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Where do you start the course design for a minority language? One starting point is identifying and surveying a community of possible learners. This paper explores the needs of learners of Tuvan, a language spoken primarily in the Republic of Tuva, Southern Siberia, Russia. The study was conducted in two steps: an online questionnaire (March 2019) and semi-structured interviews (April 2019). The results showed a limited interest in Tuvan as a foreign language (13 responses) on the one hand, but a long-standing one on the other, more than two decades in some cases. The identified learner needs fell into three broad categories: needs related to "throat" (overtone) singing; needs related to travelling to Tuva and surviving in a new environment; and needs unique to each participant (e.g., academic research). The study contributes to the underresearched issue of indigenous languages as objects of foreign language study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Рассматривается проблема места русского языка в системе американского образования в ХХI веке. В США преподавание критически важных языков традиционно связывается с вопросами национальной обороны и национальной безопасности страны. Представлены факторы, влияющие на интерес к изучению и преподаванию русского языка в США. Доказывается, что прохладные взаимоотношения России и США на современном этапе не могут быть главным фактором, влияющим на интерес к изучению русского языка в американской системе образования и в обществе в целом. Популярность и востребованность русского языка в Соединенных Штатах зависят от целого ряда обстоятельств, проанализированных в статье, таких как наличие русскоязычных общин, рабочих мест для специалистов с русским языком, программ студенческого и научного обмена, а также общей концепции страны относительно целесообразности преподавания иностранных языков. Приведены статистические данные востребованности русского языка в системе современного образования США, а также описаны возможные перспективы его дальнейшего распространения.

The development of distance learning courses for less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) oftenmeets with instructional challenges, especially for Asian LCTLs with their distinct non-Roman characters and structures. This study documents the implementation of a fully online, elementary Japanese course at Stony Brook University. The curriculum was designed around the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages's (ACTFL)World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages; performance-driven assessments; and task-supported, technology-enhanced principles. Asynchronous and synchronous tools were incorporated to facilitate task delivery and reduce the virtual isolation of learners. A simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) was conducted for the online students in order to compare their oral performance with that of the face-to-face (F2F) cohort in the preceding semester. Quantitative results show that online students outperformed their F2F counterparts in most of the Integrated Performance Assessment's scoring criteria, with a statistically significant difference in the criterion "Communication strategies." Survey results indicate students' positive attitudes toward language gains and corroborate the qualitative results gleaned from student learning journals and survey responses: Students' sense of isolation was replaced by a sense of co-presence. We conclude that developing an online LCTL course, though challenging, is feasible and maximizes outcomes through the synergy of multimodal digital platforms, and a standards-based, task-driven curriculum design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First, let me express my sincere gratitude to NCOLCTL for awarding me this prestigious recognition bearing the name of a man who was responsible for many important initiatives and contributions relating to the promotion of the interests of LCTLs. Although for the past 36 years I have been teaching Russian and Polish, in my discussion today I will focus mainly on Polish, the less common of my less commonly taught languages. We can view the future of LCTLs in two ways: paraphrasing Anton Chekhov—one is the view that everything passes and nothing matters; the other view is that nothing passes and everything matters. If we are guided by the first outlook in assessing the present and future status of LCTLs we will conclude that despite all of our initiatives to promote and safeguard the interests of LCTLs, in the final analysis developments beyond our control will threaten the survival of LCTLs as part of institutionalized curriculum at many institutions. Thus, all of our efforts will prove to be in vain.

This study investigated changes in levels of anxiety about learning a foreign language (FL) and in the language beliefs of first-year Korean-as-a-foreign-language (KFL) students in a US university throughout a year. Twelve students who enrolled in both of the two semesters of the first-year Korean I and II classes participated in this study. The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) were used. The results showed that there were significant differences between first-semester FLCAS scores and second-semester FLCAS scores, with the differences indicating that as students progressed in their study of Korean, their anxiety increased. Moreover, students who demonstrated high achievement during the first semester experienced increased anxiety about learning Korean during the next semester. Regarding beliefs, there were no significant differences between the BALLI scores of the first semester and those of the second semester, but they correlated positively. In fact, students who had positive attitudes towards the Korean language and towards learning Korean developed positive attitudes or continued to have positive attitudes throughout the year. In addition, pedagogical tips such as teaching culture through linguistic elements and out-of-class activities to motivate students are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of having a reliable and valid measure of Second Language (L2) proficiency, L2 researchers of less commonly taught languages rarely have such a tool. Existing proficiency measures (e.g., DLPT, OPI) are often costly, labor-intensive, time-consuming, or unavailable to the public. With the intent to provide a practical and reliable measure of Korean L2 proficiency, this study attempted to develop and validate a 30-minute C-Test (Klein-Braley, 1981). This Korean C-Test was developed with the specifics of Korean language structure in mind, and Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) skill-level descriptions were utilized in passage selection in order to test a wide range of participant proficiency levels. The resulting test and a self-assessment questionnaire (Kondo-Brown, 2005) were administered to 37 learners of Korean. Rasch analysis (Bond & Fox, 2007) was used to examine the reliability and concurrent validity of the measure, and Rasch measurement statistics such as separation reliability, difficulty measures, and model fit statistics were used to suggest further improvement to the C-Test. The developed test demonstrated excellent reliability and validity indices, and the results reveal the potential of this C-Test as a quick proficiency indicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]