Advocating for Hindi::The Role of Community AgencyThe Role of Community Agency

Findings from DesiLearn:South Asian LanguagesK-12 Research Study

Anup P. MahajanNCLRC

Title VI Foreign Language Resource Title VI Foreign Language Resource CentersCenters

Critical LanguagesCritical Languages

Bengali Marathi

Gujarati Punjabi

Hindi Tamil

Kannada Telugu

Kashmiri Urdu

Malayalam Nepali

U.S. Department of Education Priority Languages

U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, HHS, HUD, Interior, Labor, State, Treasury

ContextContext

Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Telugu, Marathi,Tamil, and Urdu are among the top 20 languages with the most speakers in the world.

Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/.

DesiLearnDesiLearn

Who is doing what and where in the U.S. for the teaching of:

Bengali Gujarati Hindi Kannada Kashmiri Malayalam

Marathi Nepali Punjabi Tamil Telugu Urdu

What do teachers and administrators report as their needs and challenges?

DesiLearn DesiLearn K-12 SurveyK-12 Survey

+ Teaching contexts

+ Teachers’ professional background

+ Work/employment situation

+ Professional development needs

+ Challenges (open-ended)

+ Needs (open-ended)

DesiLearn DesiLearn K-12 SurveyK-12 Survey

Stage 1: Telephone-administered questionnaire

Stage 2: Online survey

Trends in the U.S.Trends in the U.S.

Key FindingsKey Findings

• Building capacity

+ Articulation

• Motivating and sustaining desire for proficiency in South Asian heritage languages

+ Public awareness and support

+ Sustainability

Thank you!

Anup P. MahajanExecutive Director, NCLRC

Washington, DC

anup.mahajan@nclrc.org(202) 973-1086