Dr. Roger W. Anderson, Assistant Professor of French
Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center
Bilingualism is a life-enriching, intellect-expanding capability. It is also critical for the continued success of the United States, as the number of international challenges in the 21st century only increases.
ACTFL recognized this in a 2014 Position Statement on Global Competence, writing:
The military identifies its mission balanced between defense/peace-keeping around the world and building connections with citizens in areas facing unrest or war; training of service personnel includes cultural sensitivity, understanding of diverse perspectives, and strategies for communicating with local populations speaking other languages.
OFLA members’ students should be aware of the five opportunities for world language learning pursuant to national service. For #2-5, K-12 instructors should put them on students’ radars now.
For high school students, this State Department program provides merit-based scholarships for summer/ academic year-long immersion abroad experiences to learn one of 8 critically needed languages with all expenses paid. No prior language study is required.
Deadlines are usually early November.
Open to undergraduate students interested in national security careers, this scholarship sends students abroad for 8-10 weeks of summer language and culture training in one of 13 languages deemed critical to national security with all expenses paid.
For students who cannot travel internationally, the new CLS Spark program does the same, but online only. The deadline is usually mid-November. Some, but not all, languages have prerequisites.
Open to undergraduate students interested in national security careers, this scholarship allows applicants to assemble their own abroad experience for language/ culture learning purposes with all expenses paid. Upon return, scholarship recipients are required to perform service to the federal government in some capacity – and receive priority status for such internship/ employment competitions.
Programs of two or more semesters are preferred, up to $30,000 in expenses.
The deadline is usually late January.
- Defense Language Institute (DLI)-Foreign Language Center
For U.S. military personnel, the Defense Language Institute- Foreign Language Center in Monterey (California) has trained U.S. military personnel since 1946 in various world languages and cultures. Run through the U.S. Army, DLI hosts service members from all branches. The length of study (weeks) of intensive language training aligns with the category of language (difficulty), according to the State Department’s scales.
Students with strong linguistic proficiencies who are considering military service can find many opportunities to utilize their skills. At DLI, they will deepen their language skills, or learn another language.
In 2023, American diplomats (foreign service members) numbered 13,000. For comparison, the U.S. military employed 1.3 million active-duty personnel in 2022. Living their lives almost entirely abroad, U.S. diplomats (and other State Department employees) will make great use of having world language proficiencies.
The process of joining the State Department is highly selective.
All applicants must take a written test, of which only 30-40% pass. The test scrutinizes test-takers’ writing abilities in English and job-related knowledge of the US government, politics, and history; world history and geography; economics, and management/ leadership skills.
For those who pass, they are invited to Washington, D.C. for an Oral Assessment. This all-day affair includes an individual interview and group activities, as well as a written task involving information synthesizing.
Only applicants who pass this second stage are language evaluations administered (oral proficiency exams/ writing exams). Applicants can only test in one language, for which points are added to their overall score. Critically needed languages (e.g. Chinese, Arabic) receive more points than less-critically needed languages (e.g. Spanish, French). Applicants’ names and scores are placed on a list for 18 months and await selection by embassies, departments, etc. If selected, the applicant officially becomes a U.S. diplomat. If not selected, they must reboot the whole process.
Future applicants (and their teachers) must therefore focus on developing the 11 dimensions (leadership, experience & motivation, negotiation…) needed in Foreign Service Officers’ work, in addition to language skills.
For each of these, I can attest that diversity (regional, institutional, racial, etc.) matters in the review process. Many successful applicants leverage their strong, previous study of one language into an application for another language.
Let’s get Ohio’s best language learners out of classrooms and into national roles!
*
This article was approved for dissemination by the Public Affairs office of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center.
The Cardinal 