The Japanese Immersion program at El Marino Language School has been awarded a five-year grant for more than $1 million to assist in increasing the number of Americans learning foreign languages critical to national security and commerce, the U.S. Dept. of Education announced this week.
"We are thrilled to be one of only eight projects granted nationwide, and the only program in California," said El Marino Principal Tracy Pumilia.
The Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant will provide training and support to El Marino teachers, as well as enhanced opportunities for the school’s Japanese students, including technology and updated Japanese language materials
Over the next five years, El Marino's Japanese Immersion Program teachers, along with Japanese teachers at the Middle School and Culver City High School, will be working closely with both Cal State Long Beach and UCLA professors and researchers to establish a K-12 curriculum that hopefully will bring superior proficiency skills in Japanese to Culver High graduates.
FLAP, a part of President Bush's National Security Language Initiative, is intended to address the shortage of critical foreign language speakers by supporting new and expanded programs in grades K-12. Currently, fewer than 2 percent of all high school programs offer the less commonly taught languages, such as Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Korean and Hindi.
The Japanese Immersion Program is now in its 17th year and was originally started with the assistance of a federal FLAP grant. It is currently the only public K-12 articulated Japanese program in the state.
