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MLA-report-relevant USG initiatives: An update

MLA-report-relevant USG initiatives: An update. Scott McGinnis Defense Language Institute-Washington Office. Transforming academic programs. Reform of current status quo – “Higher level” literature tenured faculty vs. “lower level” non-tenure track language instructors

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MLA-report-relevant USG initiatives: An update

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  1. MLA-report-relevant USG initiatives: An update Scott McGinnis Defense Language Institute-Washington Office

  2. Transforming academic programs • Reform of current status quo – “Higher level” literature tenured faculty vs. “lower level” non-tenure track language instructors • New goal of translingual/trans-cultural competence • “Content from the beginning and language to the end” • Extra-departmental “partners” • Importance of language acquisition specialists IN language departments • Strengthening demand for language competence within university curricula

  3. The National Security Language Initiative (1) • Announced January 2006 • Fourteen separate programs (some already existing) • Four participating Cabinet-level agencies: • Department of Defense • Department of Education • Department of State • Office of the Director of National Intelligence

  4. The National Security Language Initiative (2) • Three broad goals: • Expand the number of Americans mastering critical need languages and start at a younger age • Increase the number of advanced-level speakers of foreign languages, with an emphasis on critical needs languages • Increase the number of foreign language teachers and the resources for them • Primary focus on Arabic, Central Asian, Chinese, Indic, Korean, Persian, Russian, and Turkic languages

  5. National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) - Programs for Grades K-12 • The Language Flagship - DoD • STARTALK - ODNI

  6. The Language Flagship • Moving increasingly toward a K-16 model (cf. original post-K-12 and post-baccalaureate design) • Common goal across programs of bringing graduates of program to level of professional language and cultural proficiency • Various opportunities for financial aid and post-graduate employment within the federal government • www.thelanguageflagship.org

  7. The Language Flagship (DoD) • 10 languages or language groups • Currently 28 domestic centers (Russian just added – University of Wisconsin) • 3 K-16 programs • Nine overseas centers • New report issued on 2 March, What Business Wants: Language Needs in the 21st Century

  8. STARTALK • Initial focus on high school students and prospective and current teachers of Chinese (and Arabic) • Long-term (five-year) plan calls for expanding to five additional languages and extending program pipeline to pre-secondary level • http://startalk.umd.edu

  9. STARTALK • 2009: 125 programs (77 student, 48 teacher) in 34 states in 7 languages • 2010: 134 programs (75 student, 51 teacher, 8 combination) in 42 states in 9 languages – ~70 programs K-8 • 2009 enrollments: 4455 students, 1193 teachers • 2010 projected enrollments: ~5800 students, ~1500 teachers

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