What is NCOLCTL?
NCOLCTL is the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages. It is an umbrella organization for national associations and individuals interested in less commonly taught languages.
What is a Less Commonly Taught Language or LCTL?
The less commonly taught languages includes all languages other than English and the commonly taught European languages of German, French and Spanish.
What does NCOLCTL do?
The premise behind the development of NCOLCTL was to develop a means by which “collective solutions to common problems” could be developed and to provide a voice for organizations and individuals in the field of less commonly taught languages. Toward this goal,NCOLCTL coordinates and conducts numerous projects. NCOLCTL provided funding to develop twenty-one language learning frameworks, databases of LCTL information and conducted research into the conditions and needs of the LCTLs. NCOLCTL was also instrumental in the creation of four national teachers organizations, and sponsors an annual conference on the less commonly taught languages.
Who belongs to NCOLCTL?
Currently NCOLCTL is comprised of eighteen language teacher associations and different induviduals in the United States and other parts of the world. These associations are national membership organizations, which represent either one language or a geographic language group. Each organization is represented in NCOLCTL through an Official Representative, who serves as the intermediary between the Associations and NCOLCTL. The officers of NCOLCTL are elected from and by the member organizations. For a complete list of the current organizational memberships, please visit the members page.
Where is NCOLCTL located?
NCOLCTL is headquartered at the Indiana University, Bloomington. It is located at Eigennmann Hall, Room 708, 1900 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47406. The Officers, Official Representatives and Associations are distributed among universities and schools throughout the United States.
When was NCOLCTL founded?
NCOLCTL was inaugurated in 1990 following a series of meetings organized by the NFLC, supported by grants from the Ford Foundation.
What are the future plans for NCOLCTL?
NCOLCTL plans to continue its work in focusing attention on shared solutions to common problems in the LCTLs. It will devote its efforts to strengthening individual LCTL language fields, as well as expanding the number and scope of language areas within its mandate. NCOLCTL will work to secure a place for the LCTL agenda in a comprehensive national language policy — a policy which treats all American language needs as interrelated and vital to our future prosperity. Finally, NCOLCTL is working to become self-supporting through the marketing of language services and products.
How can I get in contact with NCOLCTL?
If you would like additional information or have a question about NCOLCTL activities, you can send e-mail to Antonia Schleicher , the Executive Director. You can also contact the Council by writing to the following address:
NCOLCTL Secretariat
Eigennmann Hall, Room 708
1900 East 10th Street
Bloomington, IN 47406
Ph. (812) 856-4185
Fax. (812) 856-4189
Or you can email us at secretariat@ncolctl.org
Who can join NCOLCTL?
Presently, both American teacher associations representing a less commonly taught language, and individual LCTL instructors can become full members of NCOLCTL. The easiest way to join NCOLCTL is to visit the Become a Member page of this website and complete the appropriate application online.