The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) provided the venue for the September 2017 meeting of the TIRF Board of Trustees. We are very grateful for the rent-free use of the beautiful venue and the support of CAL’s wonderful staff members.
CAL is a nonprofit research organization. According to its website, CAL’s mission is to “promote language learning and cultural understanding by serving as a trusted source for research, resources, and policy analysis”.
Dr. Joel Gómez, the newly appointed President of CAL, spoke to the TIRF Trustees about his hopes for his presidency. Key topics in CAL’s areas of impact include English learners, world languages, testing and assessment, language in culture and society, and language planning and policy.
The CAL website offers many free resources for teachers, researchers, and policy makers:
- http://www.cal.org/resource-center/briefs-digests: briefs and digests that are focused on high interest, current topics in applied linguistics and language education;
- http://www.cal.org/resource-center/databases-directories: access to four different online directories and databases, which can provide helpful information in areas such as dual-language programs and foreign language assessments; and
- http://www.cal.org/resource-center/links: a comprehensive list of online information that is related to CAL’s work and issues of language and culture.
Kathi Bailey, TIRF’s President, had this comment about the Board meeting at CAL: “The Center for Applied Linguistics is an extremely important research organization in our profession. The CAL staff spearheads initiatives on language assessment, content-based instruction, teacher development, heritage language learners, and so on. I am deeply grateful to Joel Gómez and the CAL team for letting TIRF use their facilities free of charge. Every penny we save on meeting space is money we can devote to scholarships and other TIRF initiatives.”
