[HERITAGE-LIST] FYI: National Heritage Language Resource Center at UCLA

[Scott G. McGINNIS]

New National Heritage Language Resource Center at UCLA
www.nhlrc.ucla.edu

Message from Olga Kagan, Director

The Center for World Languages at UCLA and the University of California Consortium for Language Learning & Teaching have been awarded a U.S. Department of Education grant to establish a National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC) for the granting period 2006-2010. California is a logical venue for such a center as more than 28% of its population five years and older is foreign born, and 39% speak a home language other than English.      

The creation of a national LRC dedicated to heritage language education attests to the importance of this new field.  It also serves as the recognition of ongoing efforts by the Center for World Languages and the UC Language Consortium.  Russell Campbell, the founding director of the UCLA Language Resource Program (CWL’s predecessor), championed the establishment of pedagogy that would lead to the maintenance and preservation of HL knowledge.  The joint efforts of CWL and the Consortium include the establishment of instructional and curricular guidelines for heritage language education across UC campuses, founding the Heritage Language Journal http://www.heritagelanguages.org/ and holding numerous teacher education workshops and symposia devoted to heritage issues. 

The Center’s work will be focused on the development of effective pedagogical approaches to teaching heritage learners, first by creating a research base and then in pursuing curriculum design, materials development, and teacher education resources.  

Robert Blake, Director of the UC Consortium, will serve as the new Center’s co-director, and Consortium Associate Director Kathleen Dillon, will be the Associate Director. The Center’s organizational structure will enable it to draw on the strengths of the whole system of the University of California. We will collaborate with researchers across the country to make the Center a truly national institution.