table of contents · spanish teachers update thier skills in costa rica ¡viva! student perks in...

UFLA NewsletterJackie Young, President

FALL 1999 www.ufla.orgTom Mathews, Editor

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Table of ContentsClick on any title in order to read that article, or just scroll down.

SWCOLT 2000 in Salt Lake CityLanguage Facts

Information from ACTFL about Block Scheduling1999 Vitality Awards

Spanish Teachers Update thier Skills in Costa Rica¡Viva! Student Perks in 2000!

FLES in Utah

ACTFL Receives "On-Line" FundingForeign Language Enrollment Trends in Utah

UFLA Fall Meeting ScheduleIAJLT Announcement

SWCOLT Accepting ProposalsUFLA Teacher-of-the-Year Nominations

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Information provided by Kirk Skyles

The SouthwestConference on LanguageTeaching (SWCOLT) willhold its fifteenth annualmeeting in Salt Lake City,March 16-18. We will meetat the newly remodeleddowntown Hilton Hotel. Come share the expertiseof language instructors asthey guide us throughexciting workshops,intriguing methodologiesand animated presentationsthat will empower us tobecome bettersprofessionals. Come visit the exhibitorsand publishers that can aidus in acquiring the latest inclassroom materials andkeep us on the cutting edgeof our profession. UFLA benefits directlythrough our participation inthe planning of and through

conference. Marty Smith is ourLocal Chair, and she's been verybusy putting things together. Shehas enlisted the help of Pat Buckner,Eva Bates, Julie Sorenson, ErikaDaines, B Jay Fairbanks, TomMathews, Kirk Skyles, CherylHansen, Charlotte Touati, GerlindaBraunberger, Del Shumway, CathyDavis, and Julie Jennings. Our state has traditionally been agreat supporter of this conference.When we last hosted in SLC in1994, SWCOLT had one of thelargest turn-outs ever. We hope wecan do even better this year. So come and share anexhilarating experience withSWCOLT 2000!

News http://organizations.weber.edu/ufla/News/99NewsF.htm

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our attendance at the

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Apache (14,500 speakers inArizona and New Mexico) Navajo (130,000 speakers inArizona, New Mexico andUtah)Chicasaw (12,000 speakersin Oklahoma andMississippi) Ute and Paiute (4,500speakers in Utah andNevada) Papago (15,000 speakers inArizona) Sea Island Creole has125,000 speakers from NorthCarolina to Florida. Scholarshave been predicting itsdemise for over 100 years.20,000 Dakota Siouxspeakers in the US andCanada, most live inNebraska, Montana and theDakotas Inuit (8,000 speakers inAlaska) Cree (35,000 speakers inMontana and Canada)

All information was taken fromPittman, R. S., & Grimes, J. E.(Editors). (1996). Ethnologue:Languages of the World, 13th ed.Dallas, TX: SIL International.

The Ethnologue is a fascinatingcatalogue of more than 6,700languages spoken in 228 countries.Published by the Summer Instituteof Linguistics, it is completelyaccessible on-line at www.sil.org.Here are some interesting tidbitsabout language use in the UnitedStates: In the US there are 210 millionnative speakers of English. Thereare 8,400,00 residents with no one14 or older in the family whospeaks fluent English; that's 38%of households headed byimmigrants. Of these over halfspeak Spanish, 18% an Asianlanguage, 28% mainly a Europeanlanguage (1993 USA CensusBureau). There are 500,000 people in theUSA who use ASL as their primarylanguage and who use English onlyfor reading and writing—this is outof a population of 2 millionprofoundly deaf people and 15million who are hard-of-hearing. The USA ranks fifth in thenumber of native Spanishspeakers—some 22 million oralmost 9% of the population. Mostof these are bilingual in English.

The only countries with moreSpanish speakers are Mexico,Spain, Argentina and Colombia. There are 85,000 first languagespeakers of Pennsylvania Dutch inthe USA, mostly in Pennsylvaniaand Ohio. Over a million native speakersof Cajun French live in Louisianaand Mississippi. They have a highdegree of bilingualism in English.Almost one million Gypsies in theUSA speak Romani as a first orsecond language. There are 176 languagesdescribed in the Ethnologue as"living languages" spoken in theUSA, most of which are notspoken natively in any othercountry on earth. A few examples:

Hawai'ian Creole has600,000 speakers (including200,000 who do not controlEnglish). This is about halfof the state population.Ojibwa (40,000 speakers inthe Dakotas, Michigan andMontana)

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INFORMATION FROMACTFL ABOUT BLOCK

SCHEDULING.

by Cheryl Hansen

The following three people are the winners of the 1999 vitalityawards, each for $500: For those teachers in Utah

who are now teaching on a


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block schedule, or who will bein the future, there is aninteresting report recently putout by ACTFL called "BlockScheduling and Second-Language Instruction." Itconcludes that although manysecond-language teacherscontinue to express strongreservations about the efficacyof block scheduling forlanguage classes, most have nodesire to go back to thetraditional model. "This mayoffer encouragement tolanguage teachers who willsoon undertake blockscheduling instruction andundergo all the discomfort,exhilaration, rethinking,redefining, andexperimentation presented byany profound change." Theentire report is avalable onlineat: http://www.actfl.org/htdocs/pubs/block.htm

Martha Smith Teacher of German at West High School. Salt LakeCity, Utah Martha will be travelling to Germany this summer where she willvisit and attend classes at special schools, Beruf Schule, which existin Germany for the purpose of training young students to work in thetourism and hospitality industry. Since Utah is a preferred destinationof German Tourists, there is a need for people working in the touristindustry who understand the German language and culture. Marthawill work with the State Office of Education to develop a "practical,useful course of study for the German students of Utah." Thisprogram could offer our students the opportunity to become welltrained professionals in the tourist industry.

Cheryl Thompson Teacher of French at Viewmont High School.Bountiful, Utah Cheryl will use her vitality money to travel to France where shewill attend a four-week seminar in Caen at the Centre Internationald'Études Pédagogiques. She will choose from a variety of courseofferings including culture, methodology, technology, reading, drama,etc. Cheryl says that she has been enriched by her association withU.F.L.A. and other language teachers in the state. She hopes toreciprocate by sharing her experiences with us at our conference.

Julie Ann Sorenson Teacher of German & French at Hillcrest HighSchool. Midvale, Utah Julie Ann will spend three weeks this summer, attending a GoetheInstitute workshop. At this seminar educators from all over the worldwill learn new approaches of teaching German. Julie Ann's goal is tocontinue increasing enrollment in German by offering students adiverse program with more innovative teaching techniques and byinstilling "a confidence in each student that he/she can communicatewell and easily in the target language."

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By Carol Fallon

Imagine spending two weeksin a tropical setting studyingSpanish and absorbing theculture with a group of fun andhighly motivated peers! That'sexactly what happened for agroup of Salt Lake Spanishteachers in June and July.

Carefully structured lessonsand daily homework, plusconversation experiences helpedall of us to improve our speakingand conversational skills. Atnoon, the whole Utah group mettogether for instruction byProfessor Dulfano. We read and

The middle weekend of ourprogram involved a three-day,two-night trip out into thecountryside of Costa Rica.Highlights included a visit to anactive volcano and a cloud forest.Along the way we were able toobserve a group of howler


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Professor Isabel Dulfano fromthe University of Utah arrangedfor us (a group of 12) to go toCosta Rica and study Spanishfor two weeks. We were studentsat the Centro LingüísticoConversa located in Santa Ana,Costa Rica, just a few milesoutside of San José, the capitol.We were housed with local hostfamilies, one student per family,which were carefully selected toprovide optimal exposure to theculture and maximize ourlanguage experience. During the first day at school,we were tested to determine ourcurrent level of languageproficiency. Then we wereplaced in groups of four with anexperienced native-speaker forfurther instruction. We met withthis teacher daily from 8:30 until10:30 and again from 11:00 until12:00.

discussed several books aboutthe Spanish conquest of theAztecs. This was accompaniedby readings from Aztecliterature. Two afternoons aweek we also met to discuss howwe teach Spanish in ourclassrooms. Each group membershared four strategies forteaching Spanish grammar. In addition to the intensivelanguage work, we were alsoable to see a lot of Costa Rica.Dr. Dulfano arranged for a tripinto San José to visit the MuseoNacional and the Museo de Oro.She also arranged for us to visita local school and to observeclasses while they were insession. (¡Muy interesante!) Wewere also able to talk with theteachers about their concerns fortheir students.

monkeys, toucans in the wild, andvisit a thermal mineral spring. If you would like to updateyour Spanish in a terrific naturalsetting and an intensive languageexperience, I would highlyrecommend this program. It is myunderstanding that it will beoffered again next summer. Youcan visit the Conversa website athttp://www.conversa.co.cr. Thereyou can see pictures of thecampus as well as get informationabout the school itself. For more information aboutthis program, contact Dr. Dulfanoat the University of Utah or JoanPatterson at the State Office ofEducation. There will also be asession at SWCOLT in March.

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by Julie JenningsPresident, AATSP Utah Chapter

Utah Spanish teachers are always looking for ways to recognize and reward the achievements of theirstudents. As you begin planning for the 1999-2000 school year you will want to carefully consider these twoback-patting, door-opening, portfolio-building opportunities for your students. Teacher membership in theAmerican Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) is the only pre-requisite!

NATIONAL SPANISH EXAM The National Spanish Exam is administered annually on a set date in March. It is a proficiency based test ofreading and listening comprehension in Spanish. Students are tested at their level of language experience. It isintended to be a motivational extra-curricular activity with cash $$$ awards and prizes given from the local andnational chapters of AATSP. It is in no way intended to be an evaluative tool of teacher performance or schoollanguage programs. Five Utah teachers (Tracy Rush, Amy Kutsulis, Kathi Goodfellow, R. Alma Sillito andDennis Hadley) had students recognized by the Utah Chapter of AATSP for their performance on the 1999National Spanish Exam. Vendula Novakova, student of Amy Kutsulis at Wasatch High School, placed third inthe nation on the beginning level exam in 1999! This could be one of your students in March 2000!


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SOCIEDAD HONORARIA HISPANICA This is an opportunity to expand the activities of existing Spanish Clubs to include induction into SociedadHonoraria Hispánica, a National Honor Societies for students in grades 9 - 12. The Sociedad HonorariaHispánica supports you in recognizing the high achievements of your students and promotes their continuedstudy of Hispanic culture and language. In addition to providing recognition for your students, SHH providesthree other exiting opportunities:

Students may publish their own Spanish compositions in the quarterly student publication "Albricias."Cash prizes are awarded for works selected for publication.

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Student members of SHH may apply for one of 44 scholarships awarded to graduating seniors each year.2. Students in their junior year of high school may apply for one of 12 travel scholarships to a Spanish-speaking country for a study-immersion summer program.

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Teachers interested in knowing more about these incredible student "perks" should contact Julie Jennings Utah Chapter President AATSP Jefferson Jr. High. Phone: (801) 964-7970 Fax: (801) 964-4250 [email protected]

COMING SOON Exiting new resources for Spanish teachers were introduced at the AATSP Annual Meeting in Denver thissummer. Plan on getting a look at them at the annual UFLA meeting this fall.

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By Heather ReaddingUtah FLES President Elect

programs were funding shortages,inadequate in-service training,inadequate sequencing fromelementary to secondary school,and the high ratio of students toteachers." (Survey Description: ANational Survey of K-12 ForeignLanguage Education, ERIC NewsBulletin, vol. 22(1), Fall/Winter1998, available on-line at: http://www.cal.org/ericcll/News/199809/survey_description.html) After reading this, I felt itdescribed the situation in mostFLES programs. As to the funding,sequencing and ratio, there is notmuch I can do as FLES president.However, I do feel that somethingcan be done to train the newteachers that will be hired this year,as well as existing teachers. I know

Recently I was voted in as thenew president-elect for the ForeignLanguage in the ElementarySchools (FLES) board. For severalyears the early foreign languageeducation program has been underthe guidance of Deanna Taylor aspresident. I am sure I speak formany as I express much gratitudeand appreciation to Deanna for allher time and effort in supportingand often times creating the FLESprograms throughout Utah. As thenew president-elect and am ayoung rookie fourth grade Spanish

at the SWCOLT Reno, Nevada,conference. Since James is a highschool teacher the training was notspecifically geared toward teachingelementary school students.Nevertheless it was directed towardteaching beginning level Spanish ina way that could help any childlearn effectively. Many FLESteachers appreciated the materialsand list of ideas. Others expressedhow they wished they could meetmore often with other FLESteachers to discuss languageteaching and ask questions. This


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Immersion teacher and I hope tolearn as I serve in Deanna's place. Recently, Deanna suggested thatwe have a small training/workshopfor FLES teachers. We askedJames Yoder from TimpanogosHigh School to give the workshopbecause he had been selected byUFLA to present his workshopentitled It works for me! Ideas thatwill generate motivation andsuccess in your foreign languageclassroom

training/workshop was the onlymeeting planned during the1998/1999 school year. The Center for AppliedLinguistics conducted a recentsurvey of elementary schools in1997 in order to understandpatterns and shifts in foreignlanguage enrollment and programs.The survey was published in anERIC News Bulletin. The surveyhighlighted that "the mostfrequently cited problems facingelementary school foreignlanguage

first hand how frustrating it can beto be newly hired in a FLESprogram and not receive anytraining. I am glad I graduated witha minor in Spanish Teaching. I fearthat there are many teachers thathave little or no foreign languagetraining in FLES programsthroughout Utah. Our goal this yearis to provide monthly training forall Utah FLES teachers. Pleasesend email to this address:[email protected] so that wecan contact you with information.Little by little I know we can go farwith training.

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Reprinted with permission from the ACTFL Newsletter, Summer 1999, vol XI(4), p. 16.

ACTFL is pleased to announce the funding of a three-year grant by the U.S. Department of Education(1999-2002) to develop, in collaboration with Weber State University, in Ogden, UT, an on-line teachingmethods course that reflects state-of-the-art research and practice in foreign language education. This course willbe made available to postsecondary institutions that would benefit from this national resource and from theprofessional expertise it will provide for offering foreign language teaching methods courses on their owncampuses, or wish to supplement existing course work with pedagogical connections to the foreign languagestandards. The primary beneficiaries of this program will be undergraduate, pre-service foreign languageteachers. Several secondary audiences will also have access to the programming on either an institutional orindividual basis, including department coordinators of school foreign language programs, currently practicingteachers who have received a masters degree, but who desire additional professional development for personalgrowth or continuing education credit, and graduate level students in foreign language education. The uniquefeatures of this program include:

collaboration between a national professional organization and a university to improve pre-service andin-service teacher education;the use of technology both to deliver instruction and to model effective practice:a "faculty" of nationally recognized experts in the field of foreign language education; andflexibility in allowing both institutions and students to fit the coursework into their schedules.

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By Tom MathewsInformation provided by Joan Patterson, Utah State Office of Education

Overall, the number of students studying foreign languages in Utahhas increased steadily over the years, but so has the rise in the generalstudent population. Foreign Languages in Utah, in spite of their study being variablyrecommended or required by colleges and universities in the state,continue to be electives in our middle and secondary schools.Nevertheless, the percentage of Utah students enrolled in foreignlanguage classes has more than doubled since 1980. In that year, 16%of Utah's secondary students studied a foreign language. In 1998-99,almost 35% of our students were enrolled in a foreign language class.

The popularity of different languages has also changed over the years. As can be seen in the graphs, in1969, study was fairly evenly divided between Spanish (36%), French (35%) and German (24%). By 1998,Spanish had come to dominate in the state; Spanish (62%), French (18%) and German (12%). The figure at the bottom of the page shows the increase the in number of students enrolled in foreignlanguages from 1980 to 1998. Last year, 34.7% of all high school students studied foreign languages; someschool districts, however, had a much higher percentage than others. The top five districts for high schoolforeign language enrollment are Park City (55%), Logan (52%), Ogden (49%), Iron (46%) and Salt Lake(43%). Alpine and Utah districts are both very close to the state average for high school enrollments with 31%each. Complete data for all districts (both high school and middle school) is available at the end of this article. Distressingly, today there are 5,591 fewer students taking foreign languages than in 1994. The overallpercentage has dropped from 38% to 35%. In part, this reflects the fact that there are fewer students overallenrolled in Utah schools, but foreign languages are loosing more than their share. Joan Patterson commented: "Foreign Language is being squeezed by increasing district and/or staterequirements for graduation. In addition, early college and concurrent enrollment may be affecting foreignlanguage enrollment." The decrease has been quite noticeable in some languages. Statewide, since 1994, Spanish has lost 4,322students, or 8.5% of Spanish enrollment. German has lost 1,981 students or 17.5%, French has lost 1,959students, or 12.3%, and Russian has lost 507, a total of 59% of their enrollment. "I am very concerned that thecurrent squeeze this year is causing administrators to combine classes, like German III and IV, or to cancelclasses with low enrollment," said Joan Patterson Teachers should contact Joan if they see this happing in their school or district. Only ASL, Japanese and Latin have seen recent enrollment increases.


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For the past two years UFLA hasheld its Annual Meeting inNovember. This year, however, theexecutive board decided to hold the


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meeting on Friday, October 8, inconjunction with UEA. Theconference will be at the Salt PalaceConference Center, room 251 F,beginning at 8:30 and ending at5:00. The complete schedule isshown at the right. All language teachers who areULFA members are invited toattend the business meeting in themorning followed by an inspiringworkshop called "Teaching WorldLanguages" by Nancy Hough andJennifer Hudson, coming in fromSpokane, Washington. Their sessionwill last from 12:00 until 3:15. In addition, Joan Patterson, fromthe State Office of Education, hasarranged for Modified OralProficiency Interview (MOPI)training that weekend. There isroom in the training workshop forten teachers each of German,French and Spanish. This three-dayworkshop consists of plenarysessions and language-specificgroups and allows time to be spenton the implications and applicationsof the OPI. Information on theMOPI training is available on theweb at: http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/curr/inservice /foreign/mod_opi.html Also happening on October 8 and9, Patrick Charriere from the FrenchConsulate and Michelle Magninfrom San Jose State will be doing aworkshop for French teachers calledSimulation Globale at the Univ. ofUtah. It will begin at 1:00 of Fridayand continue into Saturday. Forinformation contact Dr. RandallGess at 585-3009.

HELD IN CONJUCTION WITH U.E.A.FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1999

SALT PALACE CONVENTION CENTER.

TIME EVENT ROOM8:30-10:00 UFLA Annual Meeting 251 F.. .. ..10:00-10:15 Break ..... .. ..10:15-11:15 Utah "AAT" Meetings .... AATSP 251 F AATG 253 A.. AATF 253 B Russian 252 A.. Japanese 252 B FLES 251 C.. ASL 251C ..... .. ..11:15-12:00 Break and Lunch (on your own)... .. ..12:00-1:30 Teaching World Languages 251 F A Banquet Affair—using MI PIE-multiple intelligence & the buffeteffect—activities which help the brain stay "tuned in" and the 18-19senses. Part of the work-shop will incorporate music and rhythm, butmany other interactive and floor/hall/outdoor experiences will becovered.PRESENTERS: Nancy Hough & Jennifer Hudson, Spokane,Washington.... .. ..1:30-1:45 Break ..... .. ..1:45-3:15 Teaching World Languages (continued)... .. ..3:15-5:00 Visit exhibitors or free time

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IAJLT will co-sponsor the "Rocky MountainAsian Business & Language Conference" on October 8 &9 in Salt Lake City. The conference will cover topics

SWCOLT is still accepting proposals forpresentations at the 2000 Conference in SaltLake City. If you're interested in submitting a


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about Asian Business, Business Language, Japanese andChinese language.

proposal, contact Joan Patterson at (801)538-7776.

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Pat Buckner, our President Elect, is in charge this year of receiving nominations for the UFLA Teacher-of-the-Year. The Association will recognize one outstanding Foreign Language Teacher as its teacher-of-the-yearfor 1999. Nominees may teach any foreign language or combination of foreign languages, with a minimum of3/5 of their teaching responsibility being foreign language. They may teach in the private or public schools,elementary, secondary or higher education. The nomination form is available on-line. The individual selected asTeacher-of-the-Year will be recognized at our annual meeting this October and will receive a cash prize.

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