Monolingual Ph.D.’s?

MATSOL Language Education Policy

Most US doctoral programs have dropped their foreign language requirements.

Being monolingual is a concrete drawback for today’s science professors, too, given that scientists in most other nations are capable of working in multiple languages. Foreign-language proficiency is not essential to get research done, but it does increase one’s options. Most U.S. scientists might believe that knowing multiple languages is not critical, however, I imagine we might get a different answer if we ask their current and potential research collaborators for whom English is a second language. While internationally visible scholarship is primarily published in English, many of the laboratories that generate this work do not necessarily use English on a day-to-day basis in the lab.

 

Boston Globe Editorial Supports the LOOK Bill

MATSOL Coalition News, Community News , ,

A Boston Globe editorial endorses the LOOK Bill filed by Rep. Sánchez and Sen. DiDomenico:

… the solution may lie beyond the Boston school system — more specifically, on Beacon Hill. Massachusetts’ school districts have been restricted in the way they teach English learners since 2002, when a ballot question crippled bilingual education. Districts were required to use “Sheltered English Immersion,” a method that focuses on teaching academic content in English, limiting the help students can receive in their native language…

… Sánchez’s bill represents the best opportunity to offer better instruction for students learning English — and a chance at a better educational future.

Different Programs for Different Contexts

MATSOL Language Education Policy ,

A new report from Education Commission of the States on State Level English Language Learner Policies examines issues of finance, identification of ELLs, educator quality, and more.

In the section on recognizing the implications of different ELL program approaches, the report states:

State leaders should recognize that different programs will be effective in different contexts. For example, rural school districts with few ELLs and urban districts with high concentrations of ELLs will need different program approaches. Likewise, long-term ELLs, students exiting ELL programs in the early grades and ELLs with interrupted education, for example, all need different kinds of supports and services.

From Education Commission of the States: State Level English Language Learner Policies

Seal of Biliteracy Guidelines

MATSOL Coalition News, Seal of Biliteracy Pilot Project , ,

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.

Utah’s Road to Language Education

MATSOL National News ,

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?”

Should All Students Learn a Second Language?

MATSOL Language Policy , ,

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.

Language and Human Rights

MATSOL Language Policy , ,

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

Registration information

A Leader for Language Opportunity

MATSOL National News , , ,

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.”

Happy International Mother Language Day!

MATSOL International News

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.