Dear Mike, Phil, et al,
Greetings! Thanks for working to organize a discussion on language and CHAT. I'm one of those with a perennial interest in the topic. ;-)
Of course I've worked with a lot of school-based and school-linked programs on issues of second language acquisition and development, particularly in dual language programs (with a healthy dose of interest in home-school-community interactions issues) and so have some particular interests from that angle. It seems to me we'll have a number of intriguing and divergent as well as synergistic "objects" for a discussion framed under this general topic. ;-) How could it be otherwise?
Related to my interest is an ongoing sense that folks who look at the issues strictly from a language acquisition and development perspective, don't always take into account the perspectives, theories and approaches of multiculturalists (including issues of examining power relations, as well as multicultural content and purposes in learning activities) and neither of those groups, generally, seems to have much commerce with the learning and cognitive sciences theorists (though there has been some progress recently). And, then, of course, we have CHAT ;-) One thought for me is that CHAT could help serve an integrative function with regard to these others, no?
I guess we'll see.
In Peace,
K.
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