Welcome to STARTALK!

Welcome to the STARTALK website, home to information on teaching and learning Arabic, Chinese, Dari, Hindi, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu. The purpose of this site is to share information on implementing programs as well as to share resources on curriculum design, instructional materials, assessment tools, and useful links.

News & Announcements

Host An International Exchange Student

The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) invites you to make a difference by hosting an ECA sponsored international high school exchange student this fall. Learn more at http://exchanges.state.gov/hosting.

New York Times Article on Bilingualism

"Why Bilinguals Are Smarter", link to New York Times article, March 23, 2012: the benefits of bilingualism.

2012 STARTALK Summer Programs

The list of STARTALK 2012 Programs is now available. Use this list to browse all STARTALK 2012 programs. You may also filter the list by state and language, and sort by organization name or start date.

STARTALK: Resources for Chinese Language Learners and Teachers

Article by STARTALK Central's Guiling (Gloria) Hu, PhD and Shuhan C. Wang, PhD • View on Mandarin Institute's website

STARTALK on Higher Education Today

	An interview with a former STARTALK student and NFLC Deputy Director Shuhan Wang on Higher Education Today. • View on Vimeo • View on YouTube

STARTALK 2012 Proposal Notifications in February

STARTALK anticipates it will notify 2012 program applicants of their status by the end of February, 2012.

List of STARTALK 2012 Programs in March

A list of all 2012 STARTALK Programs will be available at http://startalk.umd.edu by March 16, 2012. Please visit our website at that time to see a full list of programs. If you would like to view the list of 2011 programs, visit http://startalk.umd.edu/programs/search?sort=name&year=2011.

STARTALK 2012 June 1st Start Date

Based on the number of questions about the June 1st start date for programs, we discussed this issue and your concerns with the NSA staff. Face-to-face segments of the program cannot begin before June 1st, but on-line sessions, curriculum and lesson planning, and instructor training workshops can occur prior to the June 1 date, provided that the countersigned award from NSA is in place.

STARTALK 2011 Spring Meeting Presentations

The presentations from the STARTALK Albuquerque Pre-program conference have been posted in the Outreach section of the STARTALK website. Please click here to view the agenda and presentations.

Beyond STARTALK

Many opportunities exist where you can continue learning and develop strong language and culture skills. Several provide financial support. For a list, visit: www.nflc.org/beyond-startalk

STARTALK 2011 Summer Programs

The searchable STARTALK 2011 Program Listings are now available. Use this list to view all STARTALK 2011 programs. You may also filter the list by state and language, and sort by organization name or start date.

STARTALK Research and Publications Section

	The Teachers We Need Transforming World Language Education in the United States Ingold, C. W., & Wang, S. C. (2010). College Park, MD: National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland. Download This white paper serves as a roadmap for government agencies and educators in their efforts to transform world language education and the teacher supply system. It draws on data from a range of resources, including leading professionals and organizations in world languages and certification, the federally-funded STARTALK project, a national survey of states, and international comparison data on top industrialized countries and emerging powers. Based on these data, this paper demonstrates not only the changing need for linguistic and cultural competency for the global age, but also the world language education gap that has developed in the United States over the past few decades. In order to develop globally competitive language education, the United States must adopt a new agenda that is inclusive, nationally-advocated, state-implemented, and results-oriented. The Teachers We Need Resource Guide to Developing Linguistic and Cultural Competency in the United States This Resource Guide to Developing Linguistic and Cultural Competency in the United States is a companion to the White Paper, The Teachers We Need: Transforming World Language Education in the United States. The guide includes a variety of resources to support American educators in implementing effective World Language education and transforming the World Language teacher supply system to meet 21st century needs. Among the resources that the guide brings together are summaries of research studies demonstrating the benefits of world language study, survey results, examples of best practices, and established standards and assessment tools specific to the field of world language education. Also included are tools for advocacy and information regarding examples of support for language students, teachers, and program heads. Download

The Teachers We Need
Transforming World Language Education in the United States

Ingold, C. W., & Wang, S. C. (2010). College Park, MD: National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland.

Download

This white paper serves as a roadmap for government agencies and educators in their efforts to transform world language education and the teacher supply system. It draws on data from a range of resources, including leading professionals and organizations in world languages and certification, the federally-funded STARTALK project, a national survey of states, and international comparison data on top industrialized countries and emerging powers. Based on these data, this paper demonstrates not only the changing need for linguistic and cultural competency for the global age, but also the world language education gap that has developed in the United States over the past few decades. In order to develop globally competitive language education, the United States must adopt a new agenda that is inclusive, nationally-advocated, state-implemented, and results-oriented.

The Teachers We Need
Resource Guide to Developing Linguistic and Cultural Competency in the United States

This Resource Guide to Developing Linguistic and Cultural Competency in the United States is a companion to the White Paper, The Teachers We Need: Transforming World Language Education in the United States. The guide includes a variety of resources to support American educators in implementing effective World Language education and transforming the World Language teacher supply system to meet 21st century needs. Among the resources that the guide brings together are summaries of research studies demonstrating the benefits of world language study, survey results, examples of best practices, and established standards and assessment tools specific to the field of world language education. Also included are tools for advocacy and information regarding examples of support for language students, teachers, and program heads.

Download

STARTALK Presentations from ACTFL 2010 Now Available

The STARTALK presentations from the ACTFL 2010 Conference are now available at http://startalk.umd.edu/2010/presentations/ACTFL.

2010 Sample Planning and Classroom Materials

Sample materials collected from 2010 STARTALK Student and Teacher programs are now available online. These materials include both non-language specific and target language materials. The sample materials include:

Curricula
Sample units
Sample lesson plans
Course schedules
Assessment tools
Materials developed for the classroom

Additionally, STARTALK has compiled lists of language specific materials including language specific and pedagogical articles, text and reference books, cultural and language-learning websites, authentic materials and media, professional organizations, and community and heritage organizations. These resource lists are available as PDFs for viewing and downloading at http://startalk.umd.edu/language-materials/.

STARTALK Resource Lists of Language Specific Materials

STARTALK has compiled lists of language specific materials including language specific and pedagogical articles, text and reference books, cultural and language-learning websites, authentic materials and media, professional organizations, and community and heritage organizations.

These resource lists are available as PDFs for viewing and downloading at http://startalk.umd.edu/language-materials/.

See all news items