The Language Feed - May 24, 2005

Wed May 25 14:10:00 UTC 2005

The Language Feed
May 24, 2005

This issue and archives can be read on the web at
http://mason.gmu.edu/~smorris2/feed
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Government needs to fund language initiative if it is to become reality
The Sunday Independent, May 22
Education experts have welcomed plans by Naledi Pandor, the education
minister, to eradicate Eurocentric modes of learning and teaching by
promoting multilingualism at schools.
http://www.sundayindependent.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=1042&fArticleId=2529580

Immersion about more than language
South Bend Tribune, May 22
En route to France for a language immersion course, I decided to get
started by watching a French movie on the plane.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2005/05/22/living.20050522-sbt-MICH-F5-Immersion_about_more.sto

The Universal Language
Christianity Today, May 23
"That's Latin," said an ever-helpful commentator during the funeral mass
for John Paul II. Like the belief that television is necessary, the idea
that Latin is "dead" is as bogus as it is recent.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/121/23.0.html

Best Buy sparks language flap
CBC News, May 20
The American electronics chain Best Buy opened its first store in Quebec
Friday with a baptism by fire in Quebec language politics. Best Buy sent
out about 100,000 English-only flyers to Montreal homes, which has led
to a flurry of complaints to Quebec's language watchdog.
http://montreal.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=qc-bestbuy20050520

LaMar: Kids soak up foreign-language skills
Des Moines Register, May 20
Kristi Miller was reluctant to register her 4-year-old daughter, Anna,
for a Spanish language program in West Des Moines this fall. She worried
it would cause confusion.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050520/LIFE01/505200304/1039/LIFE

Local Language Experts Attend Secretariat Meeting Of Mabbim
Brunei Direct, May 20
In an effort to promote the Malay language and civilisation, seven
experts recently attended the four-day 9th Secretariat Meeting of Brunei
Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia Language Council (or Mabbim) in Bogor.
http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/May05/200505/nite25.htm

Indigenous-language web site to explain legal system
ABC News Online, May 18
An Aboriginal organisation from Elcho Island in the Northern Territory's
Top End says it is creating a web site to help inform Indigenous people
about the legal system.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200505/s1370982.htm

Report cards in your language
New York Daily News, May 18
City schoolchildren should be able to get report cards in one of eight
foreign languages by this time next year, city educrats said yesterday
at a City Council hearing.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/310561p-265714c.html

Language Cues Provide 'Glue' for Visual Learning in Children
AScribe, May 17
Language cues can provide the "glue" that helps fasten certain visual
patterns into small children's memories, according to results to be
presented by a Johns Hopkins University graduate student at the 17th
annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, held May 26-29 in
Los Angeles. This new data provide insight into the long-debated
question of whether language affects thought.
http://newswire.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050517.054837&time=07%2029%20PDT&year=2005&public=0

Genetic factors partly influence differences in language development
Medical News Today, May 17
Genetic factors appear to influence individual differences in language
development among children, at least in part, according to a study by
British and American researchers.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=24539

Language learning declines after second year of life
Nature, May 16
Our ability to learn language is already on the wane by our third year
of life, according to a study of profoundly deaf children given cochlear
implants to restore some of their hearing.
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050516/full/050516-1.html

Bilingual Monopoly for Swansea
BBC News, May 24
The Swansea version of the board game Monopoly is to be bilingual after
a poll of people living in the city.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/4575825.stm

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