Admission to the DLIFLC is limited to members of the U.S. Armed Forces (either in the active forces or reserve components), to civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DoD) or other federal agencies, and—in certain cases—to adult family members of eligible students. Each student must be sponsored by his/her service or employing agency, and that agency directs which foreign language he/she will study. Generally, before a student is selected for a language program, a specific position requiring foreign language communication skills must exist for the student to fill upon graduation. Requests or applications for language instruction must be submitted to the appropriate sponsor in accordance with the service’s or agency’s own regulations. The DLIFLC does not participate in this process.
Applicable service policies require that each candidate for a Basic Program be a high school graduate and have been administered the Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB). For admission to a Basic Program, the following minimum DLAB scores are required:
Individual services or agencies may demand higher qualifying scores, at their discretion. The DLAB can be administered at any military installation having a test control officer.
Admission to intermediate- and advanced-level programs depends upon demonstrated proficiency in the language concerned. The prerequisite for intermediate programs is an Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Level of 2 in reading, listening, and speaking. For more information, see Types of Programs. (Proficiency is measured by administration of the Defense Language Proficiency Test [DLPT] and is uniformly stated in terms of levels set by the Interagency Language Roundtable [ILR] as described later in this chapter. The DLIFLC tests only listening comprehension [L], reading comprehension [R], and speaking [S] skills. For example, the abbreviation “L2/R2/S2” indicates Level 2 in listening comprehension, Level 2 in reading comprehension, and Level 2 in speaking.
In considering an individual for language instruction, sponsors should not select anyone who has a hearing deficiency or a significant speech impediment, since these conditions hinder or make impossible a mastery of the respective skills in the new language.