The Language Flagship began in late 2000 as a small pilot project to challenge a few U.S. universities to build programs of advanced language education. The first Flagship grants were awarded in 2002 to pioneering institutions. The challenge was great: create advanced programs of language study and graduate students with professional proficiency. The languages chosen were Korean, Arabic, Russian, and Chinese.
The first Flagship programs were designed for post-baccalaureate students. Programs were naturally small — entering students had to have some background in a Flagship language. Most students spent one year at a U.S. Flagship Center immersed in language study, followed by an intensive study and internship at an Overseas Center. Graduates enter the workforce armed with master’s degrees, cultural experience, and professional level proficiency in a challenging language.
The goal of The Language Flagship is not only to graduate students at a professionally proficient level of language but also to “push the model” down to elementary, middle, and high schools. The program aims for students to enter college with an established and measurable skill in a second language. The integration of language skills into K-12 education is vital to our capacity to educate a citizenry prepared to address the nation’s well-being in the 21st century.
The Language Flagship views itself as a leader in the national effort to address language education. As a result, beginning in 2005, The Language Flagship supported three groundbreaking K-12 Flagship programs. These programs provide national models of articulated curricula designed to graduate high school students at the advanced level of proficiency.
In 2006 The Language Flagship introduced undergraduate Flagship programs at all of its Flagship Centers. By doing so, the Flagship model addresses the needs of students around the nation who are motivated to gain professional proficiency in language during their undergraduate studies.
The goals of The Language Flagship are ambitious. We seek to empower a small but rapidly expanding group of innovators to develop and implement new models of undergraduate language learning and to diffuse these models throughout higher education. Through our efforts and those of other critical federal, state, and local programs, we aim to lead a national movement that will impact students throughout the nation.