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ANVILL (A National Virtual Language Lab) is a speech-based toolbox for language teachers. Like the language lab console of old, it's focused on the practice of oral/aural language, but at its core are very modern web-based audio and video tools from duber dot com: Voiceboards (an asynchronous speech tool), LiveChat (a 4-way conversation tool), and Voicerecorder (a widget for instant recordings). Each really opens up the scope and sequence of spoken language tasks. Creating media-rich lessons in ANVILL is simple and straightforward. There are templates for audio, video, and image tasks; there are also tools for text-based discussions like blogs and forums. ANVILL's assessment tool,Quizzes and Surveys, gives teachers an easy way to assign and respond to spoken language tasks. In addition, ANVILL is a course management system. Teachers who are doing distance or hybrid courses have a simple means of managing their students as well as their curriculum. We think you'll find that ANVILL is quite flexible, and permits the kind of extra listening and speaking practice that language students need so much. ANVILL is a project of the Yamada Language Center at the University of Oregon. These tools are currently in use at UO and at a select number of K-12 sites around the Northwest. Thanks to our National Foreign Language Resource Center partners at CASLS, we are able to offer ANVILL to educators at no cost. Here is an overview of its features. If you think it would be helpful to you and your students, contact us to set up an account. Our two-year pilot study has just gotten underway and we're looking for language teachers at all levels to use it and tell us what they think.

The Mixxer is a free educational community for language learners and teachers to find a language partner for a language exchange. The language partner is someone who speaks the language you study as their native language and is studying your native language. As a member of the Mixxer community, you can communicate with your language partner via Skype to practice speaking. You can also submit documents and ask native speakers to correct your writing.

UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger is intended to raise awareness about language endangerment and the need to safeguard the world's linguistic diversity among policy-makers, speaker communities and the general public, and to be a tool to monitor the status of endangered languages and the trends in linguistic diversity at the global level. The latest edition of the Atlas (2009) lists about 2,500 languages (among which 230 languages extinct since 1950), approaching the generally-accepted estimate of some 3,000 endangered languages worldwide. For each language, the Atlas provides its name, degree of endangerment (see below) and the country or countries where it is spoken. The online edition provides additional information on numbers of speakers, relevant policies and projects, sources, ISO codes and geographic coordinates. This free Internet-based version of the Atlas for the first time permits wide accessibility and allows for interactivity and timely updating of information, based on feedback provided by users.

"Since 1995 the purpose of the Language Testing Resources web site has always been to act as a reference guide to language testing related resources on the Internet by providing a history of, and links to, language testing related information, including publications that are freely available on other domains. However, it's purpose has broadened over the years. Now, resources on language testing, such as articles, features, videos and audio, are made freely available for language teachers, language testers, and students of language testing, applied linguistics, and languages."

The Modern Language Association supports a broad, intellectually driven approach to teaching language and culture in higher education. To study the best ways of implementing this approach in today's world, the MLA Executive Council established an Ad Hoc Committee on Foreign Languages. The committee was charged with examining the current language crisis that has occurred as a result of 9/11 and with considering the effects of this crisis on the teaching of foreign languages in colleges and universities. This summary of the committee's and the Executive Council's deliberations offers background and context for the association's recommendations regarding the challenges and opportunities facing language study in higher education. While the recommendations address issues specific to the United States, they may be applicable to other contexts and countries.

This is a first announcement and invitation to participate in the International Conference on Language Policy, Planning and Support in Higher Education - Challenges of Multilingualism. As the title suggests, three main themes will be dealt with: * The development, implementation and management of language policies for a multicultural, multilingual higher education setting * Language planning (management, structures, services, etc.) needed to support language policies in a multicultural, multilingual higher education setting * The diversity of language support initiatives needed to guarantee successful language policy implementation in a multicultural, multilingual higher education setting The conference will be held at the Spier Estate outside Stellenbosch, South Africa, a magnificent rural setting that should stimulate fascinating discussion on a set of complex topics. Therefore the Language Centre of the Stellenbosch University invites you to make use of our hospitality - we are looking forward to welcoming you all!

italki.com is where you can find everything you need to learn a language. italki is a social network and an online resource for learning foreign languages. Find a Language Partner: Get a language partner, find a tutor, or just make friends around the world! Answers: Ask your questions here and get answers from the italki community. Shared Files: Download files like free textbooks, handouts, and learning guides. Language Resources Check this directory for other online and offline language learning resources. Knowledge: Free community-created wiki. Contribute your knowledge and create a wiki page. Groups: Join and create groups to discuss and learn from each other.

"The project studies the diagnosis of reading and writing abilities in a second or foreign language. It seeks to identify the cognitive features which predict a learner's strengths and weaknesses in those areas. The project brings together scholars from applied linguistics, psychology and assessment to engage in multidisciplinary work and to develop innovative ways of diagnosing the development of second and foreign language abilities. The main contribution of the project will be to offer novel, well-grounded theoretical insights and to develop a range of methodologies to study second and foreign language development and its diagnosis. We are exploring the causes underlying strengths and weaknesses in language development, and the relationship between literacy skills in one's first language and the development of second language abilities. The results of the project will also have practical implications by providing a sounder theoretical basis for the development of curricula, pedagogic materials and diagnostic tests."

May 28 - 30, 2009 at The George Washington University, Washington, DC Designed for practitioners and researchers involved in the preparation and ongoing professional development of language teachers, LTE 2009 will address the education of teachers of all languages, at all instructional and institutional levels, and in many national and international contexts in which this takes place including: English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) instruction; foreign/modern/world language teaching; bilingual education; immersion education; indigenous and minority language education; and the teaching of less commonly taught languages.

SACODEYL presents an innovative ICT-based solution for the compilation and pedagogical, language learning-oriented exploitation of linguistic teen talk oral corpora. SACODEYL is an integration initiative that takes into account areas as: 1. multilingual corpus compilation and innovation support, 2. pedagogical adaptation of existing ICT tools for the integration of corpora and corpus-based methods of Data Driven Learning (DDL) into mainstream language teaching, and 3. know-how building which will contribute to the future drafting of specifications that can take both DDL and the use of oral corpora in language education a step forward. SACODEYL sees itself as a pedagogical mediator in the language learning process of young European, exploiting ICT resources to deliver learning experiences based on data driven, constructivist approaches to language acquisition. SACODEYL will demand young learners of languages across Europe to personally explore, and engage in learning tasks of different nature.

SACODEYL is a web based system for the assisted compilation and open distribution of European teen talk in the context of language education. The project includes the collection and distribution of English, French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Romanian, and Spanish teen talk. SACODEYL sees itself as a pedagogical mediator in the language learning process of young Europeans, exploiting web multimedia resources to deliver learning experiences based on data driven, constructivist approaches to language acquisition.

Welcome to Tonguetide, the language-learning social network. Like Facebook and Twitter, Tonguetide is a place to connect with people, except that here you'll be meeting people who want to learn languages too. Chat: You can practise your language skills with real native speakers by messenger (like Facebook Chat), video chat (like Skype), or our internal mailing system (email). Use our Match feature to find a native speaker fluent in the language you want to improve (ideally one who wants to learn your mother tongue), read their information to find someone you fancy talking to and invite them to chat by adding them as a friend, sending them a private message, commenting on their profile or "sticking your tongue out" (like "poking" on Facebook). Match: Our system will automatically alert you of new users who fit the profile you specified when signing up and will tell you the Match percentage. Our Members Map even allows you to pinpoint users' locations on a Google Map - so you could meet them face-to-face to chat the old fashioned way! Tonguetide classes: Take classes with one of our language teachers trained in the Tonguetide method. Our online classes offer speaking practise in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and German combined with our self-study courses - perfect for those with a busy schedule. All you need is an internet connection, a microphone and a set of speakers or headphones. Take a Tonguetide self-study course: Our self-study language courses are packed with fun exercises, videos of native speakers and audio tracks for listening practice. An annual subscription for any of our courses is just 14,95€, or 500 Tonguetide points. Teach online: Tonguetide is packed with useful resources for teachers. Our Virtual Classroom feature is an online teaching tool which makes the classroom whiteboard a thing of the past, allowing you to teach as if you were in the same room!"

The Autonomous Language Learning (ALL) project, funded by the European Union, is building Blended Learning language courses in four European languages (Turkish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Lithuanian. These courses are designed for students who have had an initial introduction in one of the languages and who wish to progress from a basic survival level to a higher competency (A2 of the Common European Framework) The project results are for Language schools and Colleges. The partners in this project are experts in language education and technology in education, from across Europe. You can get involved and contribute to this project in a number of ways.

"Welcome to DIALANG where you can test your language abilities in 5 skills in 14 European languages. DIALANG is a language diagnosis system developed by many European higher education institutions. It reports your level of skill against the Common European Framework (CEF) for language learning. DIALANG's skills are reading, writing, listening, grammar and vocabulary DIALANG's languages are Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Irish-gaelic, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. Instructions as well as tests are available in all these languages."

The Language Acquisition Resource Center, LARC, is a national Language Resource Center located on the San Diego State University campus. It is one of fifteen Department of Education Title VI funded Language Resource Centers (LRCs). Our mission is to develop and support the teaching and learning of foreign languages in the United States through research, technology, and publications. Particular attention is paid to less commonly taught languages, cross-cultural issues, language skills assessment, and teacher training.

WALS is a large database of structural (phonological, grammatical, lexical) properties of languages gathered from descriptive materials (such as reference grammars) by a team of more than 40 authors (many of them the leading authorities on the subject). WALS consists of 141 maps with accompanying texts on diverse features (such as vowel inventory size, noun-genitive order, passive constructions, and "hand"/"arm" polysemy), each of which is the responsibility of a single author (or team of authors). Each map shows between 120 and 1370 languages, each language being represented by a symbol, and different symbols showing different values of the feature. Altogether 2,650 languages are shown on the maps, and more than 58,000 datapoints give information on features in particular languages.

linguos.com is a window to the non-English web. Users with can search the non-English web with just an English QWERTY keyboard. This is NOT a translation service, but a transliteration and transcription based search engine. In most languages, enter your queries as they would sound in your target language. linguos.com is powered by Linguaseek Language Technologies. linguaseek.com is a portal and a platform that enables multi-lingual search, communication and content generation. A single interface allows transliteration to over 120 languages (virtually all digitally available languages.) Global portals and services can benefit from the service by integrating with or licensing linguaseek.com webservices, allowing users to search for multi-lingual content, communicate (IM/email/etc) and generate content (blogs, comments, web pages, etc), all without requiring custom keyboards, software or transliteration schemes. linguaseek's transliteration is based on ISO standards where available and optimized for user input. Users familiar with English and a second (or more) language(s) will benefit the most from this service.

Welcome to the Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon, CAPL, the source for authentic images for language learning. As a language teacher and learner, I always seek to connect language, culture, and meaning. This site represents my interest to not only write about language learning, but provide concrete examples. Our world rich in diversity, both linguistic and visual, and often the connection between word and image can be lost. As commercial globalization brings the world together through 'common products', we sometimes forget how our visual perception of the world affects our use of words and the meanings they convey. Is a house really a Haus, is pain really хлеб, and when we see red cabbage, is it really red? These are simple and mundane questions that underscore the fact that visual perception is culturally determined and visual cognition varies from culture to culture. The CAPL project seeks to explore this idea through a collection of authentic photographs arranged by language and context. In the coming year, we will add more photos, more databases, and more textual descriptions. Check back often as we expand our collection. It is our hope that the collection itself can spur research in a variety of areas and that the collection can be used by language teachers and learners throughout the world with its generous Creative Commons license.

"Middlebury College is pleased to announce The Kathryn Davis Fellowships for Peace: Investing in the Study of Critical Languages. These 100 fellowships are made possible by a generous gift from Kathryn Davis, to address today's critical need for increased language proficiency in the United States. The Kathryn Davis Fellowships cover 100% of tuition, room, and board for one summer of summer language study from beginner to graduate levels in Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese, Portuguese, and Russian at the Middlebury College Language Schools. The Davis Fellowships are merit-based and intended for exceptionally qualified individuals with demonstrated interest in one or more of the following areas: international, global, or area studies; international politics and economics; peace and security studies; and/or conflict resolution. Individuals in other fields, including working professionals, are encouraged to apply if their field of expertise requires them to study one of the critical languages listed above."

Diane J. Tedick, Editor (The Minnesota Articulation Project). This handbook for teachers was designed to provide world language teachers with the background knowledge, ideas, and resources for implementing proficiency-oriented language instruction and classroom-based performance measures into their curriculum. Tied to the national Standards for Foreign Language Education, the Handbook gives teachers a solid foundation of the principles and practices that are central to standards-based and proficiency-oriented language instruction and assessment. The Handbook gives teachers a wide variety of tasks and activities to use in the classroom along with ideas for adapting these activities for different levels and languages and longer curricular packages.The Handbook was originally created by members of the Minnesota Articulation Project. While the handbook is still available in print through the CARLAmworking paper series most of the handbook is now available online.

MultiTree is a searchable database of hypotheses on language relationships. * compare language trees and access bibliographical information on them * see a graphical representation of every scholarly hypothesis on language relationships * view information on every language * share comments on hypotheses and add new hypotheses (as a registered user) * access an interactive map of the language or family of your choice through LLMap