We are long overdue for the next meeting of the Language Alliance!  If you were not there last time, the Language Alliance is a subcommittee and networking group formed by ILEA Ontario (www.ilea.ca).

The second meeting of the Language Alliance meeting will be on:
Wednesday March 21, 2012 at 4:15 pm. at the Albert Education Centre (440 Albert Street – room W131). Meeting will be done by 6:00 pm. Treats available!

We had a really rich discussion last time; let’s keep up the momentum! Last time, we asked people to come to the meeting with some of these questions in mind – I think they are still good ones for us to think about as we continue our discussions:

–Do you feel you are living in a bi- or even multilingual society — why or why not?
–Do bilingual policies and French programs within Ontario contribute to an atmosphere of language learning & awareness?
–What can be done to improve language acquisition and attitudes towards language learning including the recognition of languages?
–How can we promote more languages in schools at all levels— elementary to post–secondary?
–What do we need in teacher training for languages?
–What can we learn from the European Union or other parts of the world on language policy?

This time:

It became evident in the last meeting that awareness-raising and teacher-development were two major factors for all of us.  We hope to build on discussions in this area.  Please also have a look at the summary of our last meeting as it appeared in the last issue of the ILEA Newsletter – Accents on Language, written by Eve Schnitzer (Carleton University).