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Language in humans has evolved culturally rather than genetically, according to a study by UCL (University College London) and US researchers. By modelling the ways in which genes for language might have evolved alongside language itself, the study showed that genetic adaptation to language would be highly unlikely, as cultural conventions change much more rapidly than genes. Thus, the biological machinery upon which human language is built appears to predate the emergence of language. According to a phenomenon known as the Baldwin effect, characteristics that are learned or developed over a lifespan may become gradually encoded in the genome over many generations, because organisms with a stronger predisposition to acquire a trait have a selective advantage. Over generations, the amount of environmental exposure required to develop the trait decreases, and eventually no environmental exposure may be needed - the trait is genetically encoded. An example of the Baldwin effect is the development of calluses on the keels and sterna of ostriches. The calluses may initially have developed in response to abrasion where the keel and sterna touch the ground during sitting. Natural selection then favored individuals that could develop calluses more rapidly, until callus development became triggered within the embryo and could occur without environmental stimulation. The PNAS paper explored circumstances under which a similar evolutionary mechanism could genetically assimilate properties of language - a theory that has been widely favoured by those arguing for the existence of 'language genes'. The study modelled ways in which genes encoding language-specific properties could have coevolved with language itself. The key finding was that genes for language could have coevolved only in a highly stable linguistic environment; a rapidly changing linguistic environment would not provide a stable target for natural selection. Thus, a biological endowment could not coevolve with p

Developing Intermediate Vocabulary is an excellent book with generic topics that can fit into any classroom in any country in the world.

These topics involved different cultural traditions, common European history, comparable cultural processes, European citizenship and multiplicity of perspective: - Migration - causes and consequences for Europe - Urban development in the 19th Century - The Treaty of Versailles - The European Community: life and working space for citizens The partners promised to exchange suitable materials on these topics, to develop teaching units, and to test, document and evaluate these units

Teaching Japan through Children's Literature online curriculum is a collection of teacher-developed, standards-based, cross-curricular K-6 lessons. The collection is designed to promote the teaching of cultural studies of Japan while developing students' knowledge and skills in literacy and communication. Each of the six lessons features an authentic children's literature book on an aspect of Japanese culture.

Grammar Ninja is a part of the portfolio of developer Greg Lieberman who has also developed a trigonometry game designed to help students learn the 16 most important angles in the sine, cosine, and tangent functions. For more grammar games check out my post Five Great Grammar Resources.

the biography of the awesome developer of Weather Pixie; looking for her!

am looking for Tasmin Bowles, the developer of Weather Pixie: it is down; does she have marketing needs?

Training and Development Agency for SchoolsTraining and Development Agency for Schools.

ELT and the Crisis in Education: Digital Literacy

Support fair trade and sustainable employment in developing countries. Ten Thousand Villages connects the stories and wares of world artisans with the North American marketplace.

This is one of my favorite sites to find out what's new in tech for our use.  The April 11th blog post discusses typing accents in other languages.  It also presents 2 virtual keyboards for WL students. Also presented are links to learning languages, activities, and image-based language lessons.  The Pictolang games could help students study languages on their own. The CAPL galleries could be helpful in locating images to use in developing your own language learning activities. You could also have students use CAPL to create language learning games to use to study

Chat support software has now become a 'must have' part of every e-commerce website for its remarkable features. This web-based chat application helps s retailer to develop a quick contact with his customers to carry out seamless business communication. Using live chat, the retailers can provide instant, more personalized and real-time assistance to their customers.

example of blog for students at early stage of development

Speakaboos brings classic children's entertainment into a digital world. Beloved characters and treasured stories are given new life through amazing celebrity performances, beautiful illustrations, and original music. At Speakaboos, children develop literacy skills while learning about technology in a safe and fun environment.