The U.S. government encourages the study of critical languages spoken in geographic areas of strategic importance to U.S. national security and the global economy through a variety of discretionary grants and scholarship programs. U.S. students are traditionally underrepresented in the study of these languages; however, many of the nation's K-12…

This article presents an overview of the Arabic language in the United States. Drawing on archival research and statistical analysis, the article is divided into 4 major sections. The first discusses the history of immigration from the Arab world to the United States, as well as past efforts at Arabic language maintenance. The article continues…

Over 3 million people speak Arabic as a first language in the USA and almost all of them are native-born Americans. Efforts in recent decades to provide support, at both local and governmental levels, for the teaching of Arabic as a heritage language are described. Reflecting on the development of his own personal literacies and his teaching…