Welcome to STARTALK!
Welcome to the STARTALK Resource Website, home to information on teaching and learning Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Persian, Turkish, Swahili and Urdu. The purpose of this site is to share information on implementing programs as well as to share resources on curriculum design, instructional materials, assessment tools, and useful links. Information on our site is particularly targeted toward parents and students, teachers, current and future program directors, and consultants, such as STARTALK’s team leaders and site visitors.
Information by year: 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010
News & Announcements
STARTALK Resource Lists of Language Specific Materials
STARTALK has compiled lists of language specific materials including language specific and pedagogical articles, text and reference books, cultural and language-learning websites, authentic materials and media, professional organizations, and community and heritage organizations.
These resource lists are available as PDFs for viewing and downloading at http://startalk.umd.edu/resources/.
The STARTALK 2010 Fall Conference for Awardees
On October 15 and 16, 2010 the STARTALK 2010 Fall Conference for STARTALK Awardees will occur in Atlanta, Georgia. Please contact startalk@nflc.org for more details.
The STARTALK Multimedia Teacher Workshop Collection is Now Available
The National Foreign Language Center is pleased to announce the launch of the STARTALK Multimedia Teacher Workshop Collection. This collection of twelve on-line, multimedia workshops was developed by staff of STARTALK-funded teacher preparation programs to enable teachers to improve their skills in critical areas. The workshops were adapted from programs offered in the summer of 2009 to teachers of the world languages included in STARTALK, but most of them are useful for any language teacher, teacher educator, or teacher supervisor. The workshops cover a wide range of skills, knowledge, and techniques that all world language teachers need. To help users identify workshops that are most relevant to their professional development needs, the collection also has a catalog listing each workshop according to the key STARTALK themes addressed and includes a user guide for each workshop. Anyone may use these workshops (or segments of them which can stand alone) and they may be incorporated into any teacher education or professional development program. When you use these materials in a course or a presentation or cite them in a document, we ask that you attribute them properly to the institution or organization that developed them, and to the STARTALK project.
Detailed STARTALK 2010 Summer Program Lists Available
Detailed lists of the 2010 summer programs are now available. You can view a list of all programs, just student programs, or just teacher programs. Each of those lists can be further narrowed by choosing a language and/or state.
The STARTALK Classroom Video Collection is Now Available
The National Foreign Language Center is pleased to announce the launch of the STARTALK Classroom Video Collection. This video collection was compiled to provide real-life examples of teachers working to incorporate STARTALK-endorsed effective practices in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Persian, Swahili, Turkish and Urdu classroom settings. In these videos, you will find teachers interacting and engaging with students and encouraging them to engage one another. You will see the teachers utilize role playing to make students the center of the learning experience; make use of songs, videos, and other authentic materials in the target language; and, through the use of culturally rich activities such as meals, fully integrate the target language and culture into the classroom.
