Federal grant establishes UC as a center for language instruction

Language instructors from across the country will soon have a new resource to enhance the teaching of foreign languages.

The University of Cincinnati’s Department of Romance and Arabic Languages and Literatures (RALL) has been awarded a $715,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to create a new Language Resource Center in UC’s College of Arts and Sciences.   

The center, called the Curricular Enhancement, Development, Access, and Research Language Resource Center (CEDAR LRC), will serve the nation through the development, provision and research of leading-edge curricular materials for language learners from kindergarten through postsecondary levels. The resources developed here will also benefit UC students taking one of the over 100 courses that RALL offers each semester that will be made publicly available to language educators nationwide.

“This is truly an outstanding achievement that considerably contributes to the profile of RALL and UC,” says Thérèse Migraine-George, professor and RALL department head.

Starting with 10 inaugural projects, the center will build upon UC’s existing foundational investments in these major areas: Arabic language instruction, virtual reality (VR) technology for language learning and institutional partnerships with entities for language teaching and learning outside of UC, with particular consideration for less commonly taught languages (LCTLs).

For example, RALL faculty will develop a series of VR lesson modules that guide learners through “a day in the life” of Arabic and Spanish speakers from communities within the United States.

“The investment in VR is especially relevant as digital learning has shifted to the forefront of the national educational landscape following the global pandemic,” says Kara Moranski, RALL assistant professor.