Tag: november

Fact or FICTION: The PLOT thickens Stephen Krashen argues that self-selected pleasure reading of fiction is key to complex text comprehension for first- and second-language learners Skills for a Multilingual, Global Learning Community Edynn Sato offers educators strategies to help multilingual learners develop academic literacies Transforming Teaching A Harvard white paper analyzes teaching problems and suggests a ‘system’ to build teachers’...

Elementary Practicals Lisa Lucas discovers what we can learn from the UK’s mandating of world language education in all elementary schools from second grade When Language and Learning Get Tough John Carr offers strategies for identifying and serving the growing population of English learners with learning difficulties The Play’s the Thing Lori Langer de Ramirez recommends using suspension of disbelief and simulations as means...

Richard Lederer gives us a sesquicentennial look back at the Gettysburg Address “Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg on the back of an envelope,” once wrote a student. In one fell swoop — and one swell foop — that young scholar managed to misplace a modifier and perpetuate an inaccurate myth. In his Pulitzer-Prize-winning Lincoln...

Infants, Words, and Income Bjorn Carey reports on research showing that two-year-old children of lower-income families may already be six months behind in language development Taking Europe to Task Miriam Plieninger explains how the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages has influenced intermediate online learning Cutting to the Common Core: Be the Change Armando Zúñiga explains how we need to transform...

Improving Character Recognition in Chinese Stephen Krashen argues that meaningful reading is the route to literacy, whatever the language Accenting Improvements Lois Spitzer examines the sensitive subject of accent modification Stirring Up Passion Alexandra Méndez advocates falling in love with language as the route to mastery Breaking with Tradition Kristal Bivona encourages the promotion of non-traditional study destinations like...

Follow @langmag United Indignation It is about 75 years since the likes of Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell risked everything to fight against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Over two thousand Americans joined volunteers from all over the world to form the 35,000 strong international brigades that fought alongside Spanish socialists, communists, anarchists, and libertarians to try to prevent the...

Greater Expectations In a recent commentary published online in Education Week (Give Latin a Chance, September 22, 2008), Baynard Woods, a public school teacher from Washington DC, explained how his experience convinced him that the teaching of “Latin might play a role in eliminating the achievement gap between disadvantaged and affluent students.” Woods’ theory is that the prestige and aura...

Devolve and Evolve So often when we talk about learning, we refer only to students in educational institutions even though we know that it is an ongoing process which hopefully continues for every single day of our lives. When it comes to educational methodologies, however, most of our policymakers seem to have such entrenched, preconceived opinions that they seem unable...

Two is Always More Than One As we near the end of President Obama’s first year in office, we are reaching a crucial point for the future of language education in the U.S. Federal education funding is at an all-time high and there is a general consensus that a revamped Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) needs to...

IN THIS ISSUE: The World as We Speak Our forum for changes in world language Animating Young Learners Jenn Reese describes how a new, animated TV show is inspiring love for languages from an early age Taking Class Online Lori Langer de Ramirez explores new Internet technologies revolutionizing the language classroom Language Rules Michael Bell argues that globalization of language will muzzle the...