A round-up of Languages (and edu!) in the news and online:
News from the Research Centre in Languages and Cultures, University of South Australia
http://www.unisa.edu.au/Research/Research-Centre-for-Languages-and-Cultures/News-and-Activities/
The RCLC has just launched a quarterly newsletter, “to initiate a dialogue with colleagues, teachers and partners in our research network. We intend to share information about our research projects, program of activities, community engagement and publications – often as work-in-progress so as to give an insight into our program as it evolves rather than just as completed works.”
The New Google Drive Empowers Language Learners
By Jennifer Carey for Free Technology for Teachers blog
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/11/new-drive-empowers-language-learners.html#.VFoOSta1_v1
“With the New Drive, not only can you now set your overall language, but you can also include a subset of languages that you understand”
Want your child to be clever? Teach them two languages: Study finds bilingual babies often show signs of having a higher IQ
by Deni Kirkova for MailOnline
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2743232/Want-child-clever-Teach-two-languages-Study-finds-bilingual-babies-signs-having-higher-IQ.html
Join members of MLTAWA as we cure monolinguism AND help create smarter kids!
Why is bilingual education ‘good’ for rich kids but ‘bad’ for poor, immigrant students?
By Claire Bowern, published in The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/24/why-is-bilingual-education-good-for-rich-kids-but-bad-for-poor-immigrant-students/
Mark Zuckerberg addresses Chinese university in Mandarin
By Alex Hern and Jonathan Kaiman for TheGuardian.com
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/23/mark-zuckerberg-chinese-university-fluent-mandarin-video?CMP=soc_567
Facebook’s founder has been learning Mandarin, and held a 30-minute question and answer session at Tsinghua University
The purpose of learning ‘minor’ languages
By Mina Shah for The Stanford Daily
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2014/10/28/the-purpose-of-learning-minor-languages/
How languages evolve
A TED Ed lesson by Alex Gendler
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-languages-evolve-alex-gendler
“Over the course of human history, thousands of languages have developed from what was once a much smaller number. How did we end up with so many? And how do we keep track of them all? Alex Gendler explains how linguists group languages into language families, demonstrating how these linguistic trees give us crucial insights into the past.”
While old Indigenous languages disappear, new ones evolve
By Felicity Meakins for TheConversation.com
https://theconversation.com/while-old-indigenous-languages-disappear-new-ones-evolve-32559
“By now we know that traditional Indigenous languages are losing speakers rapidly and tragically. Of the 250 languages once spoken in Australia, only 40 remain and just 18 of these are still learnt by children. But if children in remote Indigenous communities aren’t still learning traditional languages, then what are they learning? It is generally assumed they are shifting to English, but this is not the case.”
