Vargas Llosa

Second Regular Session Sixty-eighth General Assembly

STATE OF COLORADO

INTRODUCED
LLS NO. R12-0470.01 Jane Ritter x4342

SJR12-029

SENATE SPONSORSHIP
Williams S., Bacon, Spence

HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
Todd, Court, Hamner, Kerr A., Massey, Peniston, Schafer S., Solano

Senate Committees

House Committees

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 12-029 101 CONCERNING A WORLD LANGUAGE ROADMAP FORCOLORADO.

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WHEREAS, Colorado is being affected by increasing globalization and the resulting economic challenges and opportunities, especially as they impact preparing a workforce that can effectively compete in the 21st century; and WHEREAS, There is a well-documented, critical national requirement for high-level cultural knowledge and speakers of languages otherthan English, especially less commonly taught languages such as Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Farsi, and Korean, as well as Spanish, given Colorado's demographics; and WHEREAS, Empirical research from the Center for Applied Linguistics and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages has validated the cognitive, academic, and attitudinal benefits
Shading denotes HOUSEamendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment.

Capital letters indicate new material to be added to existing statute. Dashes through the words indicate deletions from existing statute.

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of developing proficiency in another language; and WHEREAS, The Senate of the United States and theColorado Board of Education each designated 2005 as the "Year of World Languages" to call attention to the importance of educating citizens to be fluent and literate in English and at least one other world language; and WHEREAS, The United States government has undertaken a number of world language initiatives, such as the National Security Language Initiative and activities funded by the departmentsof Defense, Education, and State and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and WHEREAS, The "Colorado Academic Standards for World Languages", adopted in December 2009 by the Colorado Board of Education and aligned with the national core content standards adopted by 44 states, calls for students graduating from high school to be proficient in a world language in addition to Englishand for Heritage Language speakers to academically develop their Heritage Language; and WHEREAS, A P-16 education system is central to responding effectively to the 21st century challenges to our economic and national security and ensuring the development of a workforce that possesses the cross-cultural and world language skills to compete globally; and WHEREAS, Colorado Heritage Language speakers,representing 123 languages, are a vital resource for our business, educational, and cultural communities; and WHEREAS, The number of Heritage Language speakers attending Colorado's K-12 public schools has increased dramatically, comprising 14.4% of the total K-12 enrollment in 2011 (123,002 English Language Learners out of 854,265 students according to the Colorado Department of Education), andrequiring innovative educational responses to their unique needs; and WHEREAS, In order to increase Colorado's competitive edge economically, it is critical that, in addition to ensuring that all students become proficient in English, Colorado also provide opportunities for students to learn a second world language or to develop their Heritage Language; and

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SJR12-029

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WHEREAS, The "Colorado Academic Standards for World Languages" and research on language acquisition acknowledge the importance of beginning education in a second language at an early age and continuing in an uninterrupted sequence of study over many years; and WHEREAS, Language immersion, where 50% or more of the...