The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is a

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

cultural and educational exchange program which offers approximately 500 undergraduate or graduate level students from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 for Youth (NSLI-Y) is a US Department of State ECA program launched in 2006 by President George W. Bush to develop the foreign language skills of American high school students in eight critical-need la ...

. The 15 critical languages are

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, Azerbaijani,

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 w ...

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

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 ** Indonesian ...

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, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, Portuguese,

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

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

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

. 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.

Languages Offered

Current Languages

As of 2024, CLS offers scholarship for study of the following languages (year of first offering in parentheses): *

(2006) *

(2007) *

(2006) *

(2011) *

(2010) *

(2007) *

(2007) * Portuguese (2019) *

(2007) *

(2016) *

(2006) *

(2006)

Previous Languages

As of 2024, CLS previously offered scholarships for study of the following languages: * Azerbaijani (2009-2024) * Bangla/Bengali (2006-2023) *

(2006-2022)

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 simply the 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 o ...

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 virtual pre-departure orientation in the weeks leading up to the program. Students are flown to their respective locations where they delve into the intensive language programs. The program itself involves approximately 15 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.

Program in Turkey

In 2022 and 2023, participants in the CLS Turkish Institute had 20 per week of class in groups of 4-5 students at the Tömer Institute in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, as well as 8 hours of required meetings with one-on-one language partners and an extra one-on-one session with their teachers. In addition, they had approximately one hour of homework each evening. Program-led excursions included

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

, locations around Ankara, and Cappadocia, though participants could travel on their own during free weekends with director approval.

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. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, 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.

OPI Scores

CLS participants are required to take an oral proficiency interview to measure language improvement over the summer. The scores from the interviews both before and after the program are shared with the students.

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* Blog Post
Reflections on My Experience as a Critical Language Scholar in Turkey
Language education in the United States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs