Professor of Chinese Hong Gang Jin has been awarded a four-year $994,700 grant from the Department of Education's Fulbright Hayes Group Projects Abroad program.
The proposed project, The ACC Intensive Language Training Program for Students and Language Professionals, has three components. It will create 12 new full-year scholarships, enabling more students to join the ACC's existing advanced language and culture study aboard program; provide four new fellowships for ACC's post-study abroad field studies program; and establish a new summer Chinese language teachers' institute for 10 K-12 teachers.
Jin has administered the Associated Colleges in China (ACC), an intensive year-long Chinese language program hosted by Capital University of Economics and Business (CUEB) in Beijing for more than a decade. "Students often cite cost as the reason for not participating in the year-long ACC program," said Jin. "The Fulbright-Hayes grant will enable us to provide some much needed financial relief to talented and motivated students who simply don't have the resources to enroll in the program."
The post-study abroad program enables students who have already completed a term or more of study in China to participate in a language-intensive and experience-based language and cultural internship in rural China for eight weeks during the summer. Jin's goal for the post-study abroad initiative is to make it possible for students to retain and expand upon what they learned during their initial study abroad experiences.
"While most study abroad programs do an excellent job training students to become fluent Mandarin Chinese language speakers, we are finding that students suffer a serious language loss and are having a difficult time maintaining and improving their Chinese language skills upon returning to the U.S.," Jin said. "Students have limited opportunities to speak Chinese at home and without regular use, their language skills deteriorate."
Jin is particularly excited about establishing the new program for K-12 teachers. To respond to a serious shortage of Chinese language teachers at K-12 levels, many colleges and universities are beginning to offer teacher training programs for Chinese language. However, Jin pointed out that many of these programs target native Chinese speakers and focus training only on pedagogy and materials development.
"They ignore the fact that many non-native teachers of Chinese are now teaching, with many more planning to join the force. These teachers will need both pedagogical training as well as refresher language courses as part of their in-service and pre-service professional training – all things the ACC program can provide," Jin explained.
The summer Chinese Language Teachers Institute will support US K-12 teachers of Chinese a six-week immersion program in China, offering courses, seminars, workshops in Chinese language, culture, pedagogy and teaching practicum. The Institute will have three components. The first, advanced language training, will require participants to take two classes with ACC instructors, enabling participants to brush up on their language skills. Participants will also have one hour of each day devoted to cultural understanding of China. Jin will invite faculty from different institutions in Beijing to lead discussions on China's society, education, economy, government, family structures, folklores, literature, arts and culture. Cultural tours to historical sites in Beijing and nearby cities will be arranged.
Finally, the teachers will participate in a series of training workshops that will be organized on theories and practice of teaching Chinese as a second language, including pedagogical principles of second language instruction, curricular design and instructional approaches, classroom techniques, small group and task-based instruction, and assessment.
"We will have a highly-respected second language acquisition scholar with us and she will be responsible for administering pre- and post-tests to assess the development of language skills for all program participants," Jin noted. The preliminary evaluation of the initial Fulbright-funded field studies program showed that all students made significant gains in these areas, and Jin expects to see similar results this summer.
The Fulbright-Hayes Group Projects Abroad program is administered by the United States Department of Education and provides grants to support overseas projects in training, research, and curriculum development in modern foreign languages and area studies for teachers, students, and faculty engaged in a common endeavor. The Henry Luce Foundation was established in 1936 by Henry R. Luce, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time Inc., to honor his parents who were missionary educators in China. The Foundation builds upon the vision and values of four generations of the Luce family – broadening knowledge and encouraging the highest standards of service and leadership.
The proposed project, The ACC Intensive Language Training Program for Students and Language Professionals, has three components. It will create 12 new full-year scholarships, enabling more students to join the ACC's existing advanced language and culture study aboard program; provide four new fellowships for ACC's post-study abroad field studies program; and establish a new summer Chinese language teachers' institute for 10 K-12 teachers.
Jin has administered the Associated Colleges in China (ACC), an intensive year-long Chinese language program hosted by Capital University of Economics and Business (CUEB) in Beijing for more than a decade. "Students often cite cost as the reason for not participating in the year-long ACC program," said Jin. "The Fulbright-Hayes grant will enable us to provide some much needed financial relief to talented and motivated students who simply don't have the resources to enroll in the program."
The post-study abroad program enables students who have already completed a term or more of study in China to participate in a language-intensive and experience-based language and cultural internship in rural China for eight weeks during the summer. Jin's goal for the post-study abroad initiative is to make it possible for students to retain and expand upon what they learned during their initial study abroad experiences.
"While most study abroad programs do an excellent job training students to become fluent Mandarin Chinese language speakers, we are finding that students suffer a serious language loss and are having a difficult time maintaining and improving their Chinese language skills upon returning to the U.S.," Jin said. "Students have limited opportunities to speak Chinese at home and without regular use, their language skills deteriorate."
Jin is particularly excited about establishing the new program for K-12 teachers. To respond to a serious shortage of Chinese language teachers at K-12 levels, many colleges and universities are beginning to offer teacher training programs for Chinese language. However, Jin pointed out that many of these programs target native Chinese speakers and focus training only on pedagogy and materials development.
"They ignore the fact that many non-native teachers of Chinese are now teaching, with many more planning to join the force. These teachers will need both pedagogical training as well as refresher language courses as part of their in-service and pre-service professional training – all things the ACC program can provide," Jin explained.
The summer Chinese Language Teachers Institute will support US K-12 teachers of Chinese a six-week immersion program in China, offering courses, seminars, workshops in Chinese language, culture, pedagogy and teaching practicum. The Institute will have three components. The first, advanced language training, will require participants to take two classes with ACC instructors, enabling participants to brush up on their language skills. Participants will also have one hour of each day devoted to cultural understanding of China. Jin will invite faculty from different institutions in Beijing to lead discussions on China's society, education, economy, government, family structures, folklores, literature, arts and culture. Cultural tours to historical sites in Beijing and nearby cities will be arranged.
Finally, the teachers will participate in a series of training workshops that will be organized on theories and practice of teaching Chinese as a second language, including pedagogical principles of second language instruction, curricular design and instructional approaches, classroom techniques, small group and task-based instruction, and assessment.
"We will have a highly-respected second language acquisition scholar with us and she will be responsible for administering pre- and post-tests to assess the development of language skills for all program participants," Jin noted. The preliminary evaluation of the initial Fulbright-funded field studies program showed that all students made significant gains in these areas, and Jin expects to see similar results this summer.
The Fulbright-Hayes Group Projects Abroad program is administered by the United States Department of Education and provides grants to support overseas projects in training, research, and curriculum development in modern foreign languages and area studies for teachers, students, and faculty engaged in a common endeavor. The Henry Luce Foundation was established in 1936 by Henry R. Luce, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time Inc., to honor his parents who were missionary educators in China. The Foundation builds upon the vision and values of four generations of the Luce family – broadening knowledge and encouraging the highest standards of service and leadership.
