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Expanding Chinese Language Capacity in the United States: Opportunities and Challenges

Expanding Chinese Language Capacity in the United States: Opportunities and Challenges. Establishing K-12 Critical Language Programs Workshop Portland, Oregon April 26, 2007. Vivien Stewart Vice President, Education, Asia Society. Why Chinese?.

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Expanding Chinese Language Capacity in the United States: Opportunities and Challenges

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  1. Expanding Chinese Language Capacity in the United States:Opportunities and Challenges Establishing K-12 Critical Language Programs Workshop Portland, Oregon April 26, 2007 Vivien Stewart Vice President, Education, Asia Society

  2. Why Chinese? • Economic: China accounts for 1/3 of global economic growth and presents important new markets for U.S. companies • Linguistic: Chinese is the most widely spoken first language in the world • Political: China’s political importance in the Asia-Pacific region is critical • Cultural: China has a long history of contributions in literature, philosophy, religion, film, dance, art, music, cuisine, and medicine • Demographic: In the U.S., the Asian and Pacific Islander population is projected to grow nearly 70 percent by 2020 • Technology: China is the world's second-largest Internet market after the United States with more than 110 million users.

  3. Howard Schultz, Chairman, Starbucks China's emerging as one of the centers of the world, if not the center of the world…. If my kids were of very young ages today, I would be asking them, and encouraging them, to learn Chinese. December 25, 2005 Seattle Times

  4. Current Status of Chinese Instruction Foreign Language Enrollments in United States Institutions of Higher Education, 2002 ADFL Bulletin, Modern Language Association Survey

  5. Current Status of Chinese Instruction Foreign Language Enrollments in Public Secondary Schools (Grades 7–12), 2000 American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages *and Princeton University Survey

  6. Current Status of Chinese Instruction

  7. Current Status of Chinese Instruction • Chinese Heritage Schools • National Council of Associations of Chinese Language Schools (NCACLS) | www.ncacls.org • Chinese School Association in the United States (CSAUS) | www.csaus.org • Over 150,000 students enrolled

  8. “Expanding Chinese Language Capacity in the United States” What would it take to have 5 percent of high school students learning Chinese by 2015? Challenges

  9. Challenges 1. Lack of teachers is the key bottleneck Less than 10 institutions prepare Chinese language teachers

  10. Challenges 2. Lack of Knowledge and Resources • Raise awareness of importance of languages • Share best practices from existing programs • Seed funds for schools

  11. Challenges 3. Lack of Materials and Delivery Systems • Materials supply growing but gaps, e.g. elementary schools, heritage learners, immersion programs • Need online and distance learning programs • Research on effective programs

  12. Opportunities and New Initiatives Rapidly growing interest! • 2,400 schools want to offer AP Chinese

  13. Opportunities and New Initiatives • National Security Language Initiative 2006 • Departments of State, Defense, and Education • $114 million to be requested in FY07 • Three Broad Goals: • Expand critical need languages (e.g., Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Farsi, and others) and start at a younger age  • Increase high proficiency in a language, particularly on critical languages through K-16 language study pipelines • Increase the number of foreign language teachers and the resources for them

  14. Opportunities and New Initiatives • Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) 2006 No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 • Purpose: To improve the quality and extent of foreign language instruction, particularly in elementary schools. • Priority: Critical languages • State Education Agencies grants support systemic approaches to improving foreign language learning in the State; Range of awards $50,000 to $400,000 • Local Education Agencies grants support programs of Local school districts; Range of awards $50,000 to $300,000

  15. Opportunities and New Initiatives • FLAP Grantees (States) • Ohio: K-6 Mandarin Program (2,000 students in pilot year) • North Carolina: Development of Online Mandarin courses (25 students per year in pilot) • Wisconsin: Mandarin and Arabic programs K-12. (1,800 students by end of grant period)

  16. Opportunities and New Initiatives • College Board-Hanban Agreement • The College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Chinese Language and Culture Course • Bring guest teachers from China to American classrooms • Provide financial assistance to American teacher-candidates in support of their efforts to attain state certification to teach Chinese • Support the development of instructional materials from elementary school through Advanced Placement courses

  17. Opportunities and New Initiatives • K-16 Flagship at the University of Oregon and Portland Public School District--National Flagship Language Initiative | www.nflc.org/nfl

  18. Asia SocietyFive Year Plan of Chinese Language Initiatives

  19. Resources See AskAsia.org/Chinese

  20. Resources: www.AskAsia.org/Chinese

  21. Resources:Chinese Language Newsletter Subscribe at: http://AskAsia.org/Chinese/

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