FEATURED NEWS

May 15, 2020 | JNCL Newsroom
Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) is advocating for the inclusion of a provision in the next coronavirus relief bill to establish a Native American Language Resource Center (NALRC) to support Native American language education schools and programs hit hard by COVID-19 impacts. 

The Center would promote best practices in Native American language education; provide outreach to students and families; acquisition of distance learning technologies and training for parents, students, teachers and learning support staff; compile digital libraries and curate other online resources in target Native American languages; develop distance learning curricula appropriate for Preschool to PhD levels, pedagogical training for teachers, and other efforts necessary to continue Native American language acquisition among American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.

May 15, 2020 | JNCL Newsroom
On May 5, 2020, U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), Small Business Committee Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Tom Carper (D-DE) introduced S.3612, the Small Business Expense Protection Act, which would clarify the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) so small businesses can deduct expenses paid with a forgiven PPP loan from their taxes.

Language advocates from every sector of the Language Enterprise can work together to support this bill. PPP loans benefit everyone from the associations that we belong to, companies that we buy classroom materials from, as well as translation and interpreting professionals.

May 15, 2020 | JNCL Announcement

As a direct result of your efforts during Language Advocacy Day 2020, three more Representatives joined the America's Languages Caucu s!

The America's Languages Caucus has played an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many members have advocated for language provision in supporting relief bills.

If you don't see your Representative on the complete list, reach out and urge them to join. Let them know that issues like language access, support for non-profits and small business, and consideration for translators and interpreters is critical for successfully navigating the global pandemic.

Newest Members:
  • The Honorable Rob Bishop (R-UT-01)
  • The Honorable David Cicilline (D-RI-01)
  • The Honorable John Yarmuth (D-KY-03) 

May 13, 2020 | Education Week
Lorena Orozco McElwain was appointed Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) , U.S. Department of Education in April 2020. She joined the Federal Government as a Statistician in 1999, where she led original research identifying translation as a source of survey error and interpretation as a source of interviewer variance. Her innovative research led to the establishment of pre-testing guidelines for questionnaire translations to ensure the validity of data collected from individuals with limited English proficiency. 

McElwain succeeds José Viana, who left the post in December.

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COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

May 7, 2020 | Change.org
The America’s Languages Working Group calls for urgent support of language learners, particularly for those whose chronic educational disadvantages are exacerbated by the current COVID-19 crisis.

All of America’s Languages are part of our national identity and have unique meaning and value for each of us, opening pathways to new knowledge and technology, connecting us to traditional wisdom, ensuring our access to services and protection in everyday life, strengthening our ability to travel freely from country to country, increasing employment opportunities in a 21st century global economy, or simply connecting us personally.

If you share these concerns and aspirations, please join us by adding your organizational and/or personal endorsement to this call. 

May 15, 2020 | JNCL Newsroom
Language barriers are preventing many members of our diverse communities from accessing critical public health information and services. 

JNCL-NCLIS has been asked to document the impact of language barriers on the patient population during the crisis, and your responses to previous surveys have been instrumental in guiding legislation passage during this time. While we welcome all relevant anecdotes for this issue, we strongly encourage healthcare related organizations to provide their firsthand experience . If you have any other data points that we can use to further justify the need to expand language access provisions, please list them in your response with a URL or citation.  

Your responses to this form will amplify our message and help us advocate for language access support in the next phase of COVID-19 relief. 
PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Mississippi Foreign Language Association and Avant Assessment have partnered to bring you a summer series of powerful webinars! Check back soon for registration links. .

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FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020 ISSUE
Disclaimer: The articles and news sources included in NewsBrief are not endorsed by, directly affiliated with, maintained, authorized, or sponsored by JNCL-NCLIS. The views and opinions expressed in the articles in this NewsBrief are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company .