To commemorate its 50th anniversary, the Washington-based Center for Applied Linguistics has published a time line of accomplishments in the world of language education spearheaded by the center. In 1969, for example, the organization was the first to work with the federal government’s Bureau of Indian Affairs to identify problems that Native American children have in learning English. In 1981, it published a directory of foreign-language immersion programs. In 1995, it managed a project to create English-as-a-second-language standards for pre-K-12 students for the national organization, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. These events are put in a context of what else was happening in the United States and world, such as that the number of foreign-born people living in the United States grew from 9.7 million in 1960 to 31.1 million in 2000.
Over the years, I’ve found the researchers at CAL to be diligent in supporting the expansion of multilingualism in this country as well determining best practices for teaching children from immigrant families to acquire English.