The University of California Consortium for Language Learning & Teaching is sponsoring a statewide colloquium on language proficiency at UC Berkeley on Feb. 6-7. Robert J. Blake, professor of Spanish at UC Davis and consortium director, and Rick Kern, associate professor of French at UC Berkeley and director of the Berkeley Language Center, are the co-directors and organizers of the event.

The February 2009 colloquium convenes distinguished speakers from different levels of academia, the California Department of Education, international companies and organizations, the press, and politics. The panelists will address language instruction at the primary, secondary and post-secondary levels, as well as the need for foreign language competence in the fabric of California society.

Participants include Barbara Bodine (former ambassador to Yemen), Rosemary Feal (executive director, Modern Language Association), Ray Clifford (president, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages), Claire Kramsch (professor, UC Berkeley), Duarte Silva (executive director, California Foreign Language Project), Yvonne Chan (member, California State Board of Education), Carmen Sigler (provost, San Jose State University), as well as others.

The format of the colloquium allows for ample discussion time among the panelists and also extended dialogue with colloquium attendees.

For registration information: https://uccllt.ucdavis.edu/events/WLPitCC/register.php

For more information about the colloquium or the UC Consortium for Language Learning & Teaching, please visit: http://uccllt.ucdavis.edu