FILL: Innovation and Inspiration from Wisconsin

How the Wisconsin Facilitated Language Studies program has evolved over 15 years

We’ve come a long way since I introduced the early case studies in California and Wisconsin that inspired Facilitated Interdependent Language Learning - FILL (described in my 8/7/2025 Substack post: How FILL began). Wisconsin’s Facilitated Language Study (FLS) program is continuing to innovate and inspire. This past spring, Claudine Clark and Laura Koebel gave an excellent webinar for the Nebraska Department of Education entitled, “Facilitated Interdependent Language Learning: An innovative approach for the language classroom.” Fortunately for all of us interested in FILL, the session was recorded and is available for viewing on YouTube:

Claudine and Laura have given me permission to share some of their slides in Substack so that I can give you a quick sense of the highlights. (But I encourage you to watch the entire recording when you have a chance; many thanks to Chrystal Liu from the Nebraska Department of Education for making the recording public.) These outstanding educators are truly committed pioneers.

FLS in Wisconsin: How did it begin?

Although I knew something about the origin of Facilitated Language Study (FLS) in Wisconsin, it was great to see timelines for the two high schools where FLS was launched a few years apart. They represent very different settings, one urban (East Madison) and one rural (Plymouth). In both settings, FLS provided a way to expand language offerings at the school, and, in particular, a structure to support guest teachers from abroad funded by the Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP) of the US State Department.¹

Although the Arabic language instructors were supported by TCLP, there were other local sources to support Japanese language learning initially. Once the FLS program was established, you could say that one thing led to another, and more languages got added each year as students requested them. This speaks volumes for the versatility of the FLS design and the creativity and tenacity of the educators engaged in implementing these programs.

What is the role of the classroom teacher?

As the FLS program developed, it became clear that the role of teacher in FLS was very different from a traditional world language classroom where, as Claudine noted, “the teacher and text are the fountains of all knowledge” and “everyone learns and is assessed in the same way.”² In FLS, the teacher is a facilitator of learning, providing guidance, support, energy, and accountability to the students, who are really in charge of their individual language learning journeys.

The slide above describes what an FLS class looks like from the teacher facilitator perspective. Note the reference to tutors and conversation coaches. These are the people who interact, on occasion, with the students to provide language models and authentic communication in the range of languages offered in the FLS program. In the case of the urban schools, the interaction may be in person, while at the rural school it’s more likely to be a virtual session.

Interestingly, a benefit of working with tutors and conversation coaches is that it explicitly helps support the “Communities” World Language standard,³ which is often the standard that tends to get left behind in traditional language classrooms. Check out the slide below suggesting ways to find conversation coaches.

There is so much more to share from Claudine and Laura’s presentation, but that I’ll save for future Substack posts. Thanks for subscribing and reading!

1. “The Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP) brings teachers from China, Egypt and Morocco to eligible U.S. elementary and secondary schools to teach Chinese and Arabic for an academic year. American students benefit from having native Chinese and Arabic speakers in the classroom and from a broadened foreign language curriculum.”
https://exchanges.state.gov/non-us/program/teachers-critical-languages-program (retrieved 10/14/2025).

“The Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP) is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State and is implemented by American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS.”
https://tclprogram.org/ (retrieved 10/14/202)

Unfortunately, this excellent program is coming to an end: “Please note: Round 28 in the Spring of 2025 will be the final round of CLP grants awarded by TCLP. This is because the Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP), funded by the U.S. Department of State and implemented by American Councils for International Education, is coming to an end. The 2023-2024 academic year was the final year of the Arabic program. The 2024-2025 academic year is the final year of the Mandarin program.” https://tclprogram.org/about/critical-language-projects (retrieved 10/14/2025)

2. “Facilitated Interdependent Language Learning: An innovative approach for the language classroom” slide 2

3. World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages
“COMMUNITIES: Communicate and interact with cultural competence in order to participate in multilingual communities at home and around the world.”
https://www.actfl.org/uploads/files/general/World-ReadinessStandardsforLearningLanguages.pdf (retrieved 10/15/2025)
https://www.actfl.org/educator-resources/world-readiness-standards-for-learning-languages (retrieved 10/15/2025)