A Symposium Celebrating the International Year of Languages, 2/13/09 UT San Antonio

Tue Feb 3 21:05:53 UTC 2009

For those who are in and around Texas...

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A Symposium in Celebration of the International Year of Languages

Presented by the

University of Texas at San Antonio College of Education and Human Development and the 

World Affairs Council of San Antonio

February 13, 2009

6:00-9:00pm

UTSA Downtown Campus

RSVPs to UTSA.Lang[*AT*]gmail.com by Monday, February 9th are encouraged.

Symposium Sponsors:

UTSA Office of the President

College of Education and Human Development

World Affairs Council of San Antonio

UTSA Departments of

   Bicultural-Bilingual Studies

   English

   Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching

   Modern Languages and Literatures

EVENTS:

Reception and Opening of IYL Art Exhibit (6:00 pm)

       Featuring language-related art by the following artists: Ricky Armendariz, Rolando   

       Briseno, Daniel Guerrero, Tess Martinez, Martin Rodriguez, Guillermina Zabala; 

       curated by Arturo Almeida

Featured Speakers (7:00pm)

Nancy H. Hornberger, Professor, University of Pennsylvania

 "Multilingual Education Policy and Practice: Ten Certainties (Grounded in Indigenous Experience)"

Although multilingualism and multilingual education have existed for centuries, our 21st-century entrance into the new millennium has brought renewed interest and contestation around this educational alternative. Ethnolinguistic diversity and inequality, intercultural communication and contact, and global political and economic interdependence are more than ever acknowledged realities of today's world, and all of them put pressures on our educational systems. Now, as throughout history, multilingual education offers the best possibilities for preparing coming generations to participate in constructing more just and democratic societies in our globalized and intercultural world; however, it is not unproblematically achieved. There are many unanswered questions and doubts as to policy and implementation, program and curricular design, classroom instruction practices, pedagogy, and teacher professional development, but there is also much that we understand and know very well, based on empirical research in many corners of the world. Here I highlight Bolivian and other Indigenous educational experiences with which I am most familiar, and which capture certainties that hold beyond the particular instances I describe.

My emphasis is on what we know and are sure of, and my goal is to convey my deep conviction that multilingual education constitutes a wide and welcoming educational doorway toward peaceful coexistence of peoples and especially restoration and empowerment of those who have been historically oppressed.

Josué M. González, Professor, Arizona State University

"A Three-Language World Poses New Challenges for Language Policies and Language Teaching"

The era of bilingual education as a remedial compensatory approach to the education of immigrant children has ended. Lau v. Nichols has been deeply wounded by more recent rulings of a conservative Supreme Court. Even before we completed the task of creating the best system for teaching English to immigrant children, the challenge to bilingual educators is taking on new dimensions that were not originally envisaged for bilingual education in the 20th century. A new conceptual frame is necessary in order to propose a viable policy role for state and federal agencies. 

Based on data and analysis from the new Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education, this presentation, by its General Editor, makes the case to redefine the role of bilingual education in U.S. schools in the 21st century. Four 'world languages' will be dominant in the near future and schools must respond to that reality. The emergence of a small group of world languages and the disappearance of many small languages raise serious questions about old assumptions such as the idea that all language groups in the nation can be well served by a single language policy whether bilingual or otherwise. The pressures of globalization in business, education, entertainment and the Internet suggest the need for closer analysis of multilingualism around the globe.

Among the related topics to be addressed in this talk are: What languages will predominate in the world in the next 50 years, where and for what purposes? Why do we need a new definition of "native speakers" of English? What changes in language teaching are likely to take place by 2050? Will Spanish gain a special status among the languages studied in schools commensurate with the growing number of Spanish speakers in the country? Education equity for immigrant children continues to elude the nation and its best intentioned policymakers. What will be the fate of linguistic democracy in the United States? What consequences might ensue from continuing pressures to make English the official tongue of the country?

About the speakers:

Nancy H. Hornberger is Professor of Education and Director of Educational Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania.  She has served as a consultant for multilingual education to institutions and ministries of education in polities such as Bolivia, Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, Singapore, and South Africa.  Prof. Hornberger is the general editor of the Encyclopedia of Language and Education.

Josué M. González is Professor of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at Arizona State University.  He has served as Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Education Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Language Affairs.  He has also been a consultant to numerous organizations, agencies, universities, and school systems throughout the United States.  Prof. González is the general editor of the Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education.

General information about the celebration of IYL at UTSA is available here:

http://bbl.utsa.edu/News/IYLWebpage.htm <https://ruby1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://ruby1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://onyx1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://onyx1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://ruby1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://ruby1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://ruby1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://ruby1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://bbl.utsa.edu/News/IYLWebpage.htm> 

Information about IYL events around the world:

http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=35344&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html <https://ruby1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://ruby1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://onyx1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://onyx1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://ruby1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://ruby1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://ruby1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://ruby1604.utsa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=35344%2525252525252526URL_DO=DO_TOPIC%2525252525252526URL_SECTION=201.html> 

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