[EDLING:628] Eastern European Languages: Summer Learning Opportunities

[Francis M. Hult]

The Arizona State University Critical Languages Institute (CLI)
(http://www.asu.edu/cli) offers annual summer language courses for less-
commonly taught languages, follow-up three-week immersion practicums at our
affiliated institutions in the target countries, and a semester or annual
study abroad program at our partner universities.

This summer we will offer introductory and intermediate Armenian as well
as introductory Albanian, Bosnia{c/n}/Croatian/Serbian (BCS), Macedonian,
Polish, and Tatar at Arizona State University main campus (Tempe, AZ), May
31 to July 29, 2005, with summer practicums in August and study abroad
opportunities in the academic year 2005/6.

In the summer of 2006, we plan to add Uzbek as well as intermediate BCS and
Macedonian to the CLI language offerings.

CLI eight-credit-hour intensive courses come with a generous tuition waiver
that generates more than a thousand dollars in savings for each enrolling
CLI student. CLI students registering before May 1 pay only a modest $300
application fee (CLI fees are scheduled to increase to $400 on May 1). Both
the length and content of our courses enable FLAS, Fulbright, and other
fellowships support funds to be used by graduate students pursuing summer
language training in the CLI. A limited number of fellowships are available
for Armenian and Tatar. We have simplified the CLI application procedures.
Just go to http://www.asu.edu/clas/reesc/cli/preonreg05.htm and register.

As a regular feature of its summer session, the CLI also features topical
workshops and one-on-one tutorials for those preparing grant proposals for
study and research abroad.  For dozens of CLI graduates, these tutorials
have yielded remarkable success in NSEP, Fulbright, Marshall, and other
fellowship competitions. Other CLI graduates have now joined the U.S. Foreign
Service or have taken international positions with major corporations.

The following features make CLI summer programming competitive with the
finest intensive summer language institutes nationally:

   1. Sound methodological background
   2. Utilization of the state-of-the art instructional technology
   3. Highly qualified language personnel
   4. Rich cultural content
   5. Rigorous and comprehensive oversight and quality control
   6. Strong ties with institutions in target countries

We have been using the Interagency Language Roundtable scale with our
introductory courses bringing the most talented CLI participants to level 1+
in reading with other skills remaining between 1 and 1+ and our intermediate
courses reaching level 2 in reading with other skills remaining between 1+
and 2.

Our Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian course features a strong on-line component
(http://www.public.asu.edu/~dsipka/syl1.htm), and its entirely on-line
version will be made available to our students as a refresher intended to
alleviate the problem of retention in the period between the introductory and
the intermediate course. A sample lesson one can be perused at:
http://www.asu.edu/clas/reesc/scr101, using the password 'scr1'. The full
course is available at http://cli.la.asu.edu/scr101 - student's ASU id
number is required to log in. All CLI courses will follow suit shortly and we
will keep adding new hybrid components for our courses through our server
services page: http://cli.la.asu.edu.

CLI faculty are drawn from highly qualified linguists with years of teaching
experience and a strong record of publications in the field (see
http://www.public.asu.edu/~dsipka as an example). Short information about
our instructors and their syllabi are available at:
http://www.asu.edu/clas/reesc/cli/ltrain.htm.

In addition to the cultural content (complementing traditional grammar,
vocabulary, communicative skills, and linguistic norms) of CLI courses, CLI
summer sessions include the annual lecture series, movie showings, and
social events rich in cultural content. Take a look at some pictures of our
classes and social events (visiting ethnic restaurants) at:
http://www.public.asu.edu/~dsipka/sylpct.htm.

Finally, we have established partnerships with key institutions in target
countries securing the most favorable summer practicum and study abroad
arrangements for our students.

If you have any further questions about our courses, please do not hesitate
to contact us at cli at asu.edu or by phone at 480-965-7706.

Sincerely,



Danko Sipka
Research Associate Professor and Acting Director
Critical Languages Institute (http://cli.la.asu.edu) /until May 15, 2005/
Professor of Slavic Languages
Department of Languages and Literatures /from August 16, 2005/
Arizona State University
E-mail: Danko.Sipka at asu.edu
Web: http://www.public.asu.edu/~dsipka

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