Michigan State University Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR).(NEWS FROM SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS)

CLEAR's mission is to promote the teaching and learning of foreign languages in the United States. Projects focus on materials development, professional development training, and foreign language research.

MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT

Selected Products

The list below comprises just some of our free and low-cost materials for language educators. Be sure to visit our website occasionally for updates and announcements on new products: http://clear.msu.edu.

* NEW! Introductory Business German (CD-ROM)--This CD-ROM provides a condensed, highly-focused set of activities intended for use by business professionals who conduct business with Germans and German companies and wish to learn more about the German business and economics environment.

* NEW! Celebrating the World's Languages: A Guide to Creating a World Languages Day Event (guide)--This publication provides a step-by-step guide to planning "World Languages Day," a university event for high school students designed to stimulate interest in learning languages and to highlight the importance of cultural awareness.

* La phonetique francaise (CD-ROM)--This cross-platform multimedia program consists of interactive lessons that can be used by French teachers to learn how to teach pronunciation, or by advanced students working independently.

* CLEAR's Rich Internet Applications initiative has been underway for over a year. RIA is a research and development lab where our programmers are working on free tools that language teachers can use to create online language teaching materials--or have their students create activities themselves!

** NEW! Broadcasts (create your own podcasts)

** Audio Dropboxes (put a dropbox in any web page; students' recordings get put into your dropbox automatically)

** Conversations (record prompts for students to do virtual interviews and conversations)

** Mashups (combine media elements to create a new resource for language teaching)

** Viewpoint (record or upload videos to link from other sites or embed inside your own web pages)

** SMILE (tool for creating interactive online exercises)

* MIMEA: Multimedia Interactive Modules for Education and Assessment (German, Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian; online video clips and activities)

Coming Soon!

* More Rich Internet Applications

* Introductory Business Chinese

CONFERENCES

CLEAR exhibits at local, regional, and national conferences year-round. We hope to see you at ACTFL, CALICO, Central States, MiWLA, NCOLCTL and other conferences.

UPCOMING CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

* MiWLA: Lansing, MI, October 23-24, 2008

* Session: World Languages Day: Five Years of Free Fun!

* Session: Online Language Portfolios: A Dynamic Display of Learning

* ACTFL: Orlando, FL, November 21-23, 2008

* Session: The Technologies Your Students Use (and that you should, too)

* Session: Teaching Culture in FL Classrooms: Video Interviews and Critical Incidents

* Session: Opening Minds to the World through a 'World Languages Day'

NEWSLETTER

CLEAR News is a biyearly publication covering FL teaching techniques, research, and materials. Contact the CLEAR office to join the mailing list or check it out on the Web at http://clear.msu.edu/newsletter/.