*Second Language Learners (SLL)

*English Language Learners (ELL)

Zone Languages Committee

Mandate

1. Advocate at the Local, Provincial, and Federal levels regarding funding, resources, and programs.

2. Share best practices in the area of language learning with School Districts.

3. Identify areas of language learning that would best assist School Districts.

4. Promote the value of other language learning.5. Provide Professional Development regarding

language education to Trustees.6. Report at Zone meetings and SGM

.

Zone Languages Committee:

Representation

• Representatives from each Zone.

• Use Teleconferencing for meeting (about 4 to 6 times/year).

• Subcommittees do research.

Accomplishments

• Designed District Survey.

• Reviewed & prioritized Second Language & English Language Learners Initiative document.

• Researched Language Issues around : DELF (Diploma in French Studies), BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills), & CALPS (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

Accomplishments

(cont.)

• Set up “Story Boards” at 2016 ASBA Spring General Meeting and

• Solicited input from trustees and Minister of Education.

• Zone Language Representatives try to report at a each Zone meeting.

Zone Languages Committee:

Problem: Being monolingual in aglobal world

Those with one language have less opportunities for economic,

political and social benefits when it comes to:

• employment opportunities

• wages

• competitive corporate business advantages

• understanding of diverse cultures

• travelling abroad

• brain development

Kevin O’leary – disadvantage – a missed opportunity

Educators strive to develop core competencies, the ability to:

• Know how to learn• Think critically • Identify and solve problems• Manage information • Innovate • Create opportunities • Apply multiple literacies• Communicate well and cooperate with others • Demonstrate global and cultural understanding • Identify and apply career and life skills

Inspiring Education Steering Committee Report, Government of Alberta, 2010,Pg. 7

Language Definitions:

• Monolingual: A person knowing only one language (approximately 40% of world population)

• Bilingual: A person using or able to use two languages especially with equal fluency (43% of world population)

• Trilingual: A person speaking three languages fluently (13% of world population)

• Multilingual: A person who speaks more than two languages, but uses often four languages or more (3% of world population speak more than 4 languages)

• Polyglot: Someone with a high degree of proficiency in several languages (less than 1% of world population speak 5 languages fluently)

http://ilanguages.org/bilingual.php

Language Surveys – world wide data

“Faced with such issues as:• what a language is, as opposed to a dialect, • what knowing language means, • how to define bilingualism, etc., it is not surprising that the results of language surveys do not give a ready answer as to who is monolingual, bilingual, or multilingual.

Researchers have no choice but to continue stating that probably more than half of the world's population uses two or more languages (or dialects) in everyday life–some even go up to 65% in the hope that they can have a definite figure one day..”

Reference: Grosjean, Francois. The extent of bilingualism. In Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and Reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

❝One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.❞ Frank Smith

According to Statistic Canada, 2011 Census Population:

English French Bilingual Other Two or more

Languages Languages

Canada: 64.78% 20.61% 17.5% 11.09% 20.0%

Alberta: 85.73% 00.68% 6.5% 10.51% N/A

Aboriginal Languages:

In Canada 213,500 people reported speaking an Aboriginal mother tongue, or about

.006 of the Canadian population.

There are 60 Aboriginal languages broken into 12 language families. Of these only three,

Cree, Inuktitut and Ojibway had large enough populations to be secure from

the threat of extinction.

Benefits of Knowing More Than One

Language:

Better Problem Solving Skills

Improved Career and Earnings Prospects

Enhanced Creativity

Improved Focus

Boosted Brain Function

Delayed Aging

Better Understanding and Appreciation of Other Cultures

Zone Languages Committee:

Zone Languages Committee:

Factors that contribute to speaking more than one

language:

• If you speak one language at home and another outside with friends, at school or at work.

• If your native language is full of foreign words.

• If you live in a country influenced by other cultures and eventually other languages.

• If you live in a country with open borders with other nations speaking different languages.

• If you love languages and willing to dedicate time learning them.

• Ability to learn and memorize a good number of new words.

• Interest in grammar and attention to detail.http://ilanguages.org/bilingual.php

Zone Language Representatives will be at the 2017 ASBA Spring General Meeting. We will be wearing a button that says:

“Ask me about the Zone Language Committee”

Please help us spread the information about the benefits of Second Languages.

References

• http://www.studycountry.com/guide/CA-language.htm• http://ilanguages.org/bilingual.php• http://livingbilingual.com• http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-

sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011001-eng.cfm• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Canada• learn.vifprogram.com/programimmersion• Reference: Grosjean, Francois. The extent of bilingualism. In

Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and Reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

• Stats Canada 2011 census data• Inspiring Education Steering Committee Report,

Government of Alberta, 2010,Pg. 7