Just released! Recommendations for the implementation of the Seal of Biliteracy from The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), the National Association of Bilingual Education (NABE), the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL), and TESOL International Association.
Author: MATSOL
Happiness in Many Languages
Enjoy this multilingual playlist to celebrate International Day of Happiness!
- From Songlines Blog: International Day of Happiness: The Songlines Playlist
Utah’s Road to Language Education
After passage of a law in Utah to fund the teaching of critical languages, there are intensive language programs in 118 of the state’s schools that teach Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and other languages.
The law’s sponsor, Republican State Senator Howard Stephenson, had an “epiphany” after traveling to China and meeting scores of young people who spoke fluent English:
“On the plane ride home, I was worried about America’s future … I was excited for the Chinese and their rising nation, but I wondered what could I do as a policymaker to assist in helping the United States connect to these rising nations?”
- From Public Radio International, Utah bets big on foreign language learning, but not everyone is on board
Should All Students Learn a Second Language?
Yash Khatavkar, a TED-Ed Club Member and high school senior, argues for increased language learning:
Speaking someone else’s native language is not only important for things such as business and trade, but is also critical for more lofty purposes such as international understanding and transcending cultural boundaries.
- From the TED-ED blog: Should all students learn a second language?
Language and Human Rights
The Linguistics Society of America presents a webinar on Making the Connections Between Human Rights and Linguistics. Topics include:
- Advancing the Right to Benefit from Scientific Progress
- Assisting Linguists Whose Human Rights Have Been Violated
- Ensure the respect of the linguistic rights of all communities that speak local languages
- Ethical Linguistic Practices in the Context of Field Research
- Case Studies of Human Rights Advocacy in the Linguistic Sphere
- Work so that more speakers of local languages can have access to quality education in their native languages
Co-Facilitators:
- Jessica M Wyndham, Associate Director, Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program, American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Michel DeGraff, Professor of Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date and Time: March 20, 2015 at 12:00 – 1:00 pm ET
A Leader for Language Opportunity
Each year, Education Week shines a spotlight on some of the nation’s most outstanding school district leaders in its Leaders To Learn From special report. This year, Richard A. Carranza, Superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District, has been recognized for Leadership in English-Language-Learner Education. He asks:
“Why would you not want to produce bilingual students in the public education system? It baffles the mind.”
- From Education Week: A One-Time English-Language Learner Puts Premium on Bilingual, Bicultural Education
Happy International Mother Language Day!
Today is International Mother Language Day, which has been observed since 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.
- From the United Nations, International Mother Language Day.
Double Standard for Bilingualism?
“Bilingualism is often seen as “good” when it’s rich English speakers adding a language as a hobby or another international language, but “bad” when it involves poor, minority, or indigenous groups adding English to their first language, even when the same two languages are involved.”
- From The Washington Post: Why is bilingual education ‘good’ for rich kids but ‘bad’ for poor, immigrant students?
Support legislation for language opportunity in Massachusetts!
The Language Opportunity Coalition urges you to support two bills filed in the Massachusetts legislature:
The Language Opportunity Coalition is proud to announce that two exciting bills have been filed for the 2015-2016 Massachusetts legislative session:
“An Act to Establish a State Seal of Biliteracy” (HD 1698/SD 1012), filed by Senator Karen Spilka and Representative Kay Khan
“An Act relative to Language Opportunity for Our Kids (LOOK)” (HD2211/SD743), filed by Senator Sal DiDomenico and Representative Jeff Sanchez.
We now believe we can gather the support we need to be successful this upcoming legislative session. However, we need your help!
We want to ensure that as many State Senators and State Representatives as possible sign on to these bills as co-sponsors. The deadline for co-sponsorship is Friday, January 30th, 2015.
We are asking you to make two phone calls or send two emails TODAY in support of these bills.
New Research on Bilingualism and the Brain
New research shows that bilingualism leads to structural changes in the grey matter and white matter of the brain, in response to the increased demands of juggling information between two languages.
- From The Conversation: Keeping actively bilingual makes our brains more efficient at relaying information
Language Opportunity 
You must be logged in to post a comment.