EAST LANSING, Mich. — Grants from two federal agencies to Michigan State University and the Lansing and Dearborn public school districts that will help more students learn Chinese and Arabic were announced today by university, agency and school leaders. The federal government considers both languages are essential to the nation’s security and economic competitiveness.

Speaking at the announcement today were MSU Provost Kim Wilcox; Gail McGinn, U.S. deputy undersecretary of defense for plans; Raymond Simon, U.S. deputy secretary of education; U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers; E. Sharon Banks, Lansing school superintendent; and John Artis, Dearborn school superintendent.

The U.S. Department of Education announced that the Lansing and Dearborn school districts have each received grants under the Foreign Language Assistance Program for K-12 programs in Chinese and Arabic. The program provides grants to establish, improve or expand innovative foreign language programs for elementary and secondary school students.

• The Lansing School District received an $801,556 three-year grant. The grant will fund the expansion of a program in Mandarin Chinese at Post Oak Elementary School (K-5). About 150 students will take part in an elementary Chinese immersion learning experience (K-2) and about 350 students will take part in Chinese language learning and cultural experiences (K-5). Currently, the program serves 32 full-day preschool students. The expansion represents a commitment to provide Lansing students with a Chinese immersion education that will eventually span from preschool to 12th grade. The children in the immersion program will spend half the day in a traditional Western-style, English-speaking classroom and the other half in a Chinese immersion language and culture classroom. The children will learn letters, words, songs, dances, writing and drawing in both languages. The Post Oak program in Mandarin Chinese is offered in collaboration with the MSU U.S.-China Center, the MSU Confucius Institute and the Hong Kong-based Sun Wah Foundation.
  
• Dearborn Public Schools received an $885,975 three-year grant. The grant will fund the expansion of an Arabic language program at Iris Becker Elementary School (K-5) and the creation of a program at Salina Intermediate School (grades 4-8). The programs will provide direct language instruction and seamless movement from one proficiency level to the next. Certified and highly qualified Arabic language teachers play the primary roles in instruction, while classroom teachers collaborate and support the integration of foreign language across content area instruction. MSU faculty and Dearborn teaching staff will work together to integrate technology in instruction and learning, create Arabic-language curriculum and assessments, offer peer coaching, provide professional development for teachers, foster community partnerships and establish a parent lending library.

The U.S. Department of Defense announced a multiyear, multimillion-dollar grant as part of the National Flagship Language Initiative sponsored by the National Security Education Program. The grant will help establish a linked program of instruction in Arabic that begins in elementary school and progresses through the university level. MSU will partner with Dearborn Public Schools in this effort.

The National Flagship Language Initiative represents the first major partnership between the federal government and higher education to implement a national system of programs designed to produce advanced language competency in languages critical to the nation’s security. The interest in creating flagship programs in languages follows President George Bush’s announcement of the National Security Language Initiative last January.

MSU’s involvement in the initiative is directed by Susan M. Gass, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Languages and co-director of MSU’s Center for Language Education and Research (a U.S. Department of Education Title VI Language Resource Center), and Margo Glew, coordinator of MSU’s Less Commonly Taught Languages Program.

With the announcement of the multiyear grant (approximately $1 million will be spent in the first year), MSU faculty members and Dearborn teachers will now form a curriculum development team that will align the curriculum to performance-based goals and strengthen the connections between elementary, middle school, high school and university programs in Arabic. In addition, assessment tools will be developed that will identify benchmarks and indicators of “good progress” for the program. A professional development program will be formed, along with a certification program for K-12 Arabic teachers that meets Michigan Department of Education requirements. A special component of the grant will be the creation of an MSU “flagship student” program that will eventually provide university scholarships for 40 Dearborn students with advanced Arabic skills.

MSU will expand and strengthen its own Arabic language program, develop a related study abroad program, and establish on- and off-campus activities to support Arabic language development.

"The National Arabic Language Flagship Program will bring together MSU's expertise in language education and Dearborn Public Schools’ extensive experience in teaching Arabic," says Gass.

“The university has a long-established reputation, through its Center for Language Education and Research, for helping K-12 teachers in Michigan and across the country increase their capacity as language educators. In addition, MSU boasts a number of faculty experts in the area of second language studies whose nationally recognized research on foreign language learning and teaching will be brought to bear on the program. The MSU-Dearborn partnership will undoubtedly result in a national model of K-16 education in languages essential for the country's security and economic competitiveness."

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