Immigration polarizes small-town America

MANASSAS, VA–It’s patrol day for Maureen Wood and Allison Kipp. Armed with a notebook and cell phone, the two friends set off in a minivan in search of changes they don’t like in their hometown. Hispanic men gather at a 7-Eleven. Graffiti sprouts on a back fence. The women catalog it all, planning to take up each item with local authorities. full story

Some educators say pushing immersion before bilingual classes may do more harm than good

BOSTON, MA–Do you remember the indecipherable teacher’s voice from old Charlie Brown cartoons? That’s what second grade sounds like to 7-year-old Marian Lora. In this country for all of a few weeks, she understands almost no English. But during her first full story

Game to help foreign students in UK

PORTSMOUTH, UK–A lecturer has developed a computer game to help foreign students cope with culture shock and adapt to life in the UK. The online game – called C-Shock – is the brainchild of Nipan Maniar who arrived in the UK from India eight years ago as an international student. It is designed to help visitors cope with full story another newspaper

Too much English spoken in Europe?

CAFE BABEL.COM–The European Day of Languages provides an excellent opportunity to draw attention to the issue of linguistic fairness in the European Union. So what is the problem? In Europe’s linguistic landscape, English is the most widely-spoken foreign language amongst full story

ESL program keeps growing

OAK GROVE, MS–As school districts in Lamar and Forrest counties see a growing Spanish-speaking student population, officials are challenged with helping those students pass more rigorous state tests administered in English. Peggy Williams, assistant superintendent for Lamar County schools, oversees the district’s English as a Second Language Program full story

Increase in international students at MacEwan, U of A

EDMONTON, CANADA–Postsecondary institutions in the city of Edmonton are seeking out a place on the world map this semester, with application and enrolment numbers from international students marking a considerable rising trend. In comparison to fall semester last year, full story

Dual Language program off to solid start

MARSHALL, TX– Despite initial concerns that the dual language program might not have enough instructional materials this fall term, South Marshall Elementary School officials say the program is off to a strong start in its new facility. In early March, Marshall Independent School District officials held a ground-breaking ceremony in honor of the new dual language building, of which full story

English-Learner parents revitalize high school committee

HALF MOON BAY, CA–Hector Diaz is worried about the educational quality at Half Moon Bay High School for “English Learners” — students learning English as a second language, and he isn’t the only one. School and district officials along with a coalition of predominantly Hispanic parents say it is past time for the Coastside’s largest high school to strengthen full story

Identity in immersion language programs

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA–The study investigated a range of characteristics of intercultural competence in young language learners in one Australian primary school. This paper explores students’ expression of identity formation aligned with the act of speaking the target language, which the authors believe to be an expression of students’ intercultural competence. full story

Collins dictionary asks public to rescue outdated words

LONDON, UK–The introduction of 2,000 new words into the forthcoming edition of the dictionary has meant that some of the lesser known and used words have become endangered and face being lost from the publication.  full story  editorial  another newspaper  just a publicity stunt?