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The National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) and the Language Instituteat the University of Wisconsin-Madison are pleased to present three new online courses on teaching less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) at the postsecondary level. These courses were developed through a grant from the International Research and Studies Program of the U.S. Department of Education (co-PIs, Sally Magnan and Antonia Schleicher).

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User account | National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages

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National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages

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"Racial Hierarchies"

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Lesson Planning

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"Helping Immigrant Students"

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"Meeting Needs of Diverse Learners with Technology"

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Technology for Education (Word)

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Technology for Education

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"Educational Tourism

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"Tearing Down Walls"

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Learning Outcomes

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Socrative

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Login or sign up for free on Socrative - your assessment partner for real-time assessments and instant insights.

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Kahoot

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Kahoot! | Learning games | Make learning awesome!

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Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that brings engagement and fun to 1+ billion players every year at school, at work, and at home.

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Update your browserhere

Building on youth-led storytelling workshops in schools, students are using I LEARN AMERICA ( the film and its Human Library) to spark creative "home-grown" community conversations around migration, identity and education.

I Learn America is a participatory education project with a mission to use the power of storytelling to foster empathy, urgency, and action around issues affecting migrant youth, as they forge their own path in a new land.

TODAY IN AMERICA...

Nearly one in four children is an immigrant or the children of immigrants.

Our classrooms are meeting a growing influx of students who speak little to no English, who are unfamiliar with American culture, and, in some cases, who lack formal education.

The children of immigration are here to stay. How we fare in welcoming them will define who we are for years to come.

SCHOOLS - the first and ultimate hope for integration - are generally ill-equipped to serve immigrant teenagers. The traditional paradigm relegates them to the sidelines. Yet, it is in school that the children of immigration determine where they belong in the reality and imagination of their new culture.
WHO ARE OUR NEW AMERICANS?

After ten years apart, Brandon made the perilous journey from Guatemala to America to reunite with his mother. Crossing the desert by himself was easy compared to getting to know his mom again.

"When I came to America, my first goal was to see my mother. But after ten years it's totally different. For ten years she didn't know me. It was kind of like putting two persons in a room, kind of to meet each other."

Sing is a refugee from Myanmar who recently relocated to Brooklyn, leaving his family behind. He feels isolated and angry and barely speaks English.

"What I want to say, I have in my brain, but ... I can't speak in English. It makes me sometimes confused."

ITRAT came to America from Pakistan to join a father she hardly knew after the passing of her mother. What kind of future is waiting for her in America?

"I am part of Pakistan because I was born there and I was raised in the beginning part of my life. But at the same time I was only eleven days and my dad came here. And I started hearing, 'America ... America ... America'. And, 'This country has everything'. Now I'm divided. In two parts."

SANDRA is a tomboy from Poland, undocumented and a class leader. She and Dominican-born JENNIFFER, her sassy classmate, are inseparable - "like a flower with water."

"Being different is like a part time job. You are half yourself and half the time you try to be someone better for the people to show how you want to be. I want to be myself. I want to open the eyes and hearts to really show I am still the same person inside with the same feelings, same identity and the same human rights as anybody else in this world." -Sandra

At the International High School at Lafayette, a Brooklyn public school dedicated to newly arrived immigrants from all over the world, five teenagers strive to master English, adapt to families they haven't seen in years, and create a future of their own while coming of age in a new land.

Through these five vibrant young people, their stories and struggles, and their willingness to open their lives and share them with us, we "learn America."

"We need to serve these students. Regardless of how you may feel about the immigration issue, they are children, and they did not choose to come here. But they are here. So the options are to serve them, nurture them, and educate them, or not. Then what?"
-Principal Michael Soet

Bring the film to your school or community

HOST STORYTELLING/MAKING WORKSHOPS

GET I LEARN AMERICA IN YOUR INBOX

No spam. Just a great way to receive the best stories from our "human library" and news from I Learn America.

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Your browser is not supported. Update your browserhere Building on youth-led storytelling workshops in schools, students are using I LEARN AMERICA ( the film and its Human Library) to spark creative "home-grown" community conversations around migration, identity and education.

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Tips for teaching English to migrants and refugees in the UK

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Tips for teaching English to migrants and refugees in the UK

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Rachel Thomas

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Rachel Thomas teaches a weekly ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) class in Streatham, South London. She recounts here how she got into voluntary teaching and shares both tips and experiences of teaching English in her local community. Teaching English in the local community
I began teaching English classes at Sunnyhill Children's Centre in South London in November 2012. After gaining my CELTA in Poland, I wanted to start using my qualification in my home city. I responded to an online advert placed by an organisation called the Streatham Women's Sewing Group, who were looking for voluntary English teachers to help teach a group of local adult learners.

Set up in 2009, the Streatham Women's Sewing Group meets once a week with the aim of making a difference to the lives of women in the local community, particularly those who are often hard-to-reach, refugees and from low-income backgrounds. Streatham has a sizeable Somali community and the weekly sewing group sets out to re-skill many younger Somali women who lost their mothers or who were separated from them. The sewing group allows them the opportunity to learn and practise their traditional needlework skills, which were lost due to many years of war, famine and immigration. Collaborative artworks and embroidery displays made by the sewing group are often shown at public local events.

The women who attend the sewing group also join the English classes I teach. The majority of the women who have attended my class over the last year have been Somali, but the group has a mix of women from Algeria, Gaza, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Morocco. Arabic is the common language for the majority of the women. The level of English is intermediate with varying levels of confidence and fluency.
Why teaching English to migrants and refugees is important
Not being able to communicate using the English language in the UK is a huge barrier to social inclusion for ESOL learners. Without skills in English to interact outside the home, migrants and refugees struggle to integrate, can feel socially isolated and will find it incredibly hard to find employment. The women in the class I teach come from very different backgrounds; some have high-level academic qualifications gained in their home country and others have never had the opportunity to attend a school. Despite these stark differences, what brings the class together is a genuine motivation to learn a language that is vital to living a more inclusive life in the UK.
Choosing subject matter for an ESOL class
Lessons based on real-life, ordinary events are central to ESOL teaching. Helping the class to master the vocabulary and phrases related to telephoning the plumber to fix a washing machine or writing to the local council authority are fundamental for day-to-day living. While fluent English speakers take such commonplace activities for granted, trying to tackle such everyday matters can be a frustrating and daunting prospect for the ESOL learner. Practising role-plays based on a trip to the GP or visiting a child's schoolteacher allows opportunities to increase a learner's confidence in a supportive, non-threatening environment. It also allows the group to exchange their personal experiences with others.

However, I have found that lessons about routine practicalities are just some of the topic areas that are important in ESOL teaching. Some of the most memorable lessons I have taught have been those that have nothing to do with making an appointment at the dentist or going to the supermarket. Creating lesson plans on interesting historical figures such as Elizabeth I, the tradition behind Bonfire Night and even the popular show, The Great British Bake Off, are equally important for an ESOL class and provide a refreshing change of focus. While a lesson about a popular TV programme may seem to offer fewer opportunities to learn essential daily vocabulary, it injects a feeling of light-heartedness into the classroom that often sparks a lively, fun discussion. It is important that an ESOL learner can develop the language and confidence to make conversation about modern-day popular culture in order to get more into the bloodstream of UK life.
Using local events as lesson ideas
One of the many enjoyable things about teaching in your own neighbourhood is being able to research topics to use in the classroom that are close to home for everyone, including myself. Picking out local events or stories on which to base lesson plans means everyone is personally familiar with the subject matter, bringing together not only a shared interest in learning English but also a communal sense of belonging.

Inspiration for such lessons may include creating a speaking lesson plan based on a flyer for an upcoming local kite fair or a writing lesson about the opening of a new giant supermarket. A reading lesson topic that was immediately familiar to many in the group and generated a lot of discussion was centred on an article I had spotted in the local paper that week about a popular and well-known community resident who had lost one of his beloved pet parrots.
English language in the home
Almost all of the women in the ESOL group have childcare responsibilities and most, if not all, have children who were born in the UK. Although the family's first language is often the primary language spoken in the home with fathers and siblings, some of the women I have taught have teenage children who are fluent English-speakers. Helping the class to become more self-assured in English also means they can converse more confidently with their own children in a language that their sons and daughters have taken in their stride since birth.
What I have learned
Teaching ESOL classes has been hugely eye-opening for me, not only in allowing me to put into practice what I learned on the CELTA course but also in pushing me to research and create lesson plans that will be both stimulating and hugely practical. Not only do I have a greater insight and understanding of the community in which I live, but I have met a wonderful group of women who, realistically, I would not have got to know otherwise - even though we are all neighbours living in the same bustling London community.
Rachel Thomas works full-time for the British Council in a non-teaching capacity. The CELTA qualification (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) is an introductory course for those who have little or no previous English language teaching experience. Providing a solid foundation for English language teaching, the CELTA opens up opportunities to teach varied groups of learners. Find teaching resources on our ESOL Nexus site, or watch recordings of our seminars for teachers in the UK.

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Tips for teaching English to migrants and refugees in the UK

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Rachel Thomas recounts how she got into voluntary teaching and shares both tips and experiences of teaching English in her local community.

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English Language Teaching for Migrants and Refugees

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English Language Teaching for Migrants and Refugees

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Dr. David Mallows

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David Mallows, a language teacher and teacher educator at the Institute of Education, University of London, has edited a collection of academic essays by experts on English language teaching for migrants and refugees. Here, he explains some of its insights.
The UK has a long history of inward migration. For those who arrive on our shores seeking a better life, learning the dominant language is of primary concern. For children, it is the key to social and academic success at school; for adults, language proficiency opens doors to social acceptance, economic security and cultural understanding.

In English schools, children who speak languages other than English are increasing in number year-on-year. There are currently a million 5 to 16-year-olds in English schools who are bilingual or multilingual. The 2012 annual schools census shows that such learners now represent 17.5 per cent of all pupils in English primary schools and 12.9 per cent of all pupils in English secondary schools. In urban areas, this rises - more than 300 languages are currently spoken in London schools. More than half the children in inner London schools are now thought to speak a language other than English at home.

The teaching of English to migrants and refugees falls into two areas, each with its own distinct professional identity and, of course, its own acronym. Work with young people in school settings is generally referred to as English as an Additional Language (EAL), whereas with adults it is known as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). In Innovations in English language teaching for migrants and refugees, experienced teachers working with all age ranges of migrants and refugees reflect on working with and teaching this diverse group of adults and children.

Migrants and refugees come from very different geographical areas, and have left their home countries for very different reasons. They may have come to the UK to join a spouse, to seek job opportunities or to flee violence and persecution. They will have had very different experiences of education: some will have had no formal schooling, and others will have studied to a high level and hold relevant academic and professional qualifications. Some will join settled communities, while others will be living in isolation.

The linguistic diversity apparent in the UK is a valuable economic and social resource. Supporting children in developing their language, and particularly literacy skills in their home languages, plays a key role in their success at school - and for adult learners it is equally important. The authors of the chapters in the book describe various ways in which the languages and other knowledge that learners arrive in the classroom with can be harnessed to increase the confidence, knowledge and understanding of learners.

Many readers will likely come to this volume from the field of English language teaching (ELT). Some will consider themselves as teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL), working in countries where English is not the home language of the majority of the population. The work of ELT as described by the writers of the chapters is necessarily distinct from that carried out in EFL classrooms in much of the world. It is more heavily context-dependent, and more implicated in the social and economic realities of the host country. It is also primarily public sector-funded, and is thus integrated with and influenced by other related education services and wider government agendas.
The book is part of a series of publications commissioned by the British Council to showcase new thinking in English language teaching. Find teaching resources on our ESOL Nexus site.
Readers may expect to find more in the chapters that distinguishes the practices of EAL teachers (who teach children and young people) and ESOL teachers (who teach adults) than that joins them. Both groups of teachers work in different phases and sites of learning, have separate professional associations, and little reference is made in ESOL teacher education to EAL pedagogy or vice-versa. However, in compiling this volume I have found the opposite to be true. The writers appear to be drawing on a similar body of knowledge, grounded in sophisticated language awareness, theories of second language acquisition and socio-cultural understanding. Whatever their professional formation and prior experiences, they are all language teachers working with often vulnerable and disadvantaged groups of learners.

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English language teaching for migrants and refugees

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David Mallows, a language teacher and teacher educator at the Institute of Education, University of London, has edited a collection of academic essays by experts on English language teaching for migrants and refugees. Here, he explains some of its insights. The UK has a long history of inward migration.

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 World Council on Curriculum & Instruction Wiki

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 World Council on Curriculum & Instruction Wiki

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Dr. Pittman

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Get your brand new Wikispaces Classroom now and do "back to school" in style.

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Dr. Pittman

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Follow us in 2014!

Global Learning and Leadership (Click here to Learn more)

We hope you can find everything you need.

GETRA is an educational tourism and research consulting group. The focus is providing high-quality, sustainable service, research and information about learning, teaching and research opportunities worldwide - we will do everything we can to meet your expectations.

We design, explore and seek projects to enhance social, economic and educational development through educational tourism.

What do we do?

Our researchers collaborate to identify and deliver the best opportunities and research on using open access technology to connect global education and tourism.

With a variety of consultants to choose from, we're sure you'll be happy working with us. Look around our website and learn more about us.

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact us.

Email: jpittman.pasard@gmail.com

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Follow us in 2014! Global Learning and Leadership (Click here to Learn more) We hope you can find everything you need. GETRA is an educational tourism and research consulting group. The focus is providing high-quality, sustainable service, research and information about learning, teaching and research opportunities worldwide - we will do everything we can to meet your expectations.

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Teaching and Learning Diversity Workshop and Project Blog

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Teaching and Learning Diversity Workshop and Project Blog

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Dr. Pittman

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Workshop Endorsement: Jean Michel, New Day Films*12 months ago*Filmmaker Today, one in four children is a child of immigration. Here to stay, they are the future. How we fare in welcoming them will determine the nature of our continually emerging identity - Question for you: What does it mean to "learn America"?

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Dr. Andrew Petersen

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Dr. Rebecca Clothey

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Dr. Joyce Pittman

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On the Web

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1:30 PM-5:00 PM

Migration, Culture, Language and Literacy Policy in Global Contexts Workshop

Presented by Dr. Joyce Pittman

In this workshop, a panel of instructors will discuss how to expand the pedagogical practices of new learners, teachers or faculty to build a thread of learning based on research, practice, and experience to improve knowledge of language and cultural competencies that are important for all educators. Students, teachers and faculty will produce powerful learning and teaching exemplars in a minimal time to demonstrate application of language and literacy principles in diverse learning environments in practice. The workshop will show different models by using digital lesson exemplars, readings and case studies at a variety of learning levels.

This workshop is divided into two parts:

Session I Panel: Culture, Literacy & Pedagogy of Language Learning Teaching

Session II Hands on Learning: Less Commonly Taught Languages- From Theory to Practice

Workshop Leader, Dr. Joyce Pittman

Dr. Joyce Pittman is an associate clinical professor at Drexel University School of Education. Pittman is a Principal Investigator for the sub-grant, U-Penn-Drexel Global-Teach Connect, Title VI funded project at the University of Pennsylvania, Middle East and South Asia Centers.

Dr. Rebecca Clothey, Assistant Professor, Drexel Unviersity

Dr. Andrew Peterson, Lecturer, University of Pennsylvania

Contact Information

Dr. Joyce Pittman
215.895.1593
jap386@drexel.edu

Attachments for this Event:

Location

One Drexel Plaza
Room 141
3001 Market St.
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Audience

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Migration, Culture, Language, and Literacy Policy in Global Contexts Workshop

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1:30 PM-5:00 PM Migration, Culture, Language and Literacy Policy in Global Contexts Workshop Presented by Dr. Joyce Pittman In this workshop, a panel of instructors will discuss how to expand the pedagogical practices of new learners, teachers or faculty to build a thread of learning based on research, practice, and experience to improve knowledge of language and cultural competencies that are important for all educators.

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Click here to view the workshop itinerary