STARTALK

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STARTALK
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National Security Language Initiative

• A national plan to increase the number of
  Americans learning critical need foreign
  languages such as Chinese
• Collaboration among various government agencies
  to provide programs beginning in early childhood

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NSLI Players

• Department of Education students, teachers, and
  government workers
• Department of State high school, undergraduate
  and graduate students to study abroad
• Department of Defense advanced instruction in
  critical languages in colleges
• ODNI STARTALK

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What is STARTALK?

• Summer programs in critical need languages
• for teachers and students
• Summer 2007 Pilot Year
• Arabic and Chinese language study for 400 high
  school students
• Professional Development opportunities for 400
  teachers of Arabic and Chinese

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Professional Development Goals

• Build infrastructure in critical languages within
  the US
• Increase the number and expertise of qualified
  teachers in Arabic and Chinese
• Provide training opportunities that lead toward
  certification

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Summer 2007 Pilot Teacher Programs

• STARTALK will award grants to existing
  Professional Development programs that
• increase the number and expertise of Arabic and
  Chinese language teachers
• facilitate prospective teachers progress toward
  state licensure
• serve pre-service, public, private, and heritage
  language teachers as well as university faculty
  or assistants

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Professional Development Priorities

• Meet certification requirements through
  credit-bearing programs
• Praxis I examination prep
• Provide relevant courses
• Blend theory and practice

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Professional Development Target Audiences

• In-service teachers
• renewal of certification
• Pre-service teachers
• Praxis and basic pedagogy and applied
  linguistics courses

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Institutional Eligibility for Teacher Programs

• Organizations must demonstrate
• evidence of success in previous years for
  existing summer institutes or courses
• curriculum geared toward enabling Arabic and/or
  Chinese language teachers to gain or improve
  linguistic or pedagogical skills
• 3. courses are linked to state certification or
  licensure requirements

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Summer 2007 Pilot Student Programs

• STARTALK will award grants to existing summer
  programs that
• provide students with meaningful experiences to
  develop and improve their linguistic and cultural
  competence in Arabic and/or Chinese
• offer credit to students for their language
  proficiency and opportunity to continue their
  study
• serve all high school students from different
  backgrounds and language abilities in Arabic
  and/or Chinese

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Institutional Eligibility for Student
Programs

• Applicants must demonstrate
• evidence of success in previous years for
  existing summer foreign language programs
• 2. the capability to offer meaningful Arabic
  and/or Chinese summer experiences for high school
  students in a safe and culturally rich
  environment

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For More Information

• startalk_at_nflc.org
• www.nflc.org/projects