on the latest season or watch the new episode at http://www.dw.de/dw/0,,13121,00.html

Irish Immersion Week in New York

From http://www.daltai.com/shop/products.php?product=Irish-Immersion-Week-%252d-August-27-to-Sept.-1%2C-2012

Immersion Course in The Irish Language
Monday Morning, August 27th through Saturday Noon, September 1st, 2012
Marist Brothers Retreat Center
Route 9W, Esopus, NY
845-384-6620

Gaeltacht Immersion Programs were established to provide a setting where students could absorb the Irish Language and culture while enjoying the companionship of others with similar interests and abilities.

The only requirements are a desire to learn, a commitment to use whatever Irish you do have, and a willingness to comply with the rule: Irish will be spoken by all, at all times, to the best of one's ability.

Once again there will be a naíonra (pre-school) day program. Children's classes can be arranged for young children accompanying parents.

Daily Language Classes and Peer-Led Conversation Groups (both mandatory) along with Workshops in Music, Singing and Céilí/Set Dancing are offered as well as other workshops throughout the week.

Evening activities are scheduled and there is still time for swimming, hiking or relaxing.

The deadline to reserve and pay for a spot is August 18th.

For full details and to sign up go to http://www.daltai.com/shop/products.php?product=Irish-Immersion-Week-%252d-August-27-to-Sept.-1%2C-2012

July 15 Concert: Suanplu Chorus from Bangkok, Thailand

From http://www.international.ucla.edu/cseas/events/showevent.asp?eventid=9521

A Journey to Harmony
A concert by Suanplu Chorus from Bangkok, Thailand
Sunday, July 15, 2012
7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Schoenberg Hall
UCLA Campus

A full concert in Los Angeles by Suanplu Chorus, a 30+ voices SATB chorus based in Bangkok, Thailand and a pioneer in combining the beauty of Thai music with Western choral tradition since its start in 2000. Repertoire includes the competition sets for the World Choir Games 2012 (Cincinnati, OH) - contemporary classical pieces and scenes from a Thai folklore, Manohra, with full production and choreography - and our regular repertoire of Thai songs. Accompanied by a piano and traditional Thai instruments, the performance by the chorus in Thai costumes singing and dancing is a feast for both ears and eyes.

For full details go to http://www.international.ucla.edu/cseas/events/showevent.asp?eventid=9521