The Southeast Asian Language Council (SEALC) granted major award from the Henry Luce Foundation

The Henry Luce Foundation has awarded a five-year grant (August-2019 to August-2024) of $1.1 million to the University of Wisconsin Foundation for the grant proposal, “Professional and Materials Development to Strengthen Southeast Asian Language Instruction,” a project submitted on behalf of the national organization, the Southeast Asian Language Council (SEALC). This project will professionalize the field of SE Asian language teaching in the U.S. by offering training workshops and materials development projects and by creating national standards, proficiency assessments, and instructional resources.

More broadly the objective of this project is to increase the expertise of instructors and create instructional and assessment materials for the following eight SE Asian languages: Burmese, Filipino, Hmong, Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Thai, and Vietnamese. The institutional stakeholders of SEALC include the Southeast Asia NRCs and non-NRC institutions with SE Asian language programs. The project will also support and coordinate language-related efforts at the national level by working with COTSEAL, SEASSI, language-specific organizations, the institutional stakeholders, and CORMOSEA to improve SE Asian language teaching programs nationally.

The proposed grant activities will specifically focus on the:1) development of instructional materials, including those for heritage learners, 2) creation of materials for distance learners and flipped classes by expanding the use of technology,  3) awarding of summer stipends for teachers to develop curricular materials, 4) strengthening language-specific organizations, 5) facilitating communication among stakeholders, 6) coordination with CORMOSEA to ensure open access to SEALC-developed materials in the SE Asia digital library; and 7) support for the COTSEAL website and annual conference.

Additional information on this project can be obtained by writing Ellen Rafferty at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, U. Wisconsin, Madison, email:  emraffer@wisc.edu.