| News for and about language educators |  |
- Colo. immersion school experiences rapid growth
Parents interested in enrolling their children in Dual Immersion Academy in Grand Junction, Colo., now must use the district's lottery system. "[L]ast year we saw a big jump in the interest level and this year we actually have more parents than last year showing interest in enrolling their child to dual immersion," principal Monica Heptner said. She attributes growth, in part, to an expanded interest in preparing students for life in an increasingly global society.  KKCO-TV (Grand Junction, Colo.)
(2/7)     
- Clinton promotes access for science, tech education in Arabic
A joint initiative between the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization and the U.S. State Department will make educational resources available online in Arabic. The Open Book Project, one of Hillary Clinton's final initiatives before she steps down as secretary of state, will center on science and technology materials. "Our hope is to lower geographic, economic and even gender-based barriers to learning," Clinton said during the project's launch. Nature (free content)
(2/4)
| Technology & Trends |  |  |
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- How U.S. born and foreign born English learners differ
Foreign born English language learners at San Pedro High School in California are mastering the language faster than U.S. born students who have been identified as "long-term English learners." While no overall statistics are available, one reason cited for the disparity is that foreign born students already may have mastered their native tongue and can focus on learning English, while the U.S. born students are learning English while also trying to learn the native language of their parents. "It delays their progress in Spanish and it delays their progress in English at the same time. It ends up almost like a created learning disability," Jill Aguilar, an associate professor of education at California State University, Dominguez Hills, said of some students. Daily Breeze (Torrance, Calif.)
(2/11)
| Policy Watch | | |
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- Admiral: U.S. military should require bilingual officers
The Defense Department needs to do more to help U.S. military officers learn a second language and become more culturally responsive, says Admiral James Stavridis, head of the U.S. European Command. He proposes several initiatives to help reach this goal, including making bilingualism a basic requirement for officers, creating a career path for foreign affairs officers and expanding the number of officers knowledgeable about specific regions. Stars and Stripes
(2/5)
- Mich. proposal would end language requirement
Michigan State Rep. Phil Potvin has introduced a bill that would end regulations mandating all high-school students take foreign-language courses, contending that the requirement interferes with students' ability to receive vocational training. Some educators are speaking out against the bill. "We believe it is in the best interest of students, the community and the nation ... to have a citizenry that is linguistically competent in more than one language," said Jackie Moase-Burke, former president of the Michigan World Language Association. MichiganRadio.org
(2/9)
| ACTFL News | | |
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Last chance: ACTFL webinar tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.
During "Providing Effective Feedback," presented by Bonnie Adair-Hauck and Francis Troyan, participants learn what research says regarding feedback, hear how teachers and learners together co-construct feedback, explore how to target expectations around what "meets the standard" in each mode of communication, and examine rubrics to evaluate performance. Learn more and register.
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ACTFL seeks requests for research priorities phase II partnerships
The purpose of Phase II of the ACTFL Research Priorities Project is to support empirical research on five priority areas that are critical to improving foreign language education. In this pre-proposal stage, ACTFL invites two groups of participants (researchers and site partners) to express their interest in establishing a research partnership that would potentially lead to submission of a full proposal in Stage 2. Deadline for stage 1 submissions is March 15. Learn more and submit.
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