Jacqueline Becerra, a senior double majoring in English and linguistics and teaching English as a second language, has been awarded a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship to study foreign languages this summer. She's one of three University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students selected in 2023.
The scholarship program is part of an initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign language and cultural skills to enable them to contribute to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security. The program provides full scholarships to U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to spend eight to 10 weeks abroad studying one of 14 critical languages.
Becerra will study advanced Korean at Chonnam National University in Gwangju, Republic of Korea. A first-generation college student, she spent last fall semester studying abroad at Yonsei University, South Korea, and this spring completed the last Korean course available at Illinois. She would like to attend graduate school in applied Korean linguistics in South Korea to become an English teacher proficient in both languages to better assist students.
Scholarship recipients are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future careers. Approximately 10% of the 5,000 applicants nationwide received a Critical Language Scholarship in 2023.
Maeve Reilly, Illinois News Bureau
Editor's note: A version of this story first appeared on the Illinois News Bureau website.