From http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/182730?format=G
Sign Languages in Village Communities: Anthropological and Linguistic Insights
Edited by Ulrike Zeshan and Connie de Vos
Published by de Gruyter
Description: The book is a unique collection of research on sign languages that have emerged in rural communities with a high incidence of, often hereditary, deafness. These sign languages represent the latest addition to the comparative investigation of languages in the gestural modality, and the book is the first compilation of a substantial number of different "village sign languages". Written by leading experts in the field, the volume uniquely combines anthropological and linguistic insights, looking at both the social dynamics and the linguistic structures in these village communities. The book includes primary data from eleven different signing communities across the world, including results from Jamaica, India, Turkey, Thailand, and Bali.
All known village sign languages are endangered, usually because of pressure from larger urban sign languages, and some have died out already. Ironically, it is often the success of the larger sign language communities in urban centers, their recognition and subsequent spread, which leads to the endangerment of these small minority sign languages. The book addresses this specific type of language endangerment, documentation strategies, and other ethical issues pertaining to these sign languages on the basis of first-hand experiences by Deaf fieldworkers.
Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/182730?format=G
November 1, 2012
How Speaking a Second Language Can Help Your Career
Here’s an article to support you in your efforts to recruit new students, inspire the students you already have, and promote your program with parents and administrators: http://www.careerealism.com/career-second-language
Military Seeking Immigrants
From http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/28/tp-military-seeking-immigrants
MILITARY SEEKING IMMIGRANTS
Pentagon reopens program for those with special skills
by Julia Preston
October 28, 2012
Thousands of immigrants were so eager to enlist in the U.S. military during the past two years, despite the strong odds that they could be sent to combat zones, that they signed a petition on Facebook asking the Pentagon to let them join.
Now, they’ll have the chance. Late last month, the Pentagon reopened a program to recruit legal immigrants with special language and medical skills, which was active for a year in 2009 but was suspended in January 2010.
The program will enlist a total of 1,500 recruits each year for two years, mainly in the Army. But military officials said the yearlong pilot program brought an unusually well-educated and skilled cohort of immigrants into the armed services.
Eileen Lainez, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the program was intended to fill “some of our most critical readiness needs.” This time around, the Army is looking for dentists and surgeons, and for psychology professionals to help with the emotional strains soldiers have undergone in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Officials are also looking for native speakers of 44 languages, including Azerbaijani, Cambodian-Khmer, Hausa and Igbo (both spoken in West Africa), Persian Dari (spoken in Afghanistan), Portuguese and Tamil (spoken in South Asia).
Read the full article at http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/28/tp-military-seeking-immigrants
MILITARY SEEKING IMMIGRANTS
Pentagon reopens program for those with special skills
by Julia Preston
October 28, 2012
Thousands of immigrants were so eager to enlist in the U.S. military during the past two years, despite the strong odds that they could be sent to combat zones, that they signed a petition on Facebook asking the Pentagon to let them join.
Now, they’ll have the chance. Late last month, the Pentagon reopened a program to recruit legal immigrants with special language and medical skills, which was active for a year in 2009 but was suspended in January 2010.
The program will enlist a total of 1,500 recruits each year for two years, mainly in the Army. But military officials said the yearlong pilot program brought an unusually well-educated and skilled cohort of immigrants into the armed services.
Eileen Lainez, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the program was intended to fill “some of our most critical readiness needs.” This time around, the Army is looking for dentists and surgeons, and for psychology professionals to help with the emotional strains soldiers have undergone in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Officials are also looking for native speakers of 44 languages, including Azerbaijani, Cambodian-Khmer, Hausa and Igbo (both spoken in West Africa), Persian Dari (spoken in Afghanistan), Portuguese and Tamil (spoken in South Asia).
Read the full article at http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/28/tp-military-seeking-immigrants
Fulbright Tries Out Short-Term Fellowships
From http://chronicle.com/article/Fulbright-Tries-Short-Term/135420
Fulbright Tries Out Short-Term Fellowships
By Ian Wilhelm
October 28, 2012
After more than 60 years of sending American scholars overseas, the U.S. State Department's Fulbright International Educational Exchange Program is getting a tune-up. To better accommodate the workloads of today's scholars and respond to changes in how research is conducted, the department is experimenting with new types of awards.
A few years ago, the department began the Fulbright Specialist Program, which sends academics for two to six weeks to provide assistance on curriculum development or other educational projects at foreign institutions.
The department is also starting to offer a small number of "serial grants." They allow a scholar to travel between home and abroad several times for short stints over three years. When the international-exchange program started in the 1940s, such an approach would not have worked, says Meghann Curtis, deputy assistant secretary for academic programs in the department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; but now, with online tools like Skype, a Fulbright winner can stay in touch with overseas partners while at home. "While you aren't physically there, you can continue to be in very close contact," she says.
Read the full article at http://chronicle.com/article/Fulbright-Tries-Short-Term/135420
Also this week, the Chronicle of Higher Education published world maps showing the most popular destinations for and sources of Fulbright scholars: http://chronicle.com/article/The-International-Exchange-of/135380
Fulbright Tries Out Short-Term Fellowships
By Ian Wilhelm
October 28, 2012
After more than 60 years of sending American scholars overseas, the U.S. State Department's Fulbright International Educational Exchange Program is getting a tune-up. To better accommodate the workloads of today's scholars and respond to changes in how research is conducted, the department is experimenting with new types of awards.
A few years ago, the department began the Fulbright Specialist Program, which sends academics for two to six weeks to provide assistance on curriculum development or other educational projects at foreign institutions.
The department is also starting to offer a small number of "serial grants." They allow a scholar to travel between home and abroad several times for short stints over three years. When the international-exchange program started in the 1940s, such an approach would not have worked, says Meghann Curtis, deputy assistant secretary for academic programs in the department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; but now, with online tools like Skype, a Fulbright winner can stay in touch with overseas partners while at home. "While you aren't physically there, you can continue to be in very close contact," she says.
Read the full article at http://chronicle.com/article/Fulbright-Tries-Short-Term/135420
Also this week, the Chronicle of Higher Education published world maps showing the most popular destinations for and sources of Fulbright scholars: http://chronicle.com/article/The-International-Exchange-of/135380
Job: Professor of African Languages and Literature, University of Wisconsin-Madison
From http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/WebListing/Unclassified/PVLSummary.aspx?pvl_num=74942
The Department of African Languages and Literature at the University of Wisconsin at Madison seeks an outstanding teacher-scholar at the rank of assistant or associate professor in second language acquisition, with a specialty in African languages beginning August 2013. Preference will be given to candidates whose scholarship and/or teaching focus on Swahili, but other African languages will be considered, e.g., Yoruba or Zulu. The ideal candidate will be familiar with the latest theoretical trends and research methods in SLA and be able to assume a leadership role in training and supervising TAs and other language instructors for multiple languages that we offer in the department. S/he will be expected to teach courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and conduct research in his/her area of specialization.
Application must be received by December 12, 2012
View the full job posting at http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/WebListing/Unclassified/PVLSummary.aspx?pvl_num=74942
The Department of African Languages and Literature at the University of Wisconsin at Madison seeks an outstanding teacher-scholar at the rank of assistant or associate professor in second language acquisition, with a specialty in African languages beginning August 2013. Preference will be given to candidates whose scholarship and/or teaching focus on Swahili, but other African languages will be considered, e.g., Yoruba or Zulu. The ideal candidate will be familiar with the latest theoretical trends and research methods in SLA and be able to assume a leadership role in training and supervising TAs and other language instructors for multiple languages that we offer in the department. S/he will be expected to teach courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and conduct research in his/her area of specialization.
Application must be received by December 12, 2012
View the full job posting at http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/WebListing/Unclassified/PVLSummary.aspx?pvl_num=74942
Workshop in Illinois: Making Sense of Writing
From http://www.ictfl.org/form/2013-winterfest-relish-writing
Would you like to see your students write with more proficiency? The Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages offers you three opportunities! Making Sense of Writing is a workshop to be held in three different locations in February 2013.
Why are students expected to write and what are they writing? Are they writing to practice language or writing to communicate with others to touch the world? Language teachers are increasingly finding that they must be prepared to teach students how to write in the second language classroom. It is important in this time of high stakes testing that language teachers are familiar with the work that is being done in other disciplines. Participants will have a chance to discuss the importance of the six traits of writing: ideas, fluency, organization, word choice, voice and conventions. The framework that is used will be adapted from Ruth Culham’s 6 +1 Trait Model. Emphasis will be placed on the writing process and teachers will engage in strategies that allow students to begin to express their own thinking as they write. Strategies for writing at different proficiency levels will be shared. Teachers will also examine best practices for scoring writing and will discuss ways that teachers can minimize the paperwork involved.
For more details and to register, go to http://www.ictfl.org/form/2013-winterfest-relish-writing
Would you like to see your students write with more proficiency? The Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages offers you three opportunities! Making Sense of Writing is a workshop to be held in three different locations in February 2013.
Why are students expected to write and what are they writing? Are they writing to practice language or writing to communicate with others to touch the world? Language teachers are increasingly finding that they must be prepared to teach students how to write in the second language classroom. It is important in this time of high stakes testing that language teachers are familiar with the work that is being done in other disciplines. Participants will have a chance to discuss the importance of the six traits of writing: ideas, fluency, organization, word choice, voice and conventions. The framework that is used will be adapted from Ruth Culham’s 6 +1 Trait Model. Emphasis will be placed on the writing process and teachers will engage in strategies that allow students to begin to express their own thinking as they write. Strategies for writing at different proficiency levels will be shared. Teachers will also examine best practices for scoring writing and will discuss ways that teachers can minimize the paperwork involved.
For more details and to register, go to http://www.ictfl.org/form/2013-winterfest-relish-writing
Call for Papers: Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education (AELE) No. 3 (2013)
From http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/japanese/new/1210/10-01.html
Call for Papers
Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education (AELE) No. 3 (2013)
Cooperative Institute for Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education
In accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on Academic Exchange with J. F. Oberlin University, the Japan Foundation established the Cooperative Institute for Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education in April 2008 and has been collecting information and conducting joint research on language education-related assessment and evaluation.
The principal activities include holding public forums on assessment and evaluation in language education and publishing the academic journal “Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education (AELE).” Now, as part of their activities, the Japan Foundation is openly soliciting academic contributions to be published in the journal “Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education (AELE),” which is scheduled to be released in August 2013.
Manuscripts must be received by Friday, February 1, 2013.
View the full call for papers at http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/japanese/new/1210/10-01.html
Call for Papers
Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education (AELE) No. 3 (2013)
Cooperative Institute for Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education
In accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on Academic Exchange with J. F. Oberlin University, the Japan Foundation established the Cooperative Institute for Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education in April 2008 and has been collecting information and conducting joint research on language education-related assessment and evaluation.
The principal activities include holding public forums on assessment and evaluation in language education and publishing the academic journal “Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education (AELE).” Now, as part of their activities, the Japan Foundation is openly soliciting academic contributions to be published in the journal “Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education (AELE),” which is scheduled to be released in August 2013.
Manuscripts must be received by Friday, February 1, 2013.
View the full call for papers at http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/japanese/new/1210/10-01.html
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