This volume is the first devoted to sharing research, instructional practices and curricular and programmatic models in US undergraduate Language Flagship programs. The Language Flagship is a federally funded initiative, launched in 2002, that provides opportunities for US undergraduate students in any area of specialization to reach a professional level of competence in a targeted second language (L2) by graduation. Students who successfully complete a Language Flagship program achieve an L2 proficiency rating of 3 on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale used by the US federal government, or Superior on the scale adapted for academic purposes by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) (Appendix A). This level, roughly equivalent to C1 on the scale of the Common European Framework of Reference, is the minimum set by many US federal government agencies for positions that require proficiency in a language other than English, but one rarely achieved by US undergraduates.

The innovative practices that enable US undergraduate students to achieve this goal – even those students with no exposure to the L2 prior to matriculation to the university – is the subject of many of the contributions to this volume. Individual chapters highlight many aspects of Language Flagship programs, such as an emphasis on the articulation of learning outcomes on functional abilities in the L2, in addition to knowledge-based goals; various forms of language study across the curriculum; independent learning; technology to enhance language and cultural learning and proficiency development; an adaptive, inclusive approach that takes into account the needs of students with different language backgrounds (e.g. heritage students as well as students who begin study of the L2 at the college level); the assessment of both language proficiency and intercultural development; professional internships as an integral part of capstone overseas programs; and program evaluation that includes examination of the program's impact on alumni.

Contributors to this book are directors and other scholars affiliated with Language Flagship programs or leaders of the Language Flagship in the US Department of Defense.