About the Language Flagship
The Language Flagship is a national effort to change the way Americans learn languages. The Language Flagship offers pathways for students of all academic majors and language levels to pursue advanced-level language study in one of seven languages: Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, or Turkish.
The Arabic Flagship program provides an immersive overseas experience for undergraduate students enrolled at one of three US Flagship universities. The Arabic Flagship program helps participants develop superior proficiency in Arabic, a critical language to US competitiveness and security.
There is both a domestic and an overseas component to the program. The domestic component helps students reach the language proficiency required for the overseas component. The overseas component features formal language coursework, content-based courses, individualized tutorials, excursions, overnight trips, and homestays with Arabic-speaking families. Students also benefit from extensive opportunities for professionally focused language development through regular university courses, and internships with local organizations.
Participating Flagship universities include Indiana University, the University of Arizona, and the University of Mississippi.
Mission
The Arabic Overseas Flagship Capstone marks the culminating stage of the Arabic Flagship program, offering twelve months of immersive study overseas, including a summer term and two academic semesters.
Through immersion in a native-speaking environment, the goal of the Arabic Overseas Flagship Capstone is to provide a life-changing experience for Arabic Flagship students helping them reach professional language fluency in Arabic.
Students must be academically and culturally prepared for this endeavor in order to be accepted to this competitive program and make the most out of their studies overseas. Students who meet the program’s language proficiency requirements will receive support in applying for external funding opportunities to help cover program costs.
Capstone Overview
Summer Term:
During the summer, students attend intensive courses in Modern Standard Arabic, Arabic Media, and the local dialect of Arabic. Designed to strengthen spoken language skills for everyday communication, the program also includes homestays with host families and cultural field trips that deepen students’ linguistic and cultural immersion.
Fall and Spring Terms:
During the academic year, students participate in cultural experiences and internships as two distinct components of the program. Students are able to select from a list of internship opportunities that reflect either their chosen field of study or personal interests. The goal of the internship experience is to allow students to work in a different cultural environment, use Arabic in a professional setting, and deepen their understanding of the local culture.
The Arabic Overseas Flagship Capstone is designed to develop a students linguistic and cultural competency through an outcomes-based approach. Our curriculum encourages multiple literacies, and multidialectal competence and features technology-based learning and assessment at the core of its curricular and pedagogical design.
The Arabic Overseas Flagship Capstone is about putting students on the shortest track to professional proficiency in the Arabic language. Our curriculum melds intensive classroom study, personalized instruction and feedback, university direct enrollment opportunities, co-curricular activities, and local and distributed community networks and professional internships.
The Arabic Overseas Flagship Capstone encourages learner autonomy and self-assessment.
- Students will participate in structured, semi-structured, and unstructured activities to foster self-efficacy and self-reflection as a language learner.
- Learning plans are personalized and proficiency is closely monitored for strengths and weaknesses.
- Students receive quality feedback and pedagogical interventions to help them improve and meet program benchmarks.
- Assessments are central to our methodology, and students should aim to achieve ILR3 in Arabic upon completion of the Arabic Overseas Flagship Capstone.
Different Components of the Capstone Program
