Follow-up to inquiry: Formation of heritage SIGs for ACTFL

[McGinnis, Scott]

Good day, all,

This is a follow-up to my original posting of 30 October - for those of you that have joined the list since then, I am copying it below.

Based upon the initial limited (albeit enthusiastic) response to my posting -- a total of about a dozen interested individuals -- I have felt it best NOT to continue to pursue the establishment of a herrritage SIG for ACTFL -- at least in part due to the fact that there already is a heritage-related SIG in existence, the SNS (Spanish for Native Speakers).

However, on the request of the Executive Board of NCOLCTL, I am making one more attempt at seeing if there is sufficient interest in forming an LCTL SIG, and I am writing to you once again to see if you would be. The other means of communication I am utilizing to reach potential members of this proposed SIG is through the "Search Member" option available at the ACTFL website ("Members Only" area of the site), doing a search for those members that listed an LCTL of some sort as their language (or at least one of their languages). So my apologies to those of you that have already heard from me via that route.

In any event, if you ARE an ACTFL member and ARE interested in the creation of an LCTL SIG, all I need from you at this point is a confirmation - via e-mail is fine - that you would be willing to join this SIG, including paying the $5 annual fee (which you do NOT have to pay until a SIG is actually formed). You can respond to me directly me at smcginnis at nflc.org

Thanks for your time and attention,
Best,
s.


Scott McGinnis
Executive Director
National Council of Organizations of Less Commonly Taught Languages
 
Associate, LCTLs
National Foreign Language Center
7100 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 410
College Park, MD 20740
Voice: 301-403-1750 x35       Fax: 301-403-1754
E-mail: smcginnis at nflc.org OR sm167 at umail.umd.edu
WWW: www.councilnet.org OR www.nflc.org


-----Original Message-----
From: McGinnis, Scott 
Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2002 11:06 AM
To: heritage-list at Glue.umd.edu
Cc: Met, Myriam
Subject: Inquiry: Formation of heritage SIGs for ACTFL

Good day, all,

I had a conversation with Christy Brown yesterday afternoon, who, as many of you know, is the current president of ACTFL. Before her term ends (in about a month!), she would like to start the wheels turning for setting up a few new SIGs (Special Interest Groups) for ACTFL - potentially including ones for heritage languages, both the immigrant and indigenous constituencies.

There are a series of guidelines - in summary, it requires a mission statement, a leadership structure, 100 potential members and a $5 fee per member (you DO have to be a member of ACTFL to join an ACTFL SIG). But there are fairly substantial benefits: at least one and (as space allows) up to two session slots, plus a business meeting space, twice-yearly dedicated space in the "Member News" section of FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, and $300 annually to help SIGs cover expenses such as postage for mailings to SIG members. I have the complete guidelines document for anybody that is interested.

It is important to note that there is already a Spanish for Native Speakers (SNS) SIG, and Christy is not looking to undercut the very important work of that SIG. She merely recognizes (as we all do, and all the more so now after the conference two weeks ago) that there are also unique needs and conditions with respect to the heritage languages other than Spanish, as well as some considerable differences between the languages associated with immigrant populations and the AmerIndian languages.

Recognizing full well that for a variety of reasons, many of you do not belong to ACTFL and/or cannot attend the ACTFL annual meeting, I nonetheless promised Christy that I would raise the issue with the members of this list to see if anybody was interested in following up on this. Even as the Heritage Languages Initiative continues to develop on its own, our alliances with the other major national organizations such as ACTFL are critical; indeed, I think it is a recognition of our own health and strategic importance within the American language education system that we are increasingly having these sorts of interactions.

Thanks for your time and attention,
Best,
s.

Scott McGinnis
Executive Director
National Council of Organizations of Less Commonly Taught Languages
 
Associate, LCTLs
National Foreign Language Center
7100 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 410
College Park, MD 20740
Voice: 301-403-1750 x35       Fax: 301-403-1754
E-mail: smcginnis at nflc.org OR sm167 at umail.umd.edu
WWW: www.councilnet.org OR www.nflc.org