The Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), part of the Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS) at UW–Madison, is launching the next phase of its significant, long-standing efforts in sustainable Southeast Asian language education. This four-year project, led by Principal Investigator Erlin Barnard in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, is generously supported by a $1,200,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. Commencing on September 1, 2025, and concluding on August 31, 2029, this endeavor addresses a fundamental challenge in less-commonly-taught languages (LCTL).
One of the biggest hurdles of LCTL teaching is that the teachers often work in isolation. There are very few opportunities for LCTL teachers to share their considerable expertise with one another in a sustained, organized way. Consequently, large-scale projects—such as developing proficiency standards, creating assessments, and designing teaching materials based on current second language acquisition research—are difficult to undertake alone.
Between 2019 and 2025, CSEAS hosted a groundbreaking initiative that led international efforts to organize teams of Southeast Asian language teachers. Supported by a $1.1 million grant, also from the Henry Luce Foundation, that project was successfully led by Barnard and UW–Madison Professor Emerita Ellen Rafferty. To ensure the work was truly collaborative and responsive to the field’s needs, the Southeast Asian Language Council (SEALC), a working group of Southeast Asian language teachers and area studies administrators from across the U.S., was formed to advise and support the grant’s activities. The six-year project proved highly successful, generating strong enthusiasm for continued collaboration among Southeast Asian language educators.
CSEAS is now thrilled to announce that Barnard will lead the SEALC Phase II project, building directly on this momentum. This new four-year initiative will support a series of teacher workshops and collaborative efforts aimed at several key areas. These efforts include developing new proficiency-based assessment tools and creating listening materials rooted in authentic language use.
“This international network of educators has led to tangible outcomes, including high-quality assessment tools, innovative instructional materials, and noticeable gains in student learning,” said Barnard. “Their shared commitment to continue this work and deepen its impact is what inspires the next phase of the project.”
The project will also focus on integrating AI tools into language teaching and designing culturally responsive curricula that align with specific proficiency targets. It seeks to increase Southeast Asian language teachers’ capacity to conduct and publish action research, and to produce open-access instructional resources in collaboration with Michigan State University. Another important component involves creating asynchronous online courses for some of the least-commonly-taught languages of Southeast Asia.
In addition to these capacity-building efforts, the SEALC Phase II project will provide crucial scholarship support for students to study Southeast Asian languages. This support will be available both during the academic year through distance education options and during the intensive summer at the Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI), which is part of the Wisconsin Intensive Summer Language Institutes (WISLI).
A Decades-Long Commitment to Language Education
CSEAS’s commitment to sustainable language education dates back decades. A foundational effort began in 1991 when Rafferty launched initiatives to develop updated instructional materials for Indonesian, addressing a pressing need in the field and laying groundwork for strengthening Indonesian language instruction in the United States. Since 2006, they have been embedded in CSEAS’s Title VI National Resource Center grants, allowing the center to expand this work over time. What began as a focus on Indonesian gradually evolved into broader efforts that now include all major Southeast Asian languages taught in the U.S.
This next phase continues CSEAS’s commitment to building a strong, connected, and well-supported ecosystem for Southeast Asian language education.
Story by Kayla Daum