About
The Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP) is a multi-layered cross-cultural program. American Councils recruits and places English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers from China, Jordan, and Egypt within American secondary schools where they teach their native language and culture. Through TCLP, each party involved is positively impacted: American students develop appreciation for and fluency with the critical languages of Mandarin Chinese and Arabic, exchange teachers improve their English which intensifies the depth of their home school’s EFL curriculum, American and exchange teachers develop partnerships and share both resources and teaching methods, and all students and teachers form deeper understanding of others’ cultures. American Councils designs and implements an extended three-week Orientation program that prepares exchange teachers for classroom teaching and life in America, coordinates their participation in a three-day professional development workshop for foreign language teachers, provides their monthly stipends and medical insurance, and, in addition to on-going program monitoring and support, visits them at their U.S. communities throughout the year. TCLP, administered by American Councils for International Education, is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State.
PROGRAM NEWS
Cross cultural exchange: Chinese teacher adapts and thrives in Swain County
"After making the journey to Western North Carolina from China, Niu Jun discovered Bryson City was nothing like she imagined.
Driving through the town of about 1,300, a confused Niu Jun asked, “Bryson City? Where’s the city?”
Foreign Languages Fade in Class — Except Chinese
"WASHINGTON — Thousands of public schools stopped teaching foreign languages in the last decade, according to a government-financed survey — dismal news for a nation that needs more linguists to conduct its global business and diplomacy...The State Department has paid for a smaller program — the Teachers of Critical Languages Program — to bring Chinese teachers to schools here, with each staying for a year."