Читать книгу Introduction to TESOL - Kate Reynolds - Страница 62

 Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA, http://carla.umn.edu/index.html) CARLA is a leader in research on multilingual and multicultural learning. It freely shares the results of its research and action projects with educators through working papers (i.e., reports), databases, archives, and bibliographies. The resources it offers about acquiring new languages focus on content-based instruction, immersion, less commonly taught languages, and proficiency assessment. It has tech integration modules with training modules teachers can explore to increase their technology usage in L2 classes. Its virtual assessment center includes a virtual item bank that has test questions for seven different languages by proficiency level and language skill, which are valuable to any educator of L2s.

 The National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE, http://nabe.org)—NABE is a leading organization focusing on bilingual language and multicultural instruction. The organization is primarily centered on the North American context, but does have four international affiliates. The organization offers an annual conference in February, symposiums, and institutes. The symposiums are organized like a mini conference, whereas the institutes resemble workshops. A recent topic of the symposiums and institutes was dual language instruction, for example. It offers publications on bilingual research and instructional practices and promotes bilingual materials for language learners. It is known for the advocacy work it did with the Seal of Biliteracy, which is awarded to schools, districts, or educational offices. The Seal of Biliteracy recognizes students who have attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. In creating this award, NABE led to positive recognition of the value of bilingualism.