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Resources for K-12 language teachers

This page provides a sampling of web resources about K-12 foreign language teaching.
- To find classroom materials for a specific language, scroll to the top of this page and use the search menus.
- To suggest corrections or additions to this page, press the Feedback button at the left side of the screen.
- For additional resources, press the Links button at the left side of the screen.

Select a category.

Language Resource Centers

• Centers in the U.S.
• Centers in other countries

Language Teachers' Associations

• National organizations
• Regional organizations
• Organizations for specific languages

About language teaching and administration

• Journals
• Websites
• Online workshops

K-12 Foreign Language Curricula, sample lessons, and activities

• General or multi-language
• For individual languages

K-12 Foreign Language Standards, Frameworks, and Assessment

• General information about standards
• General information about assessment
• Standards from states and localities
• Standards from other countries

Professional Development Opportunities

Other resources

• International connections
• Special learning populations
• Other teaching topics

Language Resource Centers

A selection of centers whose focus applies to K-12 foreign language teaching or to Less Commonly Taught Languages. The complete list of Language Resource Centers appears on our Links page.

Centers in the U.S.

• Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)
• The National Capital Language Resource Center (NCLRC)
• Joint National Committee for Languages, a language policy organization
• National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC)
• National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center (archived website; the Center is closed)
• Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA)
• Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS)
• National African Languages Resource Center (NALRC)
• The National East Asian Languages Resource Center (NEALRC)
• South Asian Language Resource Center (SALRC)
• Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region (CeLCAR)
• Slavic and East European Language Resource Center (SEELRC)
• National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC)
• National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC)
• Critical Languages Institute (CLI)

Centers in other countries

• The National Institute of The Korean Language

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Language Teachers' Associations

National organizations

• Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages
• American Association for Applied Linguistics
• American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
• Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers
• Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium
• International Association of Language Learning Technology
• International Society for Technology in Education
• Modern Language Association
• NAFSA: Association of International Educators
• National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages
• National Council of State Supervisors for Languages
• National Network for Early Language Learning

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Regional organizations

• Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
• Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
• Pacific Northwest Council for Languages
• Southern Conference on Language Teaching
• Southwest Conference on Language Teaching


• Alabama Association of Foreign Language Teachers
• California Language Teachers Association
     - Calendar of California language-teacher workshops and conferences
• Foreign Language Association of Virginia
• Greater Washington Association of Teachers of Foreign Languages
• Hawai'i Association of Language Teachers
• Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association
• Montana Association of Language Teachers
• New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers
• Wisconsin Association for Language Teachers

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Organizations for specific languages

Arabic language

• American Association of Teachers of Arabic
• Islamic Society of North America, Education Forum
• Arabic K12 Newsletter
• Teachers of Arabic Language K-12

Chinese languages

• Cantonese Language Association
• Chinese Language Association for Secondary-Elementary Schools
• Chinese Language Teachers Association
• The Mandarin Center

Japanese

• Alliance of Associations of Teachers of Japanese
• Association of Florida Teachers of Japanese
• Association of Indiana Teachers of Japanese
• Association of Teachers of Japanese
• Association of Teachers of Japanese in Oregon
• California Association of Japanese Language Teachers
• Hawai'i Association of Teachers of Japanese
• Illinois Association of Teachers of Japanese
• Japan Association for Language Teaching
• Mid-Atlantic Association of Teachers of Japanese
• National Council of Japanese Language Teachers
• Ohio Association of Teachers of Japanese
• Washington Association of Teachers of Japanese

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Slavic languages

• American Association of Teachers of Slavic and Eastern European Languages
• American Council of Teachers of Russian
• International Association of Teachers of Czech

Other languages

• African Language Teachers Association
• American Association of Teachers of Arabic
• American Association of Teachers of Italian
• American Association of Teachers of Korean
• American Association of Teachers of Turkic
• Consortium for the Teaching of Indonesian and Malay
• Council of Teachers of Southeast Asia Languages
• Modern Greek Language Teachers Association
• National Association of Professors of Hebrew
• North American Association for Celtic Language Teachers
• Norwegian Researchers and Teachers Association of North America
• South Asian Language Teachers Association

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About language teaching and administration

Journals

• Language Magazine
  A monthly magazine on foreign language educational policy, methodology, and research. Includes sections on teacher training programs, grant opportunities, current job openings, and study abroad, along with a calendar of conferences and a readers' forum.
  
• The Language Educator
  A bimonthly magazine from the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), covering news, trends, and developments in U.S. language teaching and administration. Includes sections on policy, legislation, best practices, teaching tips, technology, online resources, and a forum.
  
• Foreign Language Annals
  The quarterly research journal of the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), reporting research by ACTFL members on language learning and teaching, innovative methods, and successful practice, including cross-disciplinary research with implications for language teaching.
  
• Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages
  An annual journal on policy, education, programs, advocacy, and research in the field of less commonly taught languages (LCTLs). Includes sections on teaching methodology and technology, research reports from academic and non-academic teaching situations, and the social environment of LCTL teaching -- for example, heritage communities, legislation, and federal initiatives.
  
• TESOL Journal
  A refereed quarterly electronic journal on current theory and research in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Includes sections on modern language skills, students with interrupted formal education, student perspectives, interactive teaching communities, research by language teachers focusing on their own practice, and reviews of books and materials.
  
• Essential Teacher
  The quarterly magazine of the TESOL Association. Offers columns by practitioners in various communities of practice, materials reviews, association news, and a forum.
  
• The International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching
  A free on-line journal dedicated to communicating research, articles and helpful information regarding language acquisition to support teachers. Most articles report on research by language teachers focusing on their own practice.
  

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Websites

• Ñanduti
  A comprehensive resource on foreign language teaching and learning in grades pre-K through 8. The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) offers a variety of resources on this site for teachers and parents interested in children learning foreign languages.
  
• The Essentials of Language Teaching
  A concise guide for teachers who want to develop their skills in communicative language teaching. Discusses goals, methods, planning a lesson, motivating learners, and assessing learning. Developed by the National Capital Language Resource Center.
  
• The Elementary Immersion Learning Strategies Resource Guide
  A Learning Strategies Resource Guide for Elementary Immersion Language Teachers. These tools are learning strategies, that is, the mental processes and actions that students can use to help them complete learning tasks. By becoming familiar with the learning tools, students can improve their language learning abilities.
  
• Guidelines for Starting an Elementary School Foreign Language Program
  A June 1995 article by Marcia Rosenbusch of the national K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center.
  
• About Teaching
  Articles on language policy, critical languages, heritage learners, research on classroom strategies. Provided by the National Capital Language Resource Center.
  
• Teachers Corner
  Teachers' diaries, classroom solutions, tech for teachers, teacher forums. Provided by the National Capital Language Resource Center.
  
• Foreign Language Teaching Forum
  A forum and listserv for online discussions among language teachers.
  

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Online workshops

• StarTalk Language Teacher Development Materials
  Two free multimedia collections: (1) Teacher development workshops, and (2) videos of actual K-12 classroom activities that demonstrate effective practices. From the National Foreign Language Center.
  
• Teaching Heritage Languages
  A free multimedia teacher workshop on strategies for teaching heritage language learners. Developed by the National Heritage Language Resource Center.
  
• Foreign Language Teaching Methods
  Free professional development modules for foreign language instruction at the high-school and college levels. Developed by the Texas Language Technology Center.
  
• Haya!
  An introduction to standards-based Arabic teaching, hosted by the National Capital Language Resrouce Center.
  

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K-12 Foreign Language Curricula, sample lessons, and activities

General or multi-language

• Teaching Foreign Languages K-12: Library of Classroom Practices
  A K-12 video library and professional development guide to implementing the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century. Illustrates effective instruction and assessment strategies, documents 27 teachers and their students in K-12 classrooms around the country as they study eight languages across a range of competency levels including Chinese, Russian, Italian and Japanese. Registered users may watch the free videos and download support materials. Produced by the Annenberg Foundation.
  
• The Language Proficiency Handbook for Teachers
  Principles and practices for K-12 teachers as well as a wealth of detailed lesson plans, tasks and activities, all tied to the national standards. Produced by the Center for Advanced Research in Language Acquisition.
  
• Immersion Education and Research
  Online resources, curricular materials and professional support for K-12 language immersion teachers. Produced by the Center for Advanced Research in Language Acquisition.
  
• Content Based language Teaching with Technology
  An online handbook offering professional development and resources (including detailed lesson plans tied to the national standards) that help K-12 foreign language and immersion teachers create content-based lessons using technology to enhance students' language proficiency and cultural knowledge. Produced by the Center for Advanced Research in Language Acquisition.
  
• Royalty-free clip art for foreign language instruction
  A collection of culturally neutral drawings to illustrate verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and nouns. Produced by the Purdue University Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.
  
• LangMedia Resources for World Languages
  Videos of dialogs in about 30 languages, plus transcripts and related still photos. From the Five College Center for the Study of World Languages.
  
• Willkommen bienvenidos benvenuto
  A personal website with links to interesting activities for Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and ESL.
  
• Links to Foreign Language Materials
  Links to K-12 lessons, activities, images, and authentic materials in Arabic, Cantonese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish, selected by the National Capital Language Resource Center.
  
• Education & Learning
  Teaching resources for culture and language, information on policy initiatives. Emphasizes Asian languages, particularly Chinese. This website is maintained by the Asia Society.
  
• Rock and Roll Kindergarten
  A personal website offering lesson plans and materials for over a dozen thematic units encompassing all K-2 curriculum areas. Designed for an English-speaking classroom, the plans could be adapted for foreign language immersion courses.
  

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For individual languages

• Arabic K-12 Teachers' Network
  Research, teaching materials, resources, and professional development opportunities. This website is maintained by the National Capital Language Resource Center.
  
• Marhaba! curriculum
  A free first-year high school Arabic curriculum that aligns with national standards.
  
• CenAsia Net
  A website for teachers of Central Asian languages, offering teaching modules (registration required) along with leads to study programs, a resource center, and other information.
  
• Chinese curriculum development
  An articulated long-sequence language instruction model for grades K-5, developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics and the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) at Iowa State University. Project was not completed.
  
• Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools
  The Members Only section (under construction) offers sample lessons and syllabi, as well as a platform for K-12 to share tips and network with other members.
  
• UCLA Italian Resource Center
  A public lending library for Italian K-16 teaching materials, including books, activity kits, audio tapes, music CDs, and VHS and DVDs, as well as textbooks, dictionaries and workbooks. Requires a free Italian Resource Center membership. Co-sponsored by the Consulate General of Italy in Los Angeles and the Fondazione Italia.
  
• Consulate General of Japan, Boston: K-12 Japan-Related Lesson Ideas & Exchange Forum
  The consulate posts ideas for classroom activities that have been emailed to the site by K-12 teachers. Topics include Japanese culture, arts, social science, history, mathematics, science, and sports.
  
• Association for Japanese-Language Teaching
  The website of a Tokyo-based organization that offers courses, textbooks, study aids, and information on language methodology research.
  
• Russnet
  A website for Russian teachers, offering teaching modules (registration required) along with leads to Russian programs, book sources, assessment tools, online resources, and job posting sites.
  
• AATSEEL teaching resources
  Links to web tutorials, curricula for Slavic languages and culture, and other web materials.
  

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K-12 Foreign Language Standards, Frameworks, and Assessment

General information about standards

• Bringing the Standards into the Classroom: A Teacher's Guide
  A guide to assist teachers in aligning their present foreign language curriculum with the national standards for student learning. Provided by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center.
  

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General information about assessment

• Foreign Language Assessment Directory
  A free directory, online tutorial and moderated forum on assessment. Provided by the Center for Applied Linguistics
  
• Assessment of a Second Language
  An online handbook on assessment, including a teacher training module, sample test items, language proficiency instruments for French, German, and Spanish, and additional resources. Provided by the Center for Advanced Research in Language Acquisition.
  
• Assessment Training Online
  A free distance-learning course to introduce secondary and post-secondary teachers to oral proficiency assessment. Provided by the Center for Applied Linguistics
  
• Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators
  A personal website offering a rich collection of assessment rubrics, tools for creating rubrics, and articles on their use.
  
• Portfolio Assessment Guide
  A web tutorial on implementing standards-based assessment through the use of longitudinal student portfolios. Discusses national standards, adapting to a specific curriculum, integration of assessment and instruction, rubrics, and learning strategies. Developed by the National Capital Language Resource Center.
  

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Standards from states and localities

• Foreign Language Framework for California Public Schools, 2001
• World Language Content Standards for California Public Schools, 2009
• Connecticut World Language Curriculum Framework
• Delaware's Statewide Recommended Curriculum in World Languages
• Delaware Recommended World language Program Articulation
• Delaware Grade Level Expectations
• Fairfax County (Virginia) Performance Assessment for Language Students
• Massachusetts Foreign-Language Curriculum Framework
• New Jersey World Languages Curriculum Framework
• Montgomery County (Maryland) School District World Languages Framework
• New York State Learning Standards for Languages Other Than English
• Ohio Foreign Language Academic Content Standards
• Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Languages Other Than English
• Wisconsin's Model Academic Standards for Foreign Languages
• Other state and local Foreign Language Standards, a personal site that links to Foreign Language Standards for some 200 state and local school districts.

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Standards from other countries

• Council of Europe, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment

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Professional Development Opportunities

• ACTFL workshops
  A wide spectrum of Professional Development Workshops offered by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, covering teaching strategies, standards, assessment methods, and accreditation.
  
• Teacher seminars at Concordia Language Villages
• Institutes at the national Language Resource Centers
• Professional development
  News of conferences, institutes, fellowships, resources for certification
  
• STARTALK
  A directory of summer teacher-training programs funded under the National Security Language Initiative. Since the website is not frequently updated, make sure you are on the page for the current year.
  

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Other resources

International connections

• The Council on International Educational Exchange
• National Registration Center for Study Abroad

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Special learning populations

• Teaching Foreign Language with Learning Disabilities
• Resources on foreign language teaching in relation to special educational needs, a personal website

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Other teaching topics

• Thoughts on Language, a blog with several articles on language-teaching methodologies. Scroll down the right column of the website to the "Most Popular" section, which links to the articles.
• Language Interactive, a personal website on uses of web technology for language teaching.
• LangSource, a bibliography of language and culture resources, from the University of Maryland.
• Holidays Around the World, links to information on the origin and history of many holidays.
• Holidays Around the World, links to teacher resources and lesson plans for holidays from a variety of countries.

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