Summer 2007
The National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland will launch the newest program in the president's National Security Language Initiative — an innovative summer program to teach Arabic and Chinese to more than 1,000 high school students at sites around the country. Called STARTALK, the program is jointly funded by the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Defense.
The STARTALK 2007 competition, administered by the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland, is awarding grants averaging $100,000 to 34 institutions in 22 states and the District of Columbia, for summer programs serving teachers and high school-age learners of Arabic and Chinese. Awards will go to public and private higher education institutions, schools, and community-based organizations. Collectively, the funded programs will seek to reach over 600 teachers and 1144 students, including over 400 participants in Arabic programs and over 1300 in Chinese.
STARTALK is the newest of the component programs of the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) announced by President Bush in January of 2006. The initiative seeks to expand and improve the teaching and learning of strategically important world languages that are not now widely taught in the US. Other programs under the NSLI umbrella include Title VI/Fulbright Hays programs of the US Department of Education, The National Security Education program of the National Defense University, and study abroad and exchange programs of the US Department of State.
