Sat Apr 5, 2025

Disrupting the Monolingual Bias: Teacher Advocacy during Turbulent Political Times

Dr.Lillian Ardell, founder of Language Matters

Location: Bilingual/ESL Association of the Metroplex, Dallas TX

Mon Mar 24, 2025

Plenary Talk "The Power of Language: How the Codes We Use to Think, Speak, and Live Transform Our Minds"

Presenter: Dr. Viorica Marian, Endowed Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University

Location: Bilingualism Matters Symposium on March 24, 2025 in Edinburgh.

Jan 2025

Myths about Childhood Bilingualism at La Scuola Italiana

Presenter: Dr. Sunny Park-Johnson

BMC Expert Sunny Park-Johnson lead a team of three BMC members for a featured talk at La Scuola Italiana on Myths about Childhood Bilingualism, in mid-January 2025.

Sat Sep 21, 2024

"Español en Chicago" Book Release at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture

Presenter: Dr. Kim Potowski

Wed Jan 31, 2024

"The Power of Language" at DePaul College of Education.

Presenter: Dr. Viorica Marian

Thur Oct 19, 2023

Talk for Bilingual Parent Group - Back of the Yards College Prep High School

Presenter: Dr. Lillian Ardell

Dr. Lillian Ardell (Founder of Language Matters, LLC) gave a talk at the Back of the Yards College Prep to the Bilingual Parent Committee (PAC) as a member of BMC. It was a hit - the coordinator was really grateful and the parents left with some empowering messages about their own bilingualism and how to support it in their children. She touched on inter-generational language loss and ways to prevent it going forward.

Tue Oct 17, 2023

BMC Annual Chapter Meeting

Presenter: Nicole Russo-Ponsaran

Annual meeting of the Bilingualism Matters Chicago membership. Meeting minutes available here.

Sat Apr 23, 2023

Workshop: Understanding and Reducing Accent Bias

Presenter: Dr. Devyani Sharma

Plenary speaker Dr. Devyani Sharma (Queen Mary University of London) will discuss her work examining biases against regional and second-language accents in Britain, discussing effective interventions for reducing such biases. This will be followed by a panel of Northwestern University clinician-scientists discussing the implications of such work for pronunciation modification programs. Sponsored by the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.

Fri Sep 9, 2022

The Mental Acrobatics of Being Bilingual

Presenter: Matt Goldrick

Public talk at the Taste of Science Chicago

Thur Jun 16, 2022

Casa Central Health Fair

1335 N. California Ave, Chicago, IL

Thur Jun 2, 2022

Distinguished Lecturer in Multilingualism and Language Learning

Julie Sedivy. Writer and Language Scientist. Author of Memory Speaks: On Losing and Reclaiming Language and Self.

Norris University Center, McCormick Auditorium, 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208

Click here to view the video recording of this event

Sat Mar 26, 2022

Voices in Harmony: Bilingualism Matters for Everyone

Presenters: Kim Potowski, Gigi Luk & Carmen Martinez-Roldan

Location: Online Event

Bilingualism Matters Center of the University of South Carolina

Fri Oct 8, 2021

How learning a second language shapes the mind and brain

Presenter: Dr. Ashley Chung-Fat-Yim, Northwestern University

Location: Online Event

The German International School

Fri Mar 12, 2021

Distinguished Lecturer in Multilingualism and Language Learning

Presenter: Lourdes Ortega, Professor of Linguistics, Georgetown University

Location: Online Event

Click here to view the video recording of this event

Thur Dec 10, 2020

Los beneficios de ser bilingüe

Presenter: Dr. Perla B. Gámez

Location: Online Event

Galileo Scholastic Academy of Math and Science, Parent Bilingual Advisory Committee Meeting

Fri Oct 16, 2020

The Benefits of Home Language Maintenance

Location: Online Event

This webinar will discuss why it is crucial for bilingual children to continue to use their home language while they are learning English.

Fri Oct 9, 2020

The Power of Dual-Language Education

Location: Online Event

This webinar will discuss how dual-language programs contribute to both linguistic and academic achievement advantages for children.

Tue Sep 22, 2020

Bilingualism Matters Research Symposium 2020 (BMRS2020)

Presenter: Professor Judith Kroll

Location: Online Event

BMRS2020 is an annual interdisciplinary research conference organised by the Bilingualism Matters (BM) network and open to researchers at any stage of their career, irrespective of their affiliation to Bilingualism Matters. BMRS2020 forms part of a larger Bilingualism Matters Conference, featuring training events and general network meeting, which are exclusive to BM network members and partners. The conference was scheduled to take place on September 22nd 2020, in Krakow, Poland, but due to COVID-19 disruptions the symposium is being moved online.

Thur May 7, 2020

Learning two languages: Beyond myths and towards best practices

Presenter: Adriana Weisleder

Location: Bilingualism Advisory Committee at Namaste Charter School

Many children in the US grow up exposed to more than one language. Parents, healthcare providers, and early childhood educators have many important questions about potential risks and benefits of bilingualism and how to support language development in dual language learners. Attitudes about bilingualism are often based on myths and misinterpretations, rather than scientific evidence. In this presentation, I will separate myths from evidence and present findings that address some of the most common questions about early bilingual development. We will discuss how parents can help support successful bilingual development, as well as some of the challenges involved. We will also discuss considerations for identification of language delays in multilingual children.

Click here to view the video recording of this event

Fri Mar 6, 2020
4.00pm

¡Hola Margarita! The interplay of Spanish and English and how to determine difference versus disorder in bilingual individuals

In the field of Speech-Language Pathology we are charged with the assessment of the communication skills of culturally and linguistically diverse individuals. When bilingual Spanish-English speaking children are evaluated, how can we determine whether the errors observed are rooted in disorder or are indicative of differences caused by the interplay of their two languages? Speech and language disorders must be found to be present in both of a child’s languages for a disorder to truly exist. How does disorder manifest in Spanish- English speakers? While legal guidelines and culturally responsive practices dictate that evaluation be completed in both of the child’s languages, the reality is often less than ideal.

Wed Feb 19, 2020

It’s electric! What we know about language learning from brain research

Presenter: Kara Morgan-Short

Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages – Bilingual Education 45th Annual Convention. Lisle, IL

Mon Dec 2, 2019
3.00pm

Tue Sep 10, 2019

Bilingualism Matters: Facts and Myths about Bilingual Language Development

Presentation at the System Wide Children's Services Meeting of the Chicago Public Library.
Topics covered include:

  • What is Bilingualism?
  • Facts and myths about bilingual language development
  • Strategies to promote language and literacy development in children exposed to more than one language

Tue Mar 19, 2019
5.30pm