--- Forwarded Message from Trip Kirkpatrick <[log in to unmask]> --- >From: Trip Kirkpatrick <[log in to unmask]> >Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 07:40:34 -0500 >Subject: Re: #9567 Recent articles on Foreign Language Study >To: [log in to unmask] Karl: One of the more interesting notions I've heard recently is that being bilingual can help prevent Alzheimer's. (Of course, the study comes with the usual caveats, but it makes for a good selling point.) http://www.neurology.org/content/75/19/1726.abstract?sid=00a140c3-da2c-40a4-8e31-ed149e271bf8 More importantly, however, are you sure -- to flirt with insulting you -- that the articles are dated? In my personal opinion, we do ourselves no service by emphasizing only the current reasons for studying and learning languages. Certainly I'm aware of political exigencies, but it might be worth making the point explicitly or implicitly to your review board that language study, like higher education itself, has purpose that goes beyond any era's instrumental needs. This, regardless of the reasons for which the students themselves think they are studying and regardless of the reasons for which an institution thinks it offers it. Best, Trip -- Trip Kirkpatrick Academic Technology Specialist Center for Language Study e: [log in to unmask] w: http://www.cls.yale.edu/ p: 203.432.4609 skype: tripst3r twitter: triplingual *********************************************** LLTI is a service of IALLT, the International Association for Language Learning Technology (http://iallt.org/), and The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning (http://www.languageconsortium.org/). Join IALLT at http://iallt.org. Subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives at http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A0=LLTI Anthony Helm, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask]) ***********************************************