New ASU program tackles state's language issues (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Just briefly here....posting of the full ASU news article was unintentional. 
Enclosed below is the notice that should accompany such a posting. Phil, ILAT
mg
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Quoting phil cash cash :

> June 29, 2008 - 6:13PM
>
> New ASU program tackles state's language issues
>
> Andrea Natekar, Tribune
> http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/119658
>
> Spanish. English. Pima.
>
> Some of Arizona's greatest education dilemmas deal with the languages 
> that are
> heard - or not heard - in its classrooms and homes.
>
> Now, Arizona State University is hoping to create a body of doctoral-level
> scholars, and research, to tackle those issues.
>
> A new Applied Linguistics Ph.D. program, which is seeing its first five
> candidates enroll this fall, aims to prepare linguists to find solutions to
> challenges dealing with issues of language and literacy.
>
> "This very much taps into the needs of the state," said program director Jeff
> MacSwan, associate professor of curriculum and instruction at the Fulton
> College of Education, where the program is housed. "We have a lot of 
> immigrants
> here and you hear a lot of chit-chat about this, but we want real, informed
> public policy decisions. ... We need informed citizens throughout the state."
>
> First on his list: Taking politics out of the issue of how to best educate
> English language learners.
>
> "It's not unlike the climate research. There you have something really
> politicized, too, and activists on both sides," he said. "Our state 
> has really
> politicized issues around English learners, and its very unfortunate for the
> state and for the students. ... We want to create an ongoing body of research
> to help level-headed legislators make policies that help - that aren't
> destructive."
>
> Other universities in Arizona already offer advanced linguistics 
> degrees. But by
> organizing faculty who study linguistics, but who are spread out in 
> departments
> as varied as engineering, psychology and education, the university 
> will offer a
> unique, interdisciplinary program, MacSwan said.
>
> "This isn't what most people think of when they hear it - just breaking words
> apart," said Daisy Fredricks, a former Mesa junior high school 
> teacher who will
> enter the program in the fall. "This is more in a social context of 
> how people
> learn languages, not necessarily in the brain, but through the 
> communities they
> are in."
>
> Students can focus on areas like bilingualism, language planning and 
> policy and
> indigenous language education.
>
> Taunalee Bradshaw, who taught a dual language class at Tempe's Holdeman
> Elementary School last year, will also start in the fall.
>
> Bradshaw was already working on her master's in education at ASU, but the new
> program piqued her interest after she saw the list of its professors. 
> She said
> many are leading researchers in the field.
>
> Bradshaw believes her years of teaching experience will make her a valuable
> researcher.
>
> "I'll be studying educational linguistics, because I wanted to stay 
> in my field
> of education but also study linguistics. I think that there should more of a
> bridge between those two fields and I think my background as 
> classroom teacher
> could help," she said.
>
> MacSwan said he also hopes that by creating the program, more opportunities
> could become available for undergraduate students to begin taking more
> linguistics coursework, too. Ultimately, he said, it will benefit the
> university, as well as the community and state.
>
> Fredricks hopes her research will ultimately help teachers.
>
> She has a degree in Spanish education and has spent several years 
> working with
> ELL students. Now, she will research second-language learners in middle and
> high school.
>
> "I just feel that so many teachers out there think, 'What do I do with these
> students who are coming to me in 10th and 11th grade and they don't know
> English?' How are we going to prepare them to graduate?" she said. 
> "It's a very
> difficult question."


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