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October 15, 2013
Languages in the News
Language Learning Begins in
Utero, Study Finds; Newborn Memories of Oohs and Ahs Heard in
the Womb
A recent study by Christine Moon, a professor of psychology at
Pacific Lutheran University, found that babies, only a few hours
old, have the ability to differentiate foreign words from the
native language used by the mother. "The mother has first dibs
on influencing the child's brain. The vowel sounds in her speech
are the loudest units and the fetus locks onto them," claimed
Patricia Kuhl, co-author of the study and co-director of the
Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of
Washington.
The study included 40 babies, about 30 hours
old, and was conducted in two different locations with the
English and Swedish languages. The babies listened to vowel
sounds in their native tongue and in a foreign language.
Researchers tested babies' interest in sounds by measuring the
amount of time babies sucked on a pacifier that was wired into a
computer that measured their reactions to sounds.
Babies
sucked the pacifier longer for unfamiliar voices than for
familiar ones. The difference in the sucking duration
demonstrated that babies had been listening to native sounds in
the womb and were familiar with them. In the study, the
babies were more interested in sounds that were different. "This
is a stunning finding. We thought infants were 'born learning'
but now we know they learn even earlier. They are not
phonetically naïve at birth," said Kuhl.
Foreign Language Education
Improves Young Students' Academic Success
This article states that early language learning is on the
rise in America, despite sluggish gains in the recent past. The
author notes a study being undertaken by the American Councils
on International Education that highlights the academic benefits
as well as the fact that dual language learners earn more money
than their monolingual peers. The article focuses on the fact
that programs in Oregon and Utah are models for early language
education, and in spite of budgetary and curricular concerns,
the general trend is to increase foreign language exposure for
kids.
Tips and Tools
Websites
American Council on the
Teaching of Foreign Languages Advocacy Page
The ACTFL Advocacy page provides
assistance in advocating for the study of languages.
-
Take Action: Reports on current
issues and legislation involving language learning, access
to pre-composed letters to U.S. Senators and House of
Representatives that only require typing in a name and
contact information
-
Who Benefits: list of reasons why
students, the community, and business professionals should
study other languages
-
Resources: a list of advocacy
materials and tools available for immediate use. Sign-up
for the Action E-List to receive e-mail alerts when your
involvement can make a critical difference and for Mega Vote
e-mails to find out how your Senators and Representative
vote.
UVic's Language Teaching
Clipart Library: Introduction
This website provides a large amount of
non-commercial drawings for use as flash cards, to insert into
documents, or for display in the classroom. It is a free service
and offers 3000 culturally neutral images. Each image is
available on a transparent or white matted background.
Apps for iPads, iPods and iPhones
Ladybug
Number Count
This free app is a simple animated
picture search that counts each ladybug as it is found and
tapped in ascending order. Three language options are included:
French, English and Spanish. A variety of scenes are provided
and complete sentences are used to reinforce the total number of
ladybugs found in each picture.
Click
here to see the app in iTunes.
Spanish Números – 1-100
Spanish números is another free app great
for all ages of students who are learning numbers up to 100.
Students can practice their reading or listening skills by
choosing either text mode or voice mode. When a number is
presented, four options are shown and there are no penalties for
incorrect answers. This is a very stress free, user friendly app
with no distractions or ads.
Click
here to see the app in iTunes.
Count to Ten – Numbers Game
This app is a fast-paced game that takes place in
30 seconds. The user reads a number from 1-10 and touches the
correct digit. A bell sounds and a green dot appears if the
answer is correct; a boing and a red dot appear if wrong. The
score is displayed at the end of the game. This app is in
French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Turkish, Russian,
Japanese and Chinese.
Click
here to see the app in iTunes.
This
issue of Newsworthy was compiled by Tammy Dann.
Send any comments, questions or information for future issues to
her at tdann@nnell.org
Thank you to Heather Hendry,
Zhihong Li, Shanon Shreffler, and
Andrea Suarez for providing the links and to
Amy Murphy and Alice Charkes
for providing the apps used in this issue.
Thank you to
Amy Murphy, Kennedy Schultz,
Sally Hood and Zhihong Li for
their work writing summaries.
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