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The Current Status of
CLAC
Carol A. Klee
University of Minnesota
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(Foreign) Languages Across the Curriculum
(FLAC or LAC) Cultures and Languages
Across the Curriculum (CLAC)

Efforts began in the late 1980s following the
strengthening of the world language requirement in
the University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts
and in response to the question: a language
requirement for what purpose?

Implemented with funding from NEH and FIPSE in
the 1990s but dwindled when funding ended
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Primary goals of (F)LAC program
University of Minnesota
1.
Demonstrate to undergraduates the benefits of acquiring
a second language, including deepened understanding of
a discipline and broadened cultural perspectives;
2.
Hone undergraduate students' analytic and critical
abilities with regard to significant texts and sources in a
second language;
3.
Promote lifetime competency in a second language;
4.
Provide opportunities and incentives for faculty to apply
their second-language ability in the humanities or social
science classroom.
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Primary objectives of LxC at SUNYBinghamton
 LxC
“is not a language-instruction program but rather
a course-content enrichment program.”
 It provides
“opportunities for students to make
meaningful use of (and enhance)their comprehension
skills in languages other than English [… and]
increases students’ understanding of the global
networks that shape all cultures.”
How
does
CLAC
work?
(adapted from Diana Davis)
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Type
Minimum Lg
Proficiency
and Use
Who Delivers
Frequency of
Meetings
Academic Credit
Examples
Highly
variable
Non-FL fac
No separate
meetings
No credit
B-W, Earlham
Empowered
Highly
variable
Non-FL grad Ss,
with non-FL fac
12-15 hrs/sem
0-1 credit: counts
toward BU minor
in Global Studies
Binghamton U,
UNC-Chapel
Hill
Modularized
(FL trailer to
non-FL
class)
Typically
intermed-mid
FL only
Non-FL faculty or
FL teaching
assistant or
FL faculty
1-2 hrs/week
Partial (1-2
credits)
Appalachian
State, Auburn,
Minnesota, Utah
Wittenberg U,
St. Olaf, U Conn
Immersed
(freestanding)
Intermediatehigh or
higher, FL
only
Non-FL faculty
3-4 hrs/week
Full (3-4 credits):
counts toward lg
and non-lg rqmts
Minnesota,
Utah, Trinity U,
BaldwinWallace
Linked/Adju
nct model
Intermediatehigh, FL only
Faculty (FL and
FL-fluent non-FL)
3-4 hrs/week
Full (3-4 credits):
counts for lg rqmt
U of Ottawa
Dual-degree
Endpoint:
Advancedmid
Bilingual faculty
(CBLI → CLAC →
full immersion
abroad in work
context)
Better part of 810 semesters
(including
industrial
internship)
90-120 credits
(half or more
taught in FL) of
120-150 required
for degree
U of Rhode
Island, U Conn,
Georgia Tech
Infused
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Challenges in the curricular
development and delivery of CLAC
 Definition
of the primary objectives of CLAC
programs, taking into account specific institutional
contexts


Careful match between student language proficiency and
program requirements
Finding the appropriate balance between language
learning and content learning
 Who
should teach CLAC courses and what type of
preparation should they receive?

Importance of participation of applied linguists