280 likes | 460 Views
National Heritage Language Resource Center. Director: Olga Kagan Co-Directors: Maria Polinsky, Maria Carreira. National Heritage Language Resource Center. Funded by the Title VI U.S. Department of Education (2006-2010; refunded 2010-2014) One of 15 NLRCs
E N D
National Heritage Language Resource Center Director: Olga Kagan Co-Directors: Maria Polinsky, Maria Carreira
National Heritage Language Resource Center • Funded by the Title VI U.S. Department of Education (2006-2010; refunded 2010-2014) • One of 15 NLRCs • The only one dedicated to heritage languages
The Center’s Mission • Research into heritage language acquisition • Innovative teaching practices and professional development • Design of HL specific • instructional materials • assessment instruments
The White Papers Prolegomena to Heritage Linguistics E. Benmamoun, S. Montrul, M. Polinsky • http://nhlrc.ucla.edu/pdf/HL-whitepaper.pdf (NHLRC website) • NEW!Position Paper: The Advanced Speaker: An Overview of the Issues in Heritage Language Teaching by M. Carreira
A CALL FOR PAPERS • Second International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages • March 7-8, 2014, UCLA • http://www.nhlrc.ucla.edu/events/conference/2nd/
Gratitude (1) • Kim Potowski • Sara Stefanich • Maria Polinsky • Maria Carreira • Claire Chik • Kathryn Paul
Gratitude (2) • All presenters! Especially, to our loyal faculty SilvinaMontrul Abbas Benmamoun William O’Grady And to TanjaAnstatt who came from Germany
A Retrospective: Six Institutes Later • Shaping the field • Encouraging dissertation research • Having some impact on professional development • Having some impact on teaching
Rethinking the curriculum • Stressing vocabulary development • Targeting certain grammatical areas • Developing pragmatic competence • Being cognizant of relearning effect • Understanding the differences between - HL baseline language and Full L1 - HL and FL
The Charge and Impact Our Charge Impact Linguistic research > teaching: (1) College Level (2) Pre-college level K-12 Community schools • Funded by the U.S. Department of Education • To have impact on the educational system
K-12 and Heritage Communities • Multilingual Los Angeles: The Impact of Immigrant Language Communities on the Educational System • Rationale: LA demographics > a high percentage heritage speakers in K-12 • Do LA schools (1) meet the needs of HL speakers and/or (2) take advantage of community resources?
Language Communities • Los Angeles – English, Tagalog, Korean, Armenian • Alhambra – Chinese, English, Spanish, Vietnamese • Glendale – Armenian, English, Spanish, Korean • Long Beach – English, Spanish, Khmer, Tagalog • West Hollywood – English,Russian, Spanish • Westminster – English, Vietnamese, Spanish
Immigrant Languages in LA Schools • "We speak 109 different languages and we translate everything into five on a regular basis inside the system.” J. Deasy, Superintendent, LA Unified School District Sept 16, 2011 http://eaglerock.patch.com/articles/lausd-chief-a-tale-of-two-school-systems-part-i#photo-7784780 Official data: 96 languages spoken
LA: High Schools and HLLs • There is no master plan for offering WLs, and in particular HLs • Some schools take advantage of community resources/respond to community interest • Smaller school districts are more responsive • In schools where HLs are taught, the curriculum depends on the teacher’s/coordinator’s decisions • Three large immigrant communities are not represented: Persian, Russian, Tagalog
How do high schools make decisions? A school’s decision may be based on • Principal’s vision • Resources (Is there a credentialed teacher of language x? Is s/he teaching another subject?) • Community interest • Grant opportunities • Ability to fill a class of 40 students Interviews with William Chang, World Languages Coordinator of the LAUSD, August 2012
NHLRC Spring Conference Challenges and achievements in community language schools Saturday, April 13, 2013 UCLA http://www.nhlrc.ucla.edu/events/communityschools/sp13/
Community Language Schools • 8,000 community-based heritage language schools in U.S. • Teaching over 200 languages • These schools are largely invisible to society and even to public schools in the communities in which they function. • They are an important part of the lives of the students, families, and communities that they serve. • They are usually not mentioned in discussions of the nation’s need for language proficiency. Community-based language schools in the national educational landscape Joy Kreeft Peyton, CAL, Washington, DC Community School Conference, April 13, 2013, UCLA
Japanese Community School, Orange County R. Uriu and M. Douglas
K-12 and Community Schools: Research Needs Urgent Needs • Research into younger HL speakers • Effective curricular models for different levels of students in different settings • Models of teacher training • Models of parent education
The Next Seven Years Applying for a new cycle of funding • Continuing research • Having an impact on educational institutions • Friday morning Roundtable • If we can hope for a real impact we need to connect all the dots: linguistic research and pedagogical needs of all levels of HL teaching