The mission of the Council on Language Instruction is to enhance and streamline language instruction across departments and to encourage and support the professional development of language instructors.
By providing a forum for the discussion of a wide range of issues related to second language teaching, the council facilitates the sharing of ideas among language instructors and promotes an open dialogue with university administrators, literature faculty, and faculty in other departments.
Among the responsibilities of the council is to oversee the WCAS foreign language requirement as established by the faculty of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. This includes evaluating and responding to student petitions for a waiver of the foreign language requirement and organizing proficiency testing in languages not formally taught at Northwestern.
During the academic year, the council organizes workshops, seminars, talks, and symposia on campus dealing with the newest research on second language acquisition and with applied and practical matters in language teaching. These presentations are designed to further the professional development of language instructors.
The council also manages two funds created to support language instructors: The Professional Development Fund (PDF) reimburses travel and conference expenses, and The Teaching Enhancement Fund (TEF) pays for projects or workshops which directly enhance the quality of language instruction at Northwestern University. To apply for either of these, please follow the instructions on the Funding Instructions PDF.
The Council on Language Instruction represents the Program of African and Asian Languages, the Department of Classics, the Department of French and Italian, the Department of German, the Department of Linguistics, the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, and the Multimedia Learning Center.
For detailed information regarding language study and language requirements at Northwestern University, please consult our brochure that is published annually by the CLI.
For more information about the CLI, please contact cli@northwestern.edu
