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Red Wisconsin Intensive Summer Language Institutes pen resting on a language skills assessment sheet.

Wisconsin Intensive Summer Language Institutes – Digital Badge

The WISLI Digital Badge is a micro-credential that recognizes students who take their language learning beyond the classroom. By earning the badge, you will reflect on your progress, explore professional development opportunities, and plan your next steps for using and strengthening your language skills.

The badge includes verified information about the issuing organization, the criteria required to earn it, and the achievement it represents. This added context makes it easier to communicate your skills and accomplishments clearly and credibly on LinkedIn, your resume, and other online platforms. Learn more about digital badges here.

This is a great opportunity to:

  • Communicate your language skills and accomplishments clearly to the world.
  • Clarify your next steps for using and continuing to develop your language skills.
  • Take advantage of extracurricular programming offered by WISLI.

Participation is optional but highly encouraged for students interested in professionalizing and extending their language learning! Please reach out to Dr. Ryan Goble at wisli@lpo.wisc.edu if you are interested in pursuing the badge.

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Who Is Eligible?

All WISLI students who:

• Complete a self-assessment of language abilities with their instructor.

• Participate in select WISLI professional development workshops.

• Engage in a language or career-focused conversation with a mentor.

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Why Participate?

Badge earners will be able to:

• Explain what you can do in your target language for real-world applications.

• Communicate the value of intensive language study.

• Connect your WISLI experience to future goals.

Red pencil representing writing or completing requirements

How to Earn the Badge?

Submit the following:

• A reflective narrative (750-1000 words), guided reflection on your language development and future goals.

• A short creative piece to share your language-learning story with a broader audience (e.g., blog post, social media post/reel).

Required Engagement Activities

To earn the WISLI Badge, you will complete activities that help you reflect on your language skills, explore professional opportunities, and plan for continued language learning.

1. Participate in WISLI Professional Development Programming

The following sessions and workshops are examples from Summer 2026. Summer 2027 programming information will be announced at a later date.

In these sessions, take notes on how the commentary and perspectives shared during these events resonate with your own language-learning path and future goals. During at least one session, ask a thoughtful question that connects the discussion to your own experiences or plans for using your language skills.

2. Assess Your Language Skills

Complete a self-assessment of your language abilities and invite your instructor to complete a parallel assessment. Comparing the two assessments can help you identify your strengths and areas for continued growth. Rubrics will be provided by WISLI.

Intermediate and advanced students are encouraged to complete an assessment at both the beginning and the end of the program.

3. Complete a Language and Professional Consultation

Meet with at least one person with relevant experience or expertise to discuss your language skills, the value of learning an additional language, or strategies for continuing to use your language after the program. You may use the networking and informational-interview strategies introduced in the WISLI professional development workshops to speak with a multilingual professional. This conversation is an opportunity to learn from real-world experiences and think about your own next steps.

Some suggestions are:

  • a WISLI workshop facilitator;
  • your language instructor;
  • a mentor, advisor, or faculty member;
  • a multilingual professional;
  • a regional expert identified in consultation with the UW–Madison regional centers..

Badge Deliverables

To earn the WISLI Digital Badge, you will complete two deliverables within four months after WISLI.

1. Reflective Narrative

Submit a guided personal narrative of approximately 750–1,000 words that reflects on your development as a language learner during the program and your future goals.

Draw on your consultation, workshop participation, self-assessments, and other WISLI programming experiences as you reflect on the following:

  • Articulation of language abilities: Describe what you can do in the target language in clear, accessible language. Compare your abilities now to the start of the program, and explain how your abilities may be represented in personal and professional contexts, including by unpacking common proficiency labels.
  • Growth and transferable value: Reflect on how the intensive experience shaped your development as a language learner, emerging multilingual professional, and global citizen. Explain the broader personal and professional value of completing an intensive program in a lesser-taught language.
  • Goals, trajectory, and next steps: Connect your experience to your personal and professional goals related to the target language. Describe how the experience informs your forward-looking trajectory and identify specific, actionable next steps to sustain engagement and support continued language development.

Your reflection should balance personal narrative, thoughtful articulation of your language abilities, and intentional planning for continued growth.

You are encouraged to revisit the personal statement from your WISLI application and reflect on how your thinking and development have evolved over the course of the program.

2. Outreach Artifact

Building on your personal narrative reflection, create a short, engaging outreach artifact that shares your language-learning story with a broader audience. Possible formats include:

  • Blog post
  • Podcast episode
  • Social media graphic or quote
  • 60–90 second video or reel
  • Another approved medium

Your artifact should briefly communicate:

  • An introduction to you and your language-learning story
  • What you can now do in the language
  • How the intensive experience shaped your goals and future trajectory
  • The broader, transferable value of intensive study of your language or of studying a lesser-taught language

The goal is to translate insights from your reflection into language appropriate for a broader audience. Your outreach artifact may be shared as part of WISLI’s outreach and promotional efforts with your consent.

How to Submit Your Badge Materials

To complete the WISLI Digital Badge, please email your two badge deliverables and documentation of your required engagement activities to wisli@lpo.wisc.edu by December 8.

Documentation of your required engagement activities should include your language skills assessments (your self-assessment and your instructor’s evaluation or notes) and notes or a brief summary from your language/mentorship conversation.