AskAsia.org > Chinese Language in the Schools > Newsletter > June 2007

A Special Note
The next Newsletter will be an expanded issue for July and August.
However, we will still be here at chinese@askasia.org. Enjoy the summer!
In This Issue
Quick Links
You Help Is Needed!
Do you know of a new Chinese language program?  Please click here to share it with us.
Features of the Month
 

$8.7 Million in FLAP Grants Awarded for Critical Foreign Language Instruction
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings recently announced $8.7 million in grants to school districts in 20 states to help increase the number of Americans learning foreign languages critical to national security and commerce.  As part of President Bush's National Security Language Initiative, the grants are intended to address the shortage of critical foreign language speakers by supporting new and expanded programs in grades K-12.  Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Farsi are among languages targeted for learning.  Besides the Education Department, other federal agencies have roles in the initiative, including the State Department, Defense Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence.  While only 44 percent of our American high school students are studying any foreign language, Spellings said learning a second or even a third foreign language is compulsory for students in the European Union, China, Thailand and other countries.  Click here for the complete press release.

 

In the Bluegrass State, the Newhaven district superintendent organizes Chinese Economic Awareness Day to build support for his Chinese language program. Eight mayors from the Bluegrass Area Development meet with the state Department of Education world language consultant to discuss ways to bring more such programs to schools in their towns. A key policy-business-leaders mission to China sponsored by the Kentucky World Trade Center and the University of Kentucky Asia Center culminated in a report (PDF 2.1M) that include the following recommendations:
  • Re-designate Kentucky trade offices established in countries outside the U.S. as Kentucky Trade and Education Offices;
  • Expand opportunities to study world languages in Kentucky.

To support these objectives, Louisville and Lexington school districts are implementing Foreign Language Assistance Program grants in Chinese.  Northern Kentucky University will use its STARTALK professional development grant to enhance its summer fast-track language teacher certification program.  Click here to read the full report.
Publications and Resources

The Modern Language Association has recently issued a report titled "Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World."  Though largely aimed at structural reform in foreign language instruction in higher education, the report emphasizes that "leaning languages other than English must be included in the earliest years of the K-12 system if the U.S. is to have a citizenry capable of communicating with educated native speakers in their langauge.  The task group that prepared this report includes three long-time participants in the Interagency Language Round Table, an unfunded federal interagency organization established for the coordination and sharing of information about language-related activities at the federal level.  Click here to read the full report.

A new website developed by the University of Maryland's National Foreign Language Center is now live online to help teach high school students to read Chinese and to provide essential classroom support for teachers.  Read Chinese! is especially geared to high school-age students, but can also be used by adults. It is available free for classroom and individual use. Students need at least an elementary knowledge of Chinese characters. The material is available in both Traditional and Simplified characters. Also, the material can be downloaded free of charge to a CD or DVD.  Click here to Read Chinese.
Question of the Month
Where can I find Chinese curriculum guidelines for elementary schools?
The National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center at Iowa State University and the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC, have teamed up to help improve and expand the teaching of Chinese in grades K-5 by establishing an articulated long-sequence model and conducting research on that model. Project activities include:

     (1) developing a Chinese K-5 curriculum framework and a proficiency-focused/standards-          based curriculum,

     (2) training teachers in classroom techniques reflecting best practices,

     (3) training teachers in the Chinese Student Oral Proficiency Assessment (SOPA),

     (4) collaborating with three schools in the implementation of their Chinese programs,

     (5) researching students' language development in those schools over a

          three-year period.
For more information on the curriculum and the research model, please visit http://nflrc.iastate.edu/Chinese, or contact Project Director Eileen Lorenz at eileen@cal.org.
Chinese in the News
United Nations General Assembly Proclaims 2008 International Year of Languages, In Effort to Promote Unity in Diversity, Global Understanding
(Sixty-first General Assembly, Plenary, 96th Meeting) | Full-text
Americans Wish They Knew More Languages
(The Detroit News, June 21, 2007) | Full Story
Nearly two-thirds of Americans wish they had taken more foreign language instruction while they were in high school, according to a survey of 1,010 adults conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University.

Chung: A Worldwide Language Trend Can't Be Ignored
(San Jose Mercury News, June 9, 2007) | Full Story
Saul Gitlin is executive vice president of an advertising company that helps companies reach multinational customers.  He has an MBA and speaks fluent Chinese.  "Why is it important? So we can navigate the future with the best advantages. Languages are the best bridges," Gitlin said. "Powerhouse China is a competitor, with whom we want a balanced, productive relationship. Everyone is learning English in China," he said. "If they understand us, and we don't replicate that in terms of understanding them, our purely visceral fear will be borne out in the future."

Sizing up China: Language Students Put Their Money Where Their Mouths Are
(Asahi English News, June 18, 2007) | Full Story
In Japan, where languages can slip quickly in and out of vogue, Chinese has been coasting on a long wave of popularity. In the past, Japanese often learned the language to find out more about Chinese history and culture or because they were fans of kung fu movies of the 1970s and 1980s that featured stars such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. But today's students are driven largely by the practical need to acquire the language of one of Japan's key business partners.


 
We welcome your feedback on this newsletter and encourage you to share information that would be of interest to the wider community.  Please pass this newsletter to others who are interested in Chinese language programs in the schools.

Sincerely,



Shuhan C. Wang, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Chinese Language Initiatives
Asia Society

email: chinese@askasia.org
web:   www.askasia.org/chinese