Cornell, the only institution offering regular multilevel instruction in all six of the major Southeast Asian languages – Burmese, Indonesian, Khmer, Filipino (Tagalog), Thai and Vietnamese – will host a conference on the teaching of these languages on Sept. 19-21.

“Cornell is bucking national trends and expanding our language programs in various ways, especially in support of less commonly taught languages,” said Abby Cohn, conference co-organizer, professor of linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences and member of the Southeast Asia Program (SEAP). “All the Southeast Asian languages are considered ‘less commonly taught,’ and this conference really highlights Cornell’s leadership in the field in less commonly taught languages.”

The conference, titled “Southeast Asian Language Instruction: Sustainability through Collaboration,” is being hosted by the Southeast Asia Program, a part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, in collaboration with the Department of Asian Studies and the Language Resource Center (A&S). Cornell is a Title VI National Resource Center (NRC) in Southeast Asian studies and works collaboratively with other Title VI centers across the U.S. to sustain and promote instruction in these languages to train future scholars and diplomats. The conference is funded partly through Title VI NRC funds.

The conference will serve as a capstone to a five-year pedagogy project led by the Southeast Asia Language Council (SEALC) with major funding from the Henry Luce Foundation, which is also supporting the conference. The project, “Professional and Materials Development to Strengthen Southeast Asian Language Instruction,” was aimed at improving both the quality and accessibility of language instruction. Through the course of the project language specific groups collaboratively developed assessment tools, pedagogical strategies and teaching materials.

Read the full story on the College of Arts and Sciences website.