Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education
A production crew from China Central Television was filming at Starr King Elementary school in San Francisco on Friday. The focus of her story was on “the rise in Mandarin immersion programs in the United States,” says Rachel Silverman of CCTV. The story should air in the coming weeks. We’ll post a link to it when it does.
Paper, 800 pages, 1 map
ISBN: 978-0-231-15313-3
$37.50
May, 2011
Cloth, 800 pages, 1 map
ISBN: 978-0-231-15312-6
$105.00 / £72.50
In The Columbia Anthology of Chinese Folk and Popular Literature, two of the world’s leading sinologists, Victor H. Mair and Mark Bender, capture the breadth of China’s oral-based literary heritage. This collection presents works drawn from the large body of oral literature of many of China’s recognized ethnic groups—including the Han, Yi, Miao, Tu, Daur, Tibetan, Uyghur, and Kazak—and the selections include a variety of genres. Chapters cover folk stories, songs, rituals, and drama, as well as epic traditions and professional storytelling, and feature both familiar and little-known texts, from the story of the woman warrior Hua Mulan to the love stories of urban storytellers in the Yangtze delta, the shaman rituals of the Manchu, and a trickster tale of the Daur people from the forests of the northeast. The Cannibal Grandmother of the Yi and other strange creatures and characters unsettle accepted notions of Chinese fable and literary form. Readers are introduced to antiphonal songs of the Zhuang and the Dong, who live among the fantastic limestone hills of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; work and matchmaking songs of the mountain-dwelling She of Fujian province; and saltwater songs of the Cantonese-speaking boat people of Hong Kong. The editors feature the Mongolian epic poems of Geser Khan and Jangar; the sad tale of the Qeo family girl, from the Tu people of Gansu and Qinghai provinces; and local plays known as “rice sprouts” from Hebei province. These fascinating juxtapositions invite comparisons among cultures, styles, and genres, and expert translations preserve the individual character of each thrillingly imaginative work.
More here.
From the Lake Oswego Review
By Sarah Howell
, May 19, 2011
SUBMITTED FILE PHOTO
The Lake Oswego School District’s Mandarin PreK immersion program, shown here during a special program earlier this year at Palisades Elementary School, is providing valuable language experience to students at a young age.
The demand for these programs has never been greater. LOSD now offers Spanish immersion classrooms for PreK and Kindergarten, and Mandarin immersion classrooms for preschool/PreK. Classrooms have wait lists heading into fall 2011.
More here.
Another editorial on the same topic in the same paper:
By Cindi Moyle
, May 19, 2011
Our community is at an exciting crossroads for the next generation of learners. We have succesfully experienced Mandarin and Spanish Language Immersion programs in our local schools with extrodinary demand to keep the programs going through fifth grade and beyond!
I am the Mother of a 5-year-old girl in the Chinese program. The benefits have been astounding. Shown as early as the first week of school through her increased creativity of playing and building things, to her wall art, and caring for others. It was clear to us that a new side of her brain was awakening.
As we near the end of the first year, our 5 year old can count into her 30s in Chinese, and into her 60s in English. She can name most basic colors and shapes in Chinese, and, of course, English. She can name several objects, fruits, vegetables and animals in Chinese and sing Chinese songs. The final icing on the cake though was a couple weeks ago when she asked me, “Mom, do you know what 7 plus 4 equals?” Then she gives me the answer! She has recently started reading in English as well.
More here
Just found this web site by a group of families working for immersion near Silicon Valley.
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About Multilingual Kids
Bienvenidos! Ni Hao! Welcome! We’re a group of San Carlos, Belmont, and Redwood Shores families who are interested in increasing the language learning opportunities for our school-aged children. We are advocating for Spanish and/or Mandarin language immersion elementary school classes and high-quality after school language enrichment programs.
You can find their site here.
What we don’t understand is why, if there’s clearly so much interest in Mandarin in this part of NJ, the school district’s don’t simply launch Mandarin immersion programs. Generally speaking, MI programs don’t cost that much more as bilingual teachers aren’t paid more.
Acting Education Commissioner says there’s room to debate special-interest charter schools.
By Marilyn Joyce Lehren | Email the author | May 15, 2011
Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf acknowledged that what he called “boutique” charter schools, such as those offering language immersion programs, might not be needed in suburban districts that are “humming along.”
At a forum sponsored by NJ Spotlight last week in Newark, Cerf cited a proposed Mandarin-immersion charter in Princeton in questioning whether the harm such charters could cause to their districts outweighs their potential to enhance a “portfolio” of educational offerings.
“I think you really can have a very serious debate, the outcome of which is unclear, as to whether that rounds out the portfolio or impairs the success of the overall district,” Cerf said.
What Cerf’s statement means for the future of applications to open two Mandarin-immersion charters in some Essex County districts — including one in Maplewood — is unclear, but it could signal a change in the acting commissioner’s thinking about the role on charters in high-performing suburban districts.
Charter schools are public schools that use tax dollars but operate independently of the school district. Nationally, charter schools do about as well as regular public schools, though the best charters in the country are credited in raising the achievement of low-income children.
More here.
From the Center for Advance Research on Language Acquisition at the University of Minnesota
CARLA Summer Institutes 2011
(To see on the web, go here.)
Hurry and register!
The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota has sponsored a summer institute program for second language teachers since 1996. This internationally known program reflects CARLA’s commitment to link research and theory with practical applications for the classroom. Each institute is highly interactive and includes discussion, theory-building, hands-on activities, and plenty of networking opportunities.
CARLA summer institute participants—more than 3,400 to date—have come from all over the world. They have included foreign language and ESL teachers at all levels of instruction, as well as program administrators, curriculum specialists, and language teacher educators. The institutes that will be offered during summer 2011 are:
Using Social Networking Technology: Collaborative Language Learning
June 20-August 19, 2011
Presenters: Marlene Johnshoy, Alyssa Ruesch and Dan Soneson
In this new 8-week online course, participants will work together to learn ways to use social networking and Web 2.0 application to promote student language learning.
Immersion 101: An Introduction to Immersion Teaching for Character-Based Languages
June 20–24, 2011
Presenters: Tara Fortune and Molly Wieland
This institute provides novice immersion teachers in character-based languages with the tools and information they need to survive and thrive in the immersion classroom. The institute also includes a two-day session for administrators of immersion education programs for character-based languages.
Content-Based Language Instruction and Curriculum Development
July 11-15, 2011
Presenter: Laurent Cammarata
This institute will provide foreign language teachers with the background and tools needed to implement content-based instruction in their second language classroom.
Culture as the Core in the Second Language Classroom
July 11-15, 2011
Presenters: Francine Klein and Wendy Allen
Weaving together theory and practice, this interactive institute will help teachers develop instructional strategies and practical tools for integrating language learning with a systematic culture curriculum.
Focusing on Learner Language:
Second Language Acquisition Basics for Teachers
July 11-15, 2011
Presenters: Elaine Tarone and Maggie Broner
Participants will learn to analyze learner language in light of research on second language acquisition and will then consider implications for language teaching.
Meeting the Challenges of Immersion Education: Counterbalanced Instruction in the Immersion Classroom
July 11-15, 2011
Presenter: Roy Lyster
This new institute will provide a fresh perspective on integrating language and content in the immersion classroom.
Immersion 101: An Introduction to Immersion Teaching
July 18-22, 2011
Presenters: Tara Fortune, Maureen Curran Dorsano and Ursina Swanson
This institute provides novice immersion teachers with the tools and information they need to survive and thrive in the immersion classroom. The institute has been reconfigured to offer two teacher sessions simultaneously and a newly expanded 3-day session for administrators of immersion education programs.
Developing Assessments for the Second Language Classroom
July 18-22, 2011
Presenters: Ursula Lentz and Donna Clementi
Focusing on the alignment of standards-based curriculum and assessment, this institute includes an overview of the wide range of purposes in assessment, and step-by-step guidance in creating integrated performance assessments for classroom use.
Improving Language Learning:
Styles- and Strategies-Based Instruction
July 18-22, 2011
Presenter: Martha Nyikos
This summer institute is designed to help language teachers maximize students’ ability to learn a foreign/second language through styles- and strategies-based instruction.
Language and Culture in Sync: Developing Learners’ Sociocultural Competence
July 25-29, 2011
Presenter: Noriko Ishihara
Participants will gain both theoretical and practical insights on teaching students how to use functional language appropriately in different socio-cultural contexts.
Using Technology: Digital Storytelling for Communication
July 25-29, 2011
Presenters: Marlene Johnshoy, Beth Kautz, Alyssa Ruesch, Dan Soneson, Rick Treece, Pablo Viedma and Zhen Zou
Participants in this institute will learn how to use technology to facilitate storytelling and get “hands on” practice in using computers to promote students’ skills in interpretation, presentation, and interaction.
Developing Materials for Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs)
July 25-29, 2011
Presenters: Bill Johnston and Louis Janus
This summer institute will provide LCTL teachers with practical tools and hands-on experience in designing a wide range of materials that will improve their students’ abilities to use the language for communicative purposes. A special rebate of $150 will be available to teachers who submit satisfactory curricular material to the LCTL website.
Registration Information—Note: Many of the institutes fill up very quickly. Register now!
The cost of each of the CARLA summer institutes is $350 if registration is received by May 31, 2011 and $400 after that date. More information is available on the CARLA website at: http://www.carla.umn.edu/institutes. To request a copy of a print brochure you can email the CARLA office at: carla@umn.edu.
The institutes have been developed and are offered with the support, in part, of the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI Language Resource Center program. The summer institutes are co-sponsored by the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development and College of Liberal Arts.
Advanced Practices in Second Language Teaching Certificate
This certificate offered by the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development provides an exciting opportunity for teachers of foreign languages and English as a second/foreign language to showcase their professional development work through the CARLA summer institute program by taking the institutes for graduate level credit.
More information about the courses needed to obtain the certificate, admission criteria, and application materials can be found on the web at: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/CI/Programs/college/Certificates/Advanced-SLT.html
Mandarin Immersion Parents Council 