The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is a

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

cultural and educational exchange program which offers approximately 600 undergraduate or graduate level students from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

the opportunity to participate in an intensive language study abroad. This nationally competitive program funds students who study one of the 15 critical need foreign languages, and is part of the

National Security Language Initiative The National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) is a program introduced by United States President George W. Bush on January 5, 2006 at the U.S. University President's Summit to develop the foreign language skills of American students, especially ...

. The 15 critical languages include

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

Azerbaijani Azerbaijani may refer to: * Something of, or related to Azerbaijan * Azerbaijanis * Azerbaijani language See also * Azerbaijan (disambiguation) * Azeri (disambiguation) * Azerbaijani cuisine * Culture of Azerbaijan The culture of Azerbaijan ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the ...

, Chinese,

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesia ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

, Persian,

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

, Punjabi, Russian,

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

, Turkish and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
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. With an acceptance rate of less than 10%, the Critical Language Scholarship is one of the most competitive scholarships in the U.S. and the most prestigious language program for U.S. citizens.

Program administration

The program is administered b
American Councils for International Education
with awards approved by th
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

Eligibility requirements

Applicants to the program must be U.S. citizens enrolled in a U.S. degree-granting program at the undergraduate or graduate level at the time of application. Undergraduate students must have completed at least one year of general college course-work by the start date of the program. Other requirements are that the applicants should be in acceptable mental and physical health for which persons granted the scholarship are usually required to submit a satisfactory Medical Information Form and Physician’s Statement. The minimum age is 18 by the beginning of the CLS Program in the particular year. The scholarship is open to students in all disciplines, including business, engineering, law, medicine, sciences, and humanities. There is also no discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, or disability in choosing awardees.

Language levels and prerequisites

Beginner

Offered at all levels (Beginning, Advanced Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced). No previous study of the language, or less than one academic year of study or the equivalent: *

* Bangla/Bengali *

* Persian * Punjabi *

* Turkish *

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Intermediate

Requires at least one academic year of prior target language study or the equivalent (Advanced Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced): *

* Russian

Advanced

Requires at least two academic years of prior target language study or the equivalent (Intermediate and Advanced only) * Chinese *

CLS Language Levels and Terminology

* Beginning Level: No previous study of the language, or less than one academic year of study or the equivalent. * Advanced Beginning Level: At least one academic year of target language study or the equivalent. * Intermediate Level: At least two academic years of target language study or the equivalent. * Advanced Level: At least three academic years of target language study or the equivalent. The equivalent of 1 year of college-level language study entails but is not limited to: 1 summer of intensive language study, 2 semesters of study (audited or for credit), or 1 year of private tutoring. A typical academic year is 9 months (36 weeks). A typical language course is 3–5 hours per week or 108–180 hours per academic year of language instruction. Applicants who have completed the CLS Program may count each summer of participation as one year of language study. Applicants must choose to apply for only one language offered by the CLS Program.

Selection process

Award recipients will be selected on the basis of merit with consideration for: Academic record and potential to succeed in a rigorous academic setting; Ability to adapt to a different cultural environment; Diversity; Plan for continuation of study of the language; and Plan to use the language in future career.Although the exact number are not given, the acceptance rate for the program overall is generally less than 10% with only 631 of more than 5200 applicants receiving the scholarship in 2012 and 575 in 2011. http://www.clscholarship.org/index.php?p=news/2015/sayyestocls All applicants are initially read by two outside academic readers, and the top applications are reviewed by panels of academics and experts in the area and language. Applicants recommended for selection are forwarded to the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other natio ...

for final approval. After notification, selected participants will be required to complete a language evaluation. Selected applicants will be assigned to a CLS institute site by mid to late April based on language evaluation results along with information provided in the online application.

Program details

The program begins with a two-day pre-departure orientation in Washington, D.C. Immediately following the orientation program, students are flown to their respective locations where they delve into the intensive language programs. The program itself involves approximately 20 hours a week of formal language instruction. In addition, CLS participants engage in a variety of language enhancement activities, including conversation partners, guest lectures, film viewings, host family visits (some sites), and cultural excursions. Some institutes require students to take a language pledge, which requires students to speak in the target language at designated times. Upon completing the program, students are asked to provide feedback and participate in post-program language testing.

Grant benefits

All CLS Program costs are covered for participants including: travel to and from the student's U.S. home city and program location, a mandatory Washington, D.C., pre-departure orientation, applicable visa fees, room, board, group-based intensive language instruction, program-sponsored travel within country, and all entrance fees for CLS Program cultural enhancement activities.

References

Inline

General

* *{{cite web , url=http://exchanges.state.gov/academicexchanges/sli2.html , title=Critical Language Scholarship Program , publisher=Exchanges.state.gov , accessdate=2012-07-15 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915135910/http://exchanges.state.gov/academicexchanges/sli2.html , archivedate=2012-09-15

External links

Critical Language Scholarship Official Website

American Councils for International Education Website

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110308224319/http://connect.state.gov/group/cls Exchanges Connect Language education in the United States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs