STARTALK

Each summer, a group of faculty in the Department of Linguistics host summer programs for language educators as part of the STARTALK, a federal grant program funded by the National Security Agency. STARTALK grants fund several types of innovative programs that aim to support strong language learning outcomes for K-16 students, provide in-depth, quality teacher development, and develop materials and resources for educators in order to meet the goals for critical need languages in the United States. STARTALK’s overall mission is to increase the number of young Americans learning and speaking critical need world languages by offering creative and engaging learning experiences for K-16 students and teachers. 

In summer 2023, the Georgetown STARTALK-TASK: Task-based Training for Critical Language Teachers program hosted teachers of Arabic, Chinese, Korean, and Russian to learn about task-based language teaching through a course led by Dr. Lara Bryfonski (Instructional Lead and Project Director) and Dr. Alison Mackey (Project Co-Director). 

The Department has received funding for two programs in summer 2024: STARTALK-TASK: Task-based Training for Critical Language Teachers led by Dr. Bryfonski and Dr. Mackey; and STARTALK-TECH: Technology-Based Tools for Teaching Critical Languages led by Dr. Meg Montee and Dr. Mackey.

To learn more about STARTALK, visit the program’s website.