Developing Minority Language Resources


Book Description

This book documents ongoing language shift to English among Latino professionals in California. It then describes current instructional practices used in the teaching of Spanish as an academic subject at the high school and university levels to 'heritage' language students who, although educated entirely in English, acquired Spanish at home as a first language. It specifically examines the potential contribution of these instructional practices to the maintenance of Spanish.




Revitalizing Endangered Languages


Book Description

Of the approximately 7,000 languages in the world, at least half may no longer be spoken by the end of the twenty-first century. Languages are endangered by a number of factors, including globalization, education policies, and the political, economic and cultural marginalization of minority groups. This guidebook provides ideas and strategies, as well as some background, to help with the effective revitalization of endangered languages. It covers a broad scope of themes including effective planning, benefits, wellbeing, economic aspects, attitudes and ideologies. The chapter authors have hands-on experience of language revitalization in many countries around the world, and each chapter includes a wealth of examples, such as case studies from specific languages and language areas. Clearly and accessibly written, it is suitable for non-specialists as well as academic researchers and students interested in language revitalization. This book is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.




Using the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages


Book Description

The European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages is a tool for reflection and self-assessment of the didactic knowledge and skills necessary to teach languages. It builds on insights from the Common European Framework of Reference and the European Language Portfolio as well as the European Profile for Language Teacher Education. Four years after its initial publication it has been translated into twelve European and Asian languages.To meet widespread demand this ECML publication provides materials which support its implementation in teacher education. The book entitled Using the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages presents examples, discussions and research findings of how the EPOSTL is used in initial teacher education courses, in bi-lateral teacher education programs and in teaching practice. The accompanying folder and flyer feature, amongst other things, guidelines for strategic measures for introducing the EPOSTL in a particular institution.




Minority Languages and Multilingual Education


Book Description

​This book presents research on the situation minority language schoolchildren face when they need to learn languages of international communication, in particular English. The book takes minority languages as a starting point and it bridges local and global perspectives in the analysis of multilingual education contexts. It examines the interaction of minority languages and cultures, majority languages and lingua franca-s in a variety of settings across different regions and countries on all continents. Even though all chapters in this book involve minority languages, the issues discussed are relevant to any context in which more than language is used in education. The book reveals challenges and opportunities of multilingual education by discussing issues such as Northern and Southern concepts, language education policies, language diversity, interethnic understanding, multimodal language practices, power, conflict, identity and prestige, among many others. “This is the volume that finally accounts for multilingual education from a truly multilingual perspective by involving proposals and research from a variety of multilingual speech communities in the world. The (linguistically) rich Ethiopia and Mexico can teach the poor Europe and other Northern countries about multilingual education. CLIL promoters may learn from Finnish Sámi and Canadian Innu and Mi’gmaq indigenous communities as well as from Basque results. Speakers and teachers of minority and international languages will certainly be glad to hear the news. There is no need for a monolingual bias or tunnel vision in acquiring English in non-English speaking communities. This volume includes new challenging pedagogical perspectives while pointing to interesting conclusions for worldwide educational authorities”. Maria Pilar Safont Jordà, Universitat Jaume I, Castelló, Spain




Pedagogical Translanguaging


Book Description

Learning through the medium of a second or additional language is becoming very common in different parts of the world because of the increasing use of English as the language of instruction and the mobility of populations. This situation demands a specific approach that considers multilingualism as its core. Pedagogical translanguaging is a theoretical and instructional approach that aims at improving language and content competences in school contexts by using resources from the learner's whole linguistic repertoire. Pedagogical translanguaging is learner-centred and endorses the support and development of all the languages used by learners. It fosters the development of metalinguistic awareness by softening of boundaries between languages when learning languages and content. This Element looks at the way pedagogical translanguaging can be applied in language and content classes and how it can be valuable for the protection and promotion of minority languages. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.




Social Media and Minority Languages


Book Description

As a field in its own right, Minority Language Media studies is developing fast. The recent technological and social developments that have accelerated media convergence and opened new ways of access and exchange into spaces formerly controlled by media institutions, offer new opportunities, challenges and dangers to minority languages, and especially to their already established media institutions. This book includes debates on what convergence and participation actually mean, a series of case studies of specific social media developments in minority language, as well as comparative studies on how the cultural industries have engaged with the new possibilities brought about by media convergence. Finally, the book also offers a historical review of the development of Minority Language Media worldwide, and evidences the areas in which more extensive research is required.




Cherokee-English Dictionary


Book Description




Lesser-Known Languages of South Asia


Book Description

The increasing globalization and centralization in the world is threatening the existence of a large number of smaller languages. In South Asia some locally dominant languages (e.g., Hindi, Urdu, Nepali) are gaining ground beside English at the expense of the lesser-known languages. Despite a long history of stable multilingualism, language death is not uncommon in the South Asian context. We do not know how the language situation in South Asia will be affected by modern information and communication technologies: Will cultural and linguistic diversity be strengthened or weakened as they become increasingly prevalent in all walks of life? This volume brings together areas of research that so far do not interact to any significant extent: traditional South Asian descriptive linguistics and sociolinguistics, documentary linguistics, issues of intellectual and cultural property and fieldwork ethics, and language technology. Researchers working in the areas of documentary linguistics and language technology have become aware of each other in the last few years, and of how work in the other area could be potentially useful in furthering their own aims. Similarly, the insights of documentary linguistics are making their way into descriptive linguistics and sociolinguistics. However, the potential for synergy among these areas of research is almost limitless. This volume provides the reader, not so much with a do-it-yourself recipe for applying modern technology to the problem of language shift in South Asia today, but rather with some basic knowledge about the problems involved and some directions from which solutions could be forthcoming, a toolbox rather than a blueprint, for helping to shape the linguistic future of South Asia.




English Learners Left Behind


Book Description

This book explores how high-stakes tests mandated by No Child Left Behind have become de facto language policy in U.S. schools, detailing how testing has shaped curriculum and instruction, and the myriad ways that tests are now a defining force in the daily lives of English Language Learners and the educators who serve them.




Corpus Design and Construction in Minoritised Language Contexts - Cynllunio a Chreu Corpws mewn Cyd-destunau Ieithoedd Lleiafrifoledig


Book Description

This bilingual book provides a detailed overview of the project to construct a National Corpus of Contemporary Welsh (CorCenCC), addressing the conceptual and methodological challenges faced when developing language corpora for minoritised languages. A conceptual framework is presented for the user-driven design that underpinned the CorCenCC project, along with a detailed blueprint that can function as a scaffold for other researchers embarking on projects of this nature. This book will be of value to those working in language teaching, learning and assessment, language policy and planning, translation, corpus linguistics and language technology, and to anyone with an interest in Welsh and other minoritised languages. Mae'r llyfr dwyieithog hwn yn rhoi trosolwg manwl o'r prosiect i greu Corpws Cenedlaethol Cymraeg Cyfoes (CorCenCC), ac yn mynd i'r afael â'r heriau cysyniadol a methodolegol a wynebir wrth ddatblygu corpora iaith ar gyfer ieithoedd lleiafrifoledig. Cyflwynir fframwaith cysyniadol ar gyfer y cynllun wedi'i yrru gan ddefnyddwyr sy'n greiddiol i brosiect CorCenCC, ynghyd â glasbrint manwl a all weithredu fel sgaffald i ymchwilwyr eraill sy'n dechrau ar brosiectau o'r fath. Bydd y llyfr hwn o werth i'r rhai sy'n gweithio ym meysydd addysgu, dysgu ac asesu ieithoedd, polisi iaith a chynllunio ieithyddol, cyfieithu, ieithyddiaeth gorpws a thechnoleg iaith, ac unrhyw un â diddordeb yn y Gymraeg ac ieithoedd lleiafrifoledig eraill.