According to Statista data from 2023, Chinese is the second most-spoken language in the world, with more than 1.1 billion Mandarin Chinese speakers.
As a result, the ability to speak Chinese has become an important skill in the workforce — many companies seek employees who can effectively communicate with clients and partners in China or conduct business in China. If you’re bilingual in Chinese and English, you can pursue numerous meaningful career paths with the help of your language skills.
Is your proficiency in multiple languages the missing link needed to enhance the ability of the healthcare system to serve patients with limited English skills? What lies ahead for multilingual professionals in healthcare? Will ongoing training and assessments remain crucial for your career relevance in healthcare, even with the integration of artificial intelligence into the healthcare system?
By Dan Edwards, Ed.D. and Kevin Gaugler, Ph.D.
From the learner’s perspective, AI might turn out to be an ideal complement to Steven Krashen’s Input Hypothesis. According to Krashen, language learners advance by understanding input that is slightly beyond their current level of comprehension, often denoted as ””i+1,” where ‘i’ represents the learner’s current level of language proficiency.
The spring testing season is upon us. We have prepared useful tips as you ramp up for testing with the AAPPL and ALIRA.
As a language learner, have you found yourself filled with dread when needing to speak in a new language? Your heart is racing, palms sweating, and words escaping your mind when trying to speak. If this scenario sounds familiar, you’re not alone. In fact, this heightened feeling of stress has a name: Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA). Many of us language learners experience foreign language anxiety – that gnawing sense of self-doubt and nervousness. In this blog post, we’ll look at this anxiety from a learner’s perspective, exploring its roots and discussing some practical strategies to overcome it.
By Dan Edwards, Ed.D. and Kevin Gaugler, Ph.D.
In education, the rise of AI-powered tools like ChatGPT has been met with a mix of enthusiasm and caution. Certainly, concerns over the use of artificial intelligence and academic integrity are warranted and should not be overlooked. However, this post aims to shed light on the immediate positive potential of using artificial intelligence platforms like ChatGPT in the language classroom and how it can be deployed today to support second language educators and second language learners.
Navigating the intricate economic scenario of a nation is complex—it involves a myriad of factors that contribute to its competitiveness. Language proficiency is a crucial piece of the big puzzle that can significantly enhance a nation’s competitive edge, starting from within its organizations. The United States, with its multilingual and multicultural population, faces a high demand for foreign language skills. This demand should serve as a driving force to compel businesses, operating on both a domestic and global scale, to either hire or continually update employees capabilities of delivering effective communication with partners and customers in their native language.
In today’s global business landscape, inadequate or insufficient foreign language skills can translate into grave repercussions for your business. These repercussions could represent lost business opportunities, unfavorable publicity or public opinion, and even legal disputes, especially in industries where clear and precise communication is of extreme importance. Does your company fall into the category of those at heightened risk? Are you equipped with an activated, well-structured, and updated multilingual communication plan to mitigate such risks?
A spoonerism is a mispronunciation of a short phrase. It occurs when a person swaps word sounds while verbalizing two or more words. “Take a shower” becomes “shake a tower” when the brain’s speech center momentarily causes confusion or a person loses focus while speaking. While spoonerisms are common in English, they can occur in any language.
Five years ago, we became an early adopter of the Ohio Seal of Biliteracy, a prestigious award for our high school students who demonstrate a high level of proficiency in at least two languages. We envisioned the Seal as a way to honor our highest performing world language students, as well as to honor and celebrate the linguistic diversity in our school among our English Language Learners.