I've been very lucky to attend the University of Minnesota, and meet the great folks at CARLA. I've helped at a CARLA Conference, and avidly read through yeras and years of their email newsletters. I'd like to introduce our members here at wanderingeducators.com to CARLA! I will post more information from CARLA as it becomes available...look for it!

Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition  

The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota is one of the U.S. Department of Education's Title VI Language Resource Centers, whose role is to improve the nation's capacity to teach and learn foreign languages effectively.   

Research & Programs  

CARLA has been engaged in a number of interrelated research and program initiatives related to second language teaching, learning, and assessment since the center began in 1993. Our current and past work has centered on the following topics: 

• Articulation of Language Instruction
• Content-Based Language Teaching with Technology (CoBaLTT)
• Culture and Language Learning
• English as a Second Language
• Language Immersion Education
• Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTL)
• Maximizing Study Abroad
• Pragmatics / Speech Acts
• Second Language Assessment
• Second Language Learning Strategies
• Technology and Second Language Learning

Professional Development  

CARLA supports the professional development of second language teachers through an annual summer institute program and a wide array of international conferences and regional seminars.  

• Summer Institutes 
• Immersion Education: Pathways to Bilingualism and Beyond

Resources  

CARLA offers a number of resources to language teachers including a battery of second language proficiency assessments and a working paper series. Most of the resources are available on the CARLA website free of charge! 

• CARLA Working Paper Series
• Less Commonly Taught Languages Database
• Minnesota Language Proficiency Assessments
• Proficiency-Oriented Language Instruction and Assessment: A Curriculum Handbook for Teachers
• Virtual Assessment Center
• CoBaLTT: Content Based Instructional Modules
• American Council on Immersion Education Newsletter: Online Archive

You can find CARLA online at http://www.carla.umn.edu/

All information contained herein provided by CARLA.