WORLD LANGUAGE

Dr. Lori Langer de Ramirez began her language teaching career as a teacher of Spanish, French and ESL. She holds a Master's Degree in Applied Linguistics and a Doctorate in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is currently the Director of World and Classical Languages & Global Language Initiatives at the Dalton School in New York City. Lori is the author of books, texts, and articles about language teaching and learning and multicultural education. She presents workshops at local, regional, and national conferences and works with teachers in schools throughout the U.S. and around the world. Her website offers free materials for teaching Chinese, English, French, and Spanish.

Another great resource for Spanish language arts teachers is Spanish: Politics of Art. Spanish V, grade 12: Lori Langer de Ramirez's class stages a political debate based on Spain's visa requirement for Central and South Americans who wish to enter that country. During the debate, students assume the role of Latin American artists whose work they had researched and weigh the pros and cons of boycotting an invitation to exhibit their work in Spain. After the debate, the class votes on whether or not to accept the Spanish invitation.

LOTE teachers can take advantage of Annenberg's video library for K – 12 foreign language teachers; 28 half-hour, 8 approx. ten-minute, and 2 one-hour video programs, library guide, and website. Teaching Foreign Languages K – 12 is a video library illustrating effective instruction and assessment strategies for teaching foreign languages. The language classrooms shown in this library include Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Latin, Russian, and Spanish. All classroom videos are subtitled in English and are appropriate for K – 12 teachers of any foreign language. Created in conjunction with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), the library includes a 30-minute introduction and 60-minute overviews of ACTFL’s Standards for Foreign Language Learning and new assessment practices, an overview specifically for Arabic teaching, as well as 34 classroom programs. In the classroom programs, teachers from schools across the country model interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes of communication throughout a range of grade and competency levels. Concepts of culture, comparisons, connections to students — lives, and the importance of community are also integrated into the lessons. A website and print guide accompany the video programs, providing a complete professional development experience.

ENL Resources

ESL Resources for Students, Parents and Teachers

English can be a challenging language to learn – especially for people who didn’t grow up learning the complicated grammar rules, cultural uses of words, or region-specific pronunciations. The following list of resources can help teachers find meaningful methods of instruction, students to find fun and interactive ways to learn vocabulary and the rules of the language, and parents to empower their children along the way.