What's New - October 2006

Second Language Resources for Teachers

Background

"Second languages are defined as languages other than English taught for purposes of developing communication skills and cultural understanding. Second languages include French as a second language, heritage languages, Aboriginal languages and international languages."

- Enhancing Second Language Learning in Alberta (December 2003)

Research shows that learning a second language contributes to a student's educational experiences, personal growth, and development of higher-level thinking skills, regardless of the language learned (see A Review of the Literature on Second Language Learning (March 2004) at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/languages/litreview.pdf and the Benefits of Second Language Learning at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/languages/benefits.asp for more information).

Alberta Education initiated the Enhancing Second Language Learning Project in the spring of 2000 in response to decreasing enrollments in second language programs province-wide. The latest update on this initiative indicates that Alberta Education will not proceed with the target implementation date of September 2006 for a province-wide language learning requirement for Grades 4-9 to allow all jurisdictions more time to prepare. See Learning Languages in Alberta at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/languages/ for more information about this initiative.

Today, approximately 18 languages, other than French and English, are being taught in 47 school divisions in Alberta. Provincially-developed language programs are available in Blackfoot, Cree, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Spanish and Ukrainian. Some schools have developed their own local language programs for: Arabic, Chinese, Chipewyan, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese and Swedish. These locally-developed/acquired or locally-authorized courses are based on local needs and demands, and may vary from year to year.

Teaching and Learning Resources Available from Alberta Education

Alberta Education, International Languages Programs
© 2006 Government of Alberta
http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k%5F12/curriculum/bySubject/languages/

Alberta Education works with stakeholders to design second language curricula, provide authorized resources, and produce curriculum support resources.

The second language programs of studies provide information in the form of assumptions, conceptual models, rationales, program organization, outcomes, applications, language competence, global citizenship and strategies.

The authorized resource lists (i.e., student basic, student support and teaching resources) are compiled by Alberta Education for support in implementing approved programs of study. Most of these resources are available for purchase through the Learning Resources Centre (http://www.lrc.education.gov.ab.ca) however; other vendors and distributors are also listed.

The guides to implementation provide lesson planning ideas and assessment guidelines.

The common curriculum frameworks were developed through cooperative efforts by Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan as part of the Western Canadian Protocol for Collaboration in Basic Education and serve as the foundation for Alberta's programs of studies.

Alberta programs of studies, authorized resource lists and annotated bibliographies, guides to implementation, and common curriculum frameworks related to second language instruction can be found at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/languages/default.asp. Some examples of these resources are listed below:

• German Language and Culture Nine-year Program, Grades 4-5, Interim 2006
• Chinese Language and Culture, Grades 4-12 (Nine-year Program); Grades 7-9, 10S-20S-30S (Six-year Program), 10-20-30 (Three-year Program), Alberta Authorized Resource List, February 2006 (Draft). This list includes language experience books (e.g., a counting picture book), a dictionary of Chinese characters, and books, CD-ROMs and/or DVDs about paper cutting, customs, history, idioms and folk songs, and more.
• Japanese Language and Culture 10-20-30 Guide to Implementation, 1999
• Spanish Language Arts and Spanish Language Mathematics (Bilingual Program), Kindergarten to Grade 3, Grades 4-6 Alberta Authorized Resource List, October 2005 (Draft) This list includes workbooks, songbooks, alphabet cards, videos, and poetry and folklore anthologies to name a few.
• Curriculum Materials for Teaching Ukrainian, 1996 This list includes books, workbooks, games, pictures/posters, teacher manuals and resource packages, and audio cassettes.
• The Common Curriculum Framework for International Languages, Alberta Version, 2001
  • Kindergarten to Grade 12
  • Nine-year Program (Grade 4 to Grade 12)
  • Six-year Program (Grade 7 to Grade 12)
  • Three-year Program (Grade 10 to Grade 12)

[top]

LearnAlberta.ca
© 2006 Government of Alberta
http://www.learnalberta.ca

LearnAlberta.ca is a repository of resources developed by Alberta Education in consultation with stakeholders. These online multimedia resources are designed for the Kindergarten to Grade 12 community in Alberta and include the following resources to support the teaching of Ukrainian, Spanish and German as a second language:

• OomRoom.ca (Alberta Education Sponsored Link: K- 12 resource) OomRoom.ca is a unique educational Web site developed under the guidance of the Ukrainian Knowledge Internet Portal (UkiP) Consortium Association, for the Kindergarten to Grade 12 Ukrainian language learning audience.
• An Interactive Spanish Learning Tour (Spanish 10) This animated audio/visual learning experience provides a virtual "field trip" to various cities. Location-specific cultural notes, worksheets and strategies are included.
• Let's Read Together (Alberta Education Sponsored Link: K-2 resource) This series of electronic readers provides young, emergent Ukrainian language readers with exposure to two simple books that deal with topics such as getting dressed, clothing and colours.
• An Interactive German Learning Tour (German 10) This animated audio/visual learning experience provides a virtual "field trip" to various cities. Location-specific cultural notes, worksheets and strategies are included.
• ¡Hola amigos! (Grade 4 Spanish Language and Culture) This interactive digital resource supports the Grade 4 Spanish Language and Culture Program of Study. Some activities involve listening and reading, while others involve pronunciation, typing, and speaking. Each scenario automatically starts with an animation that presents new linguistic and cultural content; scenarios also include activities for additional explanation and practice, including one to two production activities. Students may follow a suggested sequence or access activities in any order. This resource exposes students to a wide variety of Spanish accents and cultural content from various Spanish-speaking countries.

[top]

Learning Resources Centre
© 2006 Government of Alberta
http://www.lrc.education.gov.ab.ca/pro/default.html

The Learning Resources Centre (LRC), a branch of Alberta Education, provides a range of learning and teaching resources to support second language teachers. Many of the resources listed in the authorized and annotated resource lists found at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/languages/default.asp can be found by searching the LRC's online catalogue at http://www.lrc.education.gov.ab.ca/pro/default.html.

[top]

Other Web-based Teaching and Learning Resources

Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers (CASLT) - Modern Languages
http://www.caslt.org/teachers/teachersmodern.htm

This CASLT page currently offers resources to teachers of German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Plans are underway to offer resources for other languages in the future, including: Greek, Ukrainian, Punjabi, and Chinese/Mandarin. A sampling of the resources offered on this page is listed below:

• Multimedia activities that help students learn to count, learn the names of various shapes and colours, as well as facial features, and the steps involved in growing a plant (see Italian version at http://www.caslt.org/teachers/flashI/Italian/start.htm; see German version at http://www.caslt.org/teachers/flashG/German/start.htm).
• Teaching Italian Through Music (see http://www.caslt.org/research/italianmusic.htm)
• Collection of Spanish Idioms and Proverbs (see http://www.caslt.org/research/spidiom.htm)

[top]

Second Language Education on the Web
http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/~aweinrib/sle/

Affiliated with the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education / University of Toronto Library (OISE/UT), the "Second Language Education on the Web" web site serves educators and students concerned with the theory and practice of second (French and English) and minority language teaching and learning. The site is maintained by Alice Adler, Education Commons, OISE/UT.

Web-based resources for "other and multiple languages" including Spanish, Ukrainian, French, and German can be found at http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/research/sle/other.html. A sampling of the resources linked from this page is listed below.

• Jump Station to Resources in German (see http://www.ualberta.ca/~german/Jump_Stations.html) Manfred Prokop developed this site at the University of Alberta to provide easy access to many everyday themes/topics as well as specialized information needed by teachers of German. The more than 2000 links range over topics such as: German teaching and learning materials, customs and traditions, magazines and newspapers, and information on cities and regions. http://www.ualberta.ca/~german/resource.htm#Portals
• Ukrainian Language Education Centre - Teacher Resources (see http://www.ualberta.ca/~ulec/resources.html) This page offers links to Ukrainian atlases, photo galleries, media and cultural resources, and more.

[top]

The 2learn.ca Education Society
http://www.2learn.ca/

A quick browse of the 2learn.ca Education Society web site yielded several teaching and learning resources for second (international) languages. A sampling is provided below:

• A K-9 Hebrew cultural project entitled Partnership 2000 (P2K): Living Bridges (see http://www.2learn.ca/tlcprojects/viewprojectRegister.asp?ID=1081). This project description identifies subject areas, content goals, curricular outcomes and resources, and provides models for designing educational tele-computing activities. Cross-references to other relevant example projects are included. See http://www.2learn.ca/projects/projectcentre/exjoproj.html to explore and join other projects. Note: P2K could serve as a model for similar projects involving other languages / cultures.
• Japanese Language and Writing Links (see http://www.2learn.ca/search/NetStepView.asp?PID=3094). The links on this page offer tutorials for learning how to write Japanese characters; information about the history of the Japanese language; simple lessons that help students learn how to say some Japanese words and phrases; and a free online dictionary.

[top]

University of Alberta Libraries (International and Aboriginal Languages)
http://www.library.ualberta.ca/subject/education/k12/languages/index.cfm

This page offers links to web-based resources to support teaching and learning of Cree, Blackfoot, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Punjabi, Spanish and Ukrainian as well as general resources to support second language instruction. A small sampling of the resources for Cree and Blackfoot linked from this page is provided below:

• Cree - a read-along story from the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre can be found at http://www.schoolnet.ca/aboriginal/story1/index-e.html.
• Blackfoot - the Heritage Community Foundation has created an Aboriginal Youth Identity series called Language and Culture which offers a teacher zone with lesson plans and resources, and a student zone with glossaries, informational "tidbits", photo galleries, and games and puzzles (see http://www.edukits.ca/aboriginal/language/index.htm).