Language Learning & Technology
Vol.12, No.1, February 2008, pp. 19-22
External links valid at
time of publication

NEWS FROM SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS
Paginated PDF Version

Sponsors

University of Hawai`i National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC)
Michigan State University Center for Language Education And Research (CLEAR)
Co-Sponsor

Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)

University of Hawai'i National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC)

Go to NFLRC
The University of Hawai‘i National Foreign Language Resource Center engages in research and materials development projects and conducts workshops and conferences for language professionals among its many activities.

FILIPINO AS A GLOBAL LANGUAGE: FUTURE DIRECTIONS & PROSPECTS

This conference, to be held on March 17-19, 2008 at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, is a venue for bringing together scholars, writers, language teachers, researchers and other practitioners from around the world to discuss issues pertaining to the role of Filipino as a global language. Participants can be teachers, researchers, program administrators/coordinators and other practitioners who are directly involved in the promotion and nurturing of the Filipino language, literature and culture. This first conference is geared towards establishing a tradition of scholarly meetings of this kind among practitioners in the field of Filipino language, literature and culture studies.  (The NFLRC serves as co-sponsor for this event).

2008 SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH FORUM

Just in! With the theme, Exploring SLA: Perspectives, Positions, and Practices, the Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) returns to the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa for the third time on October 17-19. 2008 (with the NFLRC serving as co-sponsor). Check out our website as more information becomes available.

NEW NFLRC PUBLICATIONS

Selected papers from Pragmatics in the CJK Classroom: The State of the Art
This online collection (http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/CJKProceedings/) presents 10 selected papers from the forum on Pragmatics in the CJK Classroom: The State of the Art held from June 5 to June 7, 2006 at the University of Hawai‘i-Manoa in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. The papers are representative of the many outstanding contributions to the field of L2 pragmatics that were presented at the gathering. The papers are also representative of the diverse range of research interests and pedagogical issues taken up by the conference presenters. Cumulatively, the papers in this volume address current concerns in L2 pragmatics that range from the development of pragmatic competence by children and college-age students in both foreign and second language settings to pragmatics-focused instruction in the foreign language classroom for students at all levels of foreign language learning. The pedagogically-oriented contributions are diverse in their scope: from innovative approaches for teaching true beginners to the specialized curriculum of students receiving post-graduate professional training. Instructional innovations for L2 classroom pragmatics-focused teaching from each of the language groups — Chinese, Japanese, and Korean — are included.

Check out our many other publications.

OUR ONLINE JOURNALS SOLICIT SUBMISSIONS

Language Learning & Technology is a refereed online journal, jointly sponsored by the University of Hawai`i NFLRC and the Michigan State University Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR). LLT focuses on issues related to technology and language education. For more information on submission guidelines, visit the LLT submissions page.

Language Documentation & Conservation is a fully refereed, open-access journal sponsored by NFLRC and published exclusively in electronic form by the University of Hawai‘i Press. LD&C publishes papers on all topics related to language documentation and conservation. For more information on submission guidelines, visit the LD&C submissions page.

Reading in a Foreign Language is a refereed online journal, jointly sponsored by the University of Hawai`i NFLRC and the Department of Second Language Studies. RFL serves as an excellent source for the latest developments in the field, both theoretical and pedagogic, including improving standards for foreign language reading. For more information on submission guidelines, , visit the RFL submissions page

Michigan State University Center for Language Education And Research (CLEAR)

Check out CLEAR at MSU!

CLEAR's mission is to promote the teaching and learning of foreign languages in the United States.  Projects focus on materials development, professional development training, and foreign language research.

MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT

Selected Products

The list below comprises just some of our free and low-cost materials for language educators. Be sure to visit our website occasionally for updates and announcements on new products: http://clear.msu.edu.

  • NEW!  La phonétique française (CD-ROM) – Now available in beta version, this cross-platform multimedia program consists of interactive lessons that can be used by French teachers to learn how to teach pronunciation, or by advanced students working independently.

  • NEW! CLEAR’s Rich Internet Applications initiative has been underway for over a year. RIA is a research and development lab where our programmers are working on free tools that language teachers can use to create online language teaching materials – or have their students create activities themselves!
      • NEW! Audio Dropboxes (put a dropbox in any web page; students’ recordings get put into your dropbox automatically)
      • NEW! Conversations (record prompts for students to do virtual interviews and conversations)
      • Mashups (combine media elements to create a new resource for language teaching)
      • Viewpoint (record or upload videos to link from other sites or embed inside your own web pages)
      • SMILE (tool for creating interactive online exercises

  • MIMEA: Multimedia Interactive Modules for Education and Assessment (German, Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian; online video clips and activities

Coming Soon!

Introductory Business German (CD-ROM)

PARTNERSHIP WITH ACTFL

In January and February 2008, CLEAR collaborated with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) to manage their student video podcast contest, “Not Just a Language Class!”  This contest was part of the Discover Languages… Discover the World! (http://www.discoverlanguages.org) national public awareness campaign to build public support for language education.  Students were asked to create a two-minute video podcast depicting how the study of other languages had had an impact on their lives.  ACTFL contacted CLEAR and requested that we create an online submission and storage system for the podcast entries based on our Rich Internet Application called Viewpoint.  We were able to tailor the contest website to ACTFL’s needs, and look forward to future collaboration – watch for this annual contest!  (ACTFL is using our Rich Internet Applications… are you?  http://ria.clear.msu.edu)

CONFERENCES

CLEAR exhibits at local and national conferences year-round. We hope to see you at ACTFL, CALICO, MiWLA, NCOLCTL, Central States, and other conferences.

UPCOMING CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

  • Central States Conference - Dearborn, MI - March 6-8, 2008
    • Workshop: Using Rich Internet Applications in Your Classroom
    • Session: Report from the R&D Lab: Rich Internet Applications for Language Learning
    • Session: Reaching Out and Building Enrollment through a "World Languages Day"
  • CALICO - San Francisco, CA - March 18-22, 2008
    • Session: Learners' Perception and Preference of Audio Stimuli During an Online Pragmatics Test

CLEAR News is a biyearly publication covering FL teaching techniques, research, and materials. Contact the CLEAR office to join the mailing list or check it out on the Web at http://clear.msu.edu/newsletter/. We welcome your submissions!

The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)

Visit CAL's Website!

The Center for Applied Linguistics is a private, nonprofit organization that promotes and improves the teaching and learning of languages, identifies and solves problems related to language and culture, and serves as a resource for information about language and culture. CAL carries out a wide range of activities in the fields of English as a second language, foreign languages, cultural education, and linguistics.

Featured Resources:

CAL News is our new periodic electronic newsletter created to provide periodic updates about our projects and research s well as information about new publications, online resources, products, and services of interest to our readers. Visit our Web site to sign up.

The Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages (the Alliance) consists of individuals and organizations who share a commitment to advancing language development for heritage language speakers in the United States. The Alliance is committed to fostering the development of the heritage language proficiencies of individuals in this country as part of a larger effort to educate members of our society who can function professionally in English and other languages. The Alliance has revamped its Web site to offer expanded content and improved navigation.

CAL conducts a national survey of foreign language instruction in elementary and secondary schools every decade to gain greater understanding of current patterns and shifts over time in enrollments, the number of schools offering foreign language classes, the types of foreign language offerings, foreign language curricula and methodologies, teacher qualifications and training, and the effects of NCLB, among other issues. We are currently conducting the third survey to be able to show trends in foreign language education at three points in time (1987, 1997, 2007). For further details, see the fall 2007 update.

Visit the newly expanded CREATE Web site to learn more about CREATE, its research and upcoming events. To keep current on CREATE activities, sign up to receive an electronic newsletter and periodic announcements.

In support of the Discover Languages campaign led by ACTFL, CAL has developed a regular Web series to provide information about specific languages. These language spotlights are introductory in nature and are intended to encourage readers to explore these languages and CAL’s work with them in more detail. Different languages will be highlighted periodically.

CAL provides a variety of professional development and technical assistance services related to language education and assessment needs.

Recent Publications:

Visit CAL’s Web site to learn more about our projects, resources, and services.