Exploring the US Language Flagship Program

Professional Competence in a Second Language by Graduation

Edited by Dianna Murphy, Karen Evans-Romaine

Publication date:

07 November 2016

Publisher

Multilingual Matters

Dimensions:

234x156mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781783096091

A number of reports in the US have highlighted the country’s need for improved second language skills for both national security and economic competitiveness. The Language Flagship program, launched in 2002, aims to raise expectations regarding language proficiency levels at the post-secondary level and to address structural gaps in the curricula of many L2 programs. This federally funded program provides opportunities for US undergraduate students in any specialization to reach a professional level of competence in a targeted second language by graduation. This volume highlights innovative practices that enable students to achieve this goal – even those with no exposure to the second language prior to university. This book explores the rationale and history of the federal program and showcases models and strategies of existing Flagship programs.

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Contributors

Karen Evans-Romaine and Dianna Murphy: Introduction

1. Michael Nugent and Robert Slater: The Language Flagship: Creating Expectations and Opportunities for Professional-Level Language Learning in Undergraduate Education

2. Dianna Murphy, Karen Evans-Romaine, Valerie Anishchenkova and Zhuo Jing-Schmidt: Laying the Groundwork: Programmatic Models in US Language Flagship Programs

3. Sandra Freels, Olesya Kisselev and Anna Alsufieva: Adding Breadth to the Undergraduate Curriculum: Flagship Approaches to Interdisciplinary Language Learning

4. Peter John Glanville: The Road Through Superior: Building Learner Independence

5. Victoria Hasko, Robert Moser, Fernanda Guida, Mary Elizabeth Hayes and Viviane Klen Alves: Maximizing Oral Proficiency Development via Telecollaborative Partnerships in the Portuguese Flagship Program

6. Sharon Bain and Madeline K. Spring: Creating Collaborative Communities through Online Cafés

7. Olga Kagan and Cynthia Martin: Heritage Language Learners in Flagship Programs: Motivation, Language Proficiency and Intercultural Communicative Competence

8. Dan Davidson, Nadra Garas and Maria Lekic: Assessing Language Proficiency and Intercultural Development in the Overseas Immersion Context

9. Samuel Eisen: Overseas Internships in Advanced to Professional-Level Language Acquisition

10. Mahmoud Al-Batal and Christian Glakas: Beyond Proficiency Gains: Assessing the Academic, Cultural and Professional Impact of the Flagship Experience on Alumni

11. Thomas J. Garza: Raise the Flag(ship)! Creating Hybrid Language Programs on the Flagship Model

Karen Evans-Romaine and Dianna Murphy: Conclusion

Appendix A

Appendix B

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) enthusiastically endorses and supports the goals of the Language Flagship initiative to develop and recognize the professional language proficiency of our nation’s future leaders. Language Flagship programs are a national model for establishing proficiency outcomes, designing instruction to target benchmarks, and systematically assessing progress towards those targets. The chapters contained in this volume examine the challenges, complexities, opportunities, and successes of the Language Flagship Initiative’s innovations for language instruction in post-secondary education.