PREPARING CHINESE LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR

AMERICAN SCHOOLSJennifer Liu

Indiana University, BloomingtonLixing Frank Tang

New York UniversityNational Chinese Language Conference

April 22-24, 2010

Demand

future demand for quality Chinese language teachers

Pre-2004: Total Student Enrollment in Chinese HEd 7-12 HL

34,153 (MLA,

2002)

24,000(ACTFL,

2000)

100,000(NCACLS,

2005)

60,000 (CSAUS, 2005)

160,000 Total: roughly

238,000

3

Languages Taught in Elementary Schools(CAL, 1997 & 2008)

L SP FR

*SPSpSp

LA

**CH

GE

ASL

HB

IT JP AR

RU

97 79 27 8 3 0.3

5 2 2 2 3 0.1

1

08 88 11 7 6 3 2 2 1 2 1 1 0.2

* SP SP SP: Spanish for Speakers of Spanish** Chinese: + 900% increase

http://cal.org/flsurvey From Shuhan Wang, 2009

4

Languages Taught in Secondary Schools (CAL, 1997 & 2008)

L SP

FR

GE

LA

SPSpSp

*CH

ASL

IT JP HE AR

GRE

RU

‘97

93

64

24

20

9 1 2 3 7 0.2

0 1 3

‘08

93

46

14

13

8 4 4 4 3 1 1 1 0.3

http://cal.org/flsurvey

* Chinese: + 300%

From Shuhan Wang, 2009

5

Enrollments in Higher Education Language Courses: Fall 1998, 2002, and 2006

1998 2002

% Change

1998-2002 2006

% Change 2002-06

Spanish656,59

0 746,267 13.7 822,985 10.3

French199,06

4 201,979 1.5 206,426 2.2

German 89,020 91,100 2.3 94,264 3.5

ASL 11,420 60,781 432.2 78,829 29.7

Italian 49,297 63,899 29.6 78,368 22.6

Japanese 43,141 52,238 21.1 66,605 27.5

Chinese 28,456 34,153 20.0 51,582 51.0

Latin 26,145 29,841 14.1 32,191 7.9

Russia 23,791 23,921 0.5 24,845 3.9

Arabic 5,505 10,584 92.3 23,974 126.5

Source: Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2006. MLA, accessible at http://www.mla.org/enroll_survey06_fin.

From Shuhan Wang, 2009

2009: Heritage Language Programs

Type of System

Schools Students

Est. Teacher

sNCACLS (Taiwan)

800+ 100,000 3,000

CSAUS(PRC)

405 80,000 3,000

From Shuhan Wang’s personal Communications with Presidents of both association, March 2009

Program Needs

Elementary level: immersion teaching strategies, out-of-class reinforcement

Secondary level: classroom management, articulation with higher education courses (content/methodology/outcome)

Technology-based: instructional design, curriculum package, course management

Teacher Preparation: Program Type

Academic Year MA programs in Chinese with an emphasis on

pedagogy (IU, OSU, U Hawaii, Rutgers U, Shelton Hall U, Columbia U, New York U, etc.)

Summer partnerships with Chinese universities

(Nanjing U) US funded opportunities, e.g., STARTALK

teacher training programs Periodic workshops

Confucius Institutes, regional associations

Teacher Preparation: Barriers

Academic Year Focus more on declarative knowledge; less

flexibility; more for prospective or retooling teachers

Summer Cannot address TCFL and US context Short-term and sporadic training may not yield

desired results; more for in-service teachers Periodic workshops

Focus more on procedural knowledge; less systematic

Teacher Preparation: Best Practices

Combining academic year and summer training (IU)

Combining academic year and periodic workshops

Combining summer training and periodic workshops (Southern California)

Teacher Preparation: A Case at IU

Initial Training Watch and analyze videotaped lessons Practice microteaching Describe and discuss problem scenarios Listen to talks and lectures Study another language

Teacher Preparation: A Case at IU

Yearlong Training Experience guided self-reflection on critical events

of the classroom and learner performance via lesson-planning and meeting with teacher trainer

Discuss comments with the supervisor after faculty visits

Discuss comments with peers after class visits Consult students Attend relevant conferences and workshops on

campus Taking relevant course work in Education, Second

Language Studies, Linguistics, EALC, etc.

Teacher Preparation: A Case at IU

Summer Training To be involved in course and curriculum

planning To be engaged in material design and field-

testing To focus on instructional problems and think

for themselves To document and study their own teaching To be creative and think out of the box

Teacher Preparation: Lesson Learned

Sim

on B

org

, 1997

16

Teacher Preparation: Lesson Learned

Required knowledge of Self 自我 Student 学生 Context 环境 Learning 学习 Purposes 目的 Curriculum 课程、教材 Subject matter 内容 Instructional technique

技巧、教法

Literacy for CFL Professionals

17

Teacher Preparation: Lesson Learned

认知范畴分为几个阶层 阶层的区分取决于范围大

小和影响多寡 表层的认知范围窄，对教

师的影响少，培训所耗的时间短

深层的认知范围最广，对教师的影响最大，培训所耗的时间也最长

Cognitive Hierarchy Hypothesis 认知阶层的假设

Micro- Approac

h

Macro- Approach

18

Teacher Preparation: Lesson Learned

参训者的认知范畴和培训者的方法交互影响

参训者认知的改变由表层到深层，培训者方法的改变由易到难

简单、短期的培训法影响表层的认知

复杂、长期的培训法影响深层的认知

Cognitive Transformation Hypothesis 认知变动的假设

观念、态度

培训方

法认知范

畴

判断、决定行 为

技巧

反省、分析

综合、创造

操 作

观察

Content Pedagogical

Core

General Pedagogical

Core

Field Experiences

Content Core

Teacher Candidate

Where are our graduates? (1)

Stuyvesant High School Bronx High School of Science Lycee Francais de New York Ethical Culture Fieldston School Packer Collegiate School Bard College School Nightingale-Bamford School Henry Street International School

Where are our graduates? (2)

Ross Global Academy Charter School Ross Institute, IL International Leadership Academy

Charter School PS 173Q PS 201Q NEST + M Middle/High School Middle School for Science and Medicine Our World Neighborhood Charter School Dual Language Asian Studies High School

Where are our graduates? (3)

The Global Learning Collaborative School Oceanside High School (LI, NY) Village Community School Lawrence Woodmere School (LI, NY) Horace Greeley High School,

(Westchester County, NY) EF International School, an IB School

(Tarrytown, NY) Mamaroneck School (Westchester

County, NY)

Where are our graduates? (4)

Horace Greeley High School (Westchester County, NY)

Suffern Middle and High School (Rockland County, NY)

Bethlehem Central High School (Albany, NY)

New Rochelle High School (Westchester County, NY)

Where are our graduates? (5)

Baruch College, CUNY SUNY New Paltz Tenafly Public School, NJ Tesseract School, Arizona Dalian International School, China Shanghai British International School,

China Bangkok International School, Thailand

Top five challenges to Chinese language teacher ed programs Not enough schools for field experiences Not enough master teachers to mentor

and guide prospective teachers Not enough university faculty who have

first-hand teaching experience in K-12 schools

More collaboration between teacher ed programs and Chinese language programs

Lack of support from the university administration

Top five challenges in non-classroom instruction related areas

1. Lack of concrete learning standards2. Lack of curriculum guides3. Lack of quality textbooks4. Lack of resources5. Lack of school support, mentoring, and

related professional development

Top challenges in classroom instruction related areas

1. Motivating students2. Classroom management3. Teaching literacy4. Teaching multi-level students5. Assessing students