LCTLs Archive

Hosted by the Global Association of Promoting Swahili (GAPS or CHAUKIDU), African Languages Teachers Association (ALTA), National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) The annual CHAUKIDU/ALTA/ NCOLCTL was held at the Hilton Hotel Washington Dulles Airport, on April 23-26, 2015 The National African Resource Center secretariat that is home to the executive director of…

The Critical Importance of Less-Commonly-Taught Languages Lesser Known Languages are Essential Mary Steiner, United Nations Association of San Francisco The less commonly taught languages are threatened with extinction as the homogeneity of globalization prevails. International and transnational entities such as UNESCO and Google agree on many levels to document, protect, and stabilize spoken language based…

On May 25th, I attended and presented a paper at the National Council of Teachers of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) in Itasca, IL, outside (way outside!) Chicago.  I was able to do so thanks to a travel grant from BLC in the amount of $750. However, even at this amount, this particular conference is…

A few weeks ago, I attended my first-ever African Language Teachers Association (ALTA) conference in Chicago. In my past profession as a journalist, I had attended numerous conferences, but mostly as a speaker, trainer, or chair of a panel. But I went to the ALTA conference mostly as a student, which made it one of…

Thanks to the generosity of the BLC and the Center for African Studies, I attended this year’s African Language Teachers Association (ALTA)/National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) conference in Madison, Wisconsin. The stated goal of the joint conference was “Promoting Advanced Language and Intercultural Proficiency in African Languages and other LCTLs.” The main…

A Talk on Second Language Acquistion: What is less common about the less commonly taught languages? by Claire Kramsch, UCB BLC & German Thursday, February 12, 2004 370 Dwinelle Hall