FORSCOM Language and Culture Services

The Mission and Installation Contracting Command – Fort Liberty (MICC – FL) has a requirement for the United States Forces Command (FORSCOM) language and culture program (hereafter “program”) which supports creativity and flexibility to meet the unique instruction needs of commanders requiring language and/or culture related capabilities for their personnel. The program’s courses/training events do not have rigid Programs of Instruction (POIs) but rather use the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) proficiency level descriptions, as well as current theories and teaching methodologies in the fields of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and Adult & Continuing Education, as a framework for the development of POIs, lesson plans, activities, etc. These skill descriptor definitions can be found at http://www.govtilr.org, and it is the responsibility of the contractor to familiarize all contract service providers with each of the skill level descriptors found on the ILR website, as well as with current theories and teaching approaches and methodologies in the fields of SLA and Adult & Continuing Education. The program’s teaching methodology is eclectic in nature but broadly falls under the umbrella of Communicative Language Teaching, given its primary focus on language and culture within the context of communication and its secondary focus on the structure(s) that inform that communication. At each ILR proficiency level, very specific behaviors are exhibited and expected. Contract service providers will assesses the ILR level of each student in the skills to be taught and then develop and/or present appropriate lessons, materials and activities to generate as much uninhibited, spontaneous, and culturally appropriate manipulation of the target language, culture knowledge, and cross-cultural competence amongst the students as possible, in order to prepare the students for duty related work/engagements and/or the Defense Language Proficiency Test System (DLPTS) or other formal and/or informal proficiency measures, as required by the Government. The contractor shall support the program in its efforts to bridge the gap between global language and technical/mission language by integrating training and education for Government- defined, operationally relevant elements into lesson plans and POIs. These may include culture-specific information related to a particular target area, culture-general concepts, cross-cultural competence, rapport building, map reading, briefing skills, weather reports, scenarios related to specific engagements/contingencies, military terminology, and similar topic areas. Contract service providers are expected to help create a learning atmosphere that incorporates culturally and militarily operationally relevant realia and other authentic materials into the learning environment. Contract service providers are also expected to integrate the use of WebTools and current and emerging technologies (such as online learning management systems, basic audio/visual equipment, interactive whiteboards and touch-screens, satellite news broadcasts, interactive computer programs, social media and data sharing applications, digital audio/video media, etc.) into the learning environment to augment instruction and mirror the learning environment to the anticipated engagement environment to the greatest extent practicable. Please see the DRAFT PWS attached to this notice for a complete description of this requirement.