South Asian Language Teachers Association

SALTA newsletter Issue 1 | Spring 2008 Contents SALTAPage 1 Presidential Note South Asian Language Teachers Association Presidential Note + Dear colleagues, Contents All of us are excited to work in a new in our field, such as Manindra Verma, page 1 Presidential Note, time when the South Asian Languages Surendra Gambhir, James Gair, Gabriela Nik. we represent are on the ascent in Herman Van Olphan, Harold F. Ilieva terms of student demand, academic Schiffman, Vijay Gambhir and Susham Bedi, who have founded it as a page 2-3 AIIS Advanced and professional interest as well as public perception. With this, the democratic organization and have Language built its future. Our association can Program, challenges we face are also growing. provide the venue all of us need to Surendra We focus our efforts to solidify Gambhir existing language programs, build communicate and I ask that all of you new ones and make them competitive join in the efforts to revitalize our page 4 News from the organization and energize our South Asian and up-to-date, especially, vis-à-vis the qualitative and quantitative discussion of current issues related to Languages the teaching and learning of South Resource Center, changes in the demographic profile of Asian languages. Sean Pue our students. The scope of second language acquisition has also Sincerely, page 4 Bilingualism and undergone expansion by addressing Second Language some specifics of heritage learners’ Gabriela Nik. Ilieva Learning, Tej K. language acquisition. In addition, the government has launched the page 5 National National Security Language Initiative President: Gabriela Nik. Ilieva Standards for to expand the number of Americans Vice President: Jishnu Shankhar Learning Hindi who speak ‘critical need” languages Treasurer: Gyanam Mahajan and increase the number of teachers Newsletter Editor: Brajesh Samarth page 5 Course and resources available to them. In Newsletter Designer: Michael Hirsch Enrollments in order to move forward as a field and South Asian Languages as professionals in this new context, we need to efficiently organize our For submission of any materials community, share our experiences, regarding South Asian Languages page 6 STARTALK please contact: cooperate and exchange information. [email protected] We are fortunate that SALTA has been page 7-8 STAMP in the hands of distinguished experts © SALTA 2008 SALTA AIIS Advanced Language Program Surendra Gambhir for other languages on demand in central objective. During one- Chair, AIIS Language Committee the future. Summer students on-one tutorials, students are usually bring a FLAS (Foreign also able to study a Sanskrit text AIIS advanced language Language Area Study) fellowship important for their doctoral program offers American from their institutions and the research with a scholar students two programs in India Department of Education funds specialized in that field. In every year for studying Indic support the academic year addition, AIIS also has been languages. The program is students. AIIS also has some organizing and supervising two primarily for graduate students limited funds to support those who Hindi programs from England – but qualified undergraduate are unable to get help from their the School of Oriental and students are also acceptable. own institutions. Under the new African Studies and the Participants in the program need language initiative and the Critical University of Cambridge. Such to be American citizens or Language Scholarship program of programs promote interaction permanent residents. Students the federal government, AIIS was between future South Asian can apply for a summer program able to fund 37 students this past scholars from the U.S. and held between June and August summer studying Bengali, Hindi, Europe. Last summer, we or/and for a nine-month program Punjabi and Urdu. introduced second year Hindi, held between September and which fulfills a long-standing April every year. With slight The AIIS language program has need. The inaugural program variations, the program has been gradually grown with more consisting of twelve participants running since 1962. The languages to study and to much was a grand success under the languages that are offered on larger numbers than in the past. direction of Professor Rakesh regular basis are Bengali, Hindi, AIIS operated its largest summer Ranjan. Sanskrit, Tamil and Urdu. Other language program ever in India languages that have been offered during the summer 2006. The All language programs are on demand are Gujarati, current 2006-07 academic year held in regions where the target Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, program is also the largest in the language is spoken. This Pali, Persian, Punjabi, Prakrit, history of AIIS with 19 students provides an opportunity to all Telugu, Tibetan and Oriya. studying Urdu, Tamil, Hindi, the incoming students to Arrangements can also be made Marathi and Bengali. During the immerse themselves in the summer 2006, AIIS had 95 students target culture, use the language (representing an approximately on day-to-day basis with 50% increase over 2005) studying individuals of varied social 12 different languages. The Urdu backgrounds and assimilate and Sanskrit programs created subtleties of the target language during the last five years are now usages and their social well-established regular correlates. Four hours of formal programs. The Urdu program also instruction during weekdays is welcomes every year students supplemented by numerous from the Berkeley Urdu program. activities and assignments that The Sanskrit program promote interaction with complements Sanskrit learning in members of the local speech American universities in important community. The students are ways. The nurturing of speaking encouraged to live with host and listening skills are important families, eat with them as often components of the overall as possible and extend their proficiency Sanskrit students social networks through the target. The reading proficiency in family members. Sanskrit continues to have the Spring 2008 2 SALTA classroom discussions in The classroom curricula are significant ways. Learners centered on the needs of the experience and internalize participants. An analysis of these variants within the individual needs becomes the precise sociocultural basis of small group classes and situations in which they one-on-one tutorials in every occur. In addition, there is program. All the major programs much unsaid, poorly stated are well equipped with computers or cleverly articulated and other necessary technology. information in any written In addition to a variety of audio, and spoken discourse, and video and print materials, students understanding of this type also meet with invited guests, of covert information make oral presentations and increases through greater practice their language through understanding of the interactive skits and discussions. culture and through community participation. Field trips and community In addition to the participation are major knowledge of words and components of the program. the grammar which Students get involved with local students acquire in the provided a separate orientation in NGOs and cultural organizations. classroom setting, their in- self-management of learning. In Their use of local libraries and depth understanding of any AIIS programs, learners become their interaction with local masked information rests on not only active participants in scholars and other individuals of their familiarity with the finalizing the curriculum but they varied social and professional background information of the are also encouraged to negotiate backgrounds provide them with issues on hand and the body with their teachers if any material insights into the social and language of the interlocutors. or activity is not feeding into their political undercurrents in the short term or long term goals. society. These social activities Learner-centeredness is the Recent researches in study- enhance learners' nuanced key concept that underlies all abroad programs have concluded understanding of meaning in their language-program activities of that longer stays in other societies cultural contexts. They begin to AIIS language programs. are much more valuable for comprehend the societal values Annual teacher-training deeper understanding of other that people prize in their thinking workshops discuss seminal cultures and for acquiring higher and the extent to which they are concepts in second language levels of communicative able to implement them in their acquisition with their proficiency. The AIIS team of lives. Thus the authentic cultural pedagogic implications. The administrators, scholars and images begin to represent to workshop topics in recent teachers work hard to see that learners the real meaning of years have included learner- such an inter-cultural experience words they have learned in the centeredness of the becomes a reality for all motivated classroom. curriculum, learning from the participants. AIIS language feedback that learners program ideology is enshrined in Variation in any living language provide, conventional its mission statement that can be is too large to be handed in any methodologies in conjunction seen by visiting the AIIS website classroom situation and therefore with creativity of the teacher, http://www.indiastudies.org. AIIS language programs assessing students' encourage intensive exposure to performance, different ways of and immersion in the target promoting the accuracy factor,

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