Michigan State University has received a $45,000 grant from the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland to run a summer development program for Arabic language teachers in Dearborn.
“It’s a way of providing further experience for Arabic language teachers and giving them more up-to-date information about language teaching,” said Susan Gass, principal investigator on the Arabic language flagship program. “And, it certainly ties in with the current grant that we have.”
Last fall, MSU received a multi-year, multimillion dollar grant from the federal Defense Department to develop the first comprehensive Arabic instruction curriculum for U.S. schools.
MSU is developing that curriculum in conjunction with the Dearborn Public Schools, where Arabic is taught in elementary grades.