This is excellent news, as it means when our students graduate from high school, there will be a program right here in town that will be at their level in Chinese. One problem districts with Mandarin immersion programs have found is that their students graduate above the level of most university courses, leaving them nothing to do in college. It also opens up the possibility of more cross-fertilization between the San Francisco Unified School District and San Francisco State.
— Beth Weise
See also
Chinese Flagship Partner Program
San Francisco State University
The San Francisco State University Chinese Language Flagship Partner Program (SFSU) is an honors undergraduate program in advanced Mandarin Chinese in partnership with the well-established University of Oregon Chinese Flagship Program that draws on the curricular innovations of other Chinese Flagship centers and partners, as well as its own experiences and perspectives.
The program’s goal is to assist highly motivated and dedicated undergraduates to reach ILR 3 Chinese language skills, and at the same time to build advanced competency in their choice of academic and professional disciplines.
The program is supported by the following key elements:
• a vigorous existing Chinese language program at SFSU, and multiple additional avenues for China study;
• Second Language Acquisition/Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language expertise within the Chinese program, assisted by an Advisory Board of experts;
• a university with over 85 Mandarin speakers among the tenured/tenure-track faculty;
• a regional setting where there is a high concentration of Chinese speakers, and wide-ranging opportunities for intercultural exchange.
Eligibility The Flagship Program is open to SFSU students whose cumulative G.P.A. is at least 3.25, and is by application. The core curriculum is designed to guide a select cohort whose Chinese proficiency is at least ILR 1/1+ (intermediate-mid/intermediate-high) to ILR 3 (superior) in three intensive years of study.
Yet in order to attract the best possible students regardless of language background, the Program also supports instruction at the elementary and intermediate-low levels, in order to assist interested students to reach required entrance proficiency. Ongoing assessment will help identify which of the communicative modes (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational) and which of the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) present particular challenges for each individual student. Individualized instruction will be given to address students’ areas of need.
Program Description — A typical curricular path for an incoming freshman student with no background in Chinese will be as follows:
• Summer Intensive Elementary Chinese – The equivalent of one year of Elementary Chinese will be offered in an 8-week (150 class hours) program at SFSU. In addition to receiving language training, introduction of electronic media using Chinese, such as email, internet, blogs and forums, and texting, will encourage students to become self-learners.
• Year 1 – students enroll in regular intermediate Chinese courses, and also in special Flagship Preparatory sessions for accelerated work in reading and writing. A conversation partner system will be instituted, and students will meet with Chinese-speaking Faculty Mentors in their specific disciplines. • Summer in Qingdao – upon verification of ILR 1/1+ proficiency, and acceptance to the Flagship cohort, students attend intensive language courses at the Chinese Flagship Qingdao Center in eastern Shandong Province.
• Year 2 – at SFSU, students enroll in two Flagship courses per semester, a demanding Content-Area Course taught by a Chinese-speaking faculty member (topics will vary), and a related Language Strategy Course in the Chinese Program.. They will also meet regularly with Faculty Mentors in their major discipline.
• Year 3: The “Capstone Year” – at the Chinese Flagship Overseas Center at Nanjing University in Jiangsu Province, students undertake a challenging semester program that combines special advanced Flagship courses with direct enrollment (for grades) in regular Nanjing University courses. Subsequently they are placed in four-month internships in various locations in China to gain practical experience working in their disciplines in Chinese-speaking environments.
• Year 4 – at SFSU, Flagship students complete culminating projects with the assistance of their Faculty Mentors. In addition, they will take advanced courses in Translation and Interpretation, on the premise that these are skills that need to be developed for accurate cross-cultural communication.
The SFSU Chinese Flagship Partner Program is designed to engage both instructors and students in a common enterprise. Instructors will benefit from involvement in a program reflecting the most recent methodologies for language teaching, and students will be provided multiple avenues for language-in-use and cultural interaction, in order to keep them focused despite the accelerated pace and academic pressure.
Students who successfully complete the Flagship Program, fulfill all university requirements as well as those in their undergraduate majors, and attain Chinese proficiency levels of ILR 3 or above as verified by summative assessment, will be awarded Flagship Certification along with their baccalaureate degrees. Certification will indicate our confidence that the holders have the cultural, academic, and linguistic tools to take on leadership roles in the US-China relationship in the coming decades.
Financial Assistance Flagship Scholarships will be available to qualified students, and program staff will also help students to identify and apply for additional financial support, from both public and private sources.
Contact Dr. Charles Egan, Director San Francisco State University Flagship Partner Program Email: chega@sfsu.edu
