by LOUISE R. SHAW

May 19, 2016 | 461 views | 0  | 24  |  | 

BECKY WRIGHT invites her daughter, Vivian, to speak the Chinese words she has learned from her older siblings, at a board meeting last month.

FARMINGTON—Dual immersion programs at elementary schools in Davis School District have become a major point of debate during public comment periods at meetings of the Davis School District Board of Education.

Board members instituted a public comment period last year and in the past several months, the majority who speak are either strongly in favor or strongly opposed to dual immersion in elementary schools.

The programs, which offer studies of a second language beginning as early as kindergarten, are now established in 11 of the district’s 60 elementary schools. That will grow to 12 of 62 when Canyon Creek in Farmington opens with a Spanish program in the fall.

During public hearings on boundary changes for the new elementary schools last December, a large contingent of parents complained that children who were not enrolled in language programs were being treated as second-class citizens and score lower on standardized tests.

In subsequent meetings, parents – and in one case, a student – have stood to either support or oppose the program.

Read more:  The Davis Clipper – Immersion program pros cons shared with school board

I don’t have any first-hand experience with this particular program, but some families have asked me about programs for high school students, so I thought I’d post this as they seem to be good.  As always, having language classes at the appropriate proficiency level for students coming out of immersion programs is sometimes a problem. It sounds as if theirs is small enough that they could accommodate a student whose Chinese was relatively high level.

Beth

If your parent group just happens to have some extra money laying around at the end of the year and is looking for something to fund for your teachers…

You can check out the website for the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition here.

Register now for your summer institute!Join the more than 5,000 language teachers who have participated in this internationally known program. Linking research and theory with practical applications for the classroom, each institute includes discussion, theory-building, hands-on activities, and plenty of networking opportunities. Hurry-the early-bird registration deadline is May 29! Summer Institutes for Language Teachers CARLA offers a range of institutes targeted at foreign language and ESL teachers from a variety of teaching levels and contexts: Using the Web for Communicative Language Learning and Professional Development-online course  July 11-August 14, 2016 Using Technology in Second Language Teaching July 11-15, 2016 Creativity in the Classroom: Fostering Student Learning Through Creative Language Experiences July 11-15, 2016 Teaching Language Through the Lens of Social Justice–NEW and almost full! July 11-15, 2016 Developing Assessments for the Second Language Classroom July 18-22, 2016 Improving Language Learning: Styles- and Strategies-Based Instruction July 18-22, 2016 Focusing on Learner Language: Second Language Acquisition Basics for Teachers July 18-22, 2016 Culture as the Core in the Second Language Classroom July 25-29, 2016 Content-Based Language Instruction and Curriculum Development  July 25-29, 2016 Developing Materials for Language Teaching July 25-29, 2016 Teaching Heritage Languages and Learners–NEW! July 25-29, 2016 Special Opportunity! CARLAtech: Transitioning to Teaching Language Online (TTLO) June 13-July 3, 2016 (3-week online course)

Check out this great infographic on the topic.

Yinghua Academy expansion underway

By Gail Olson, Northeaster

September 18, 2013

Susan Berg (Photo by Gain Olson)

Northeast resident and parent Jennifer Shadowens said that her two children giggle when she tries to speak Chinese to them.

Both youngsters are students at Yinghua Academy, a K-8 Chinese immersion public charter school at 1616 Buchanan St. NE. Shadowens, who is Yinghua’s board chair, said she doesn’t mind when her attempts to replicate the language’s tonal sounds amuse her kids.

“It’s empowering for them to be experts at something.” She added that she and her husband—who met in a Greek language class in Athens—resolved that their children would learn another language when they were young. “The program has helped them be successful. It makes learning a language a way of life. Now they want to learn Spanish and Nepali. I love it that my kids think it’s normal.”

Please read more here.

Beyond Pedagogy: Content Matters in Chinese 
By Yun Qin
The linguistic philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once said, “The limits of my language are the limits of my world.” If we begin with the understanding that students learn a new language in order to experience a bigger world, then it follows that language teachers should not teach languages with the final goal being language acquisition alone. Rather, teachers are tasked with showing students how to use languages as a tool to explore different life directions, to expand their minds, and to push their students beyond their limits. Most teacher-training events I have attended focus on teaching methodologies—in other words, “how to teach.” But without a focus on what to teach, the how to teach falls flat.

To provide an answer to this question of what to teach, the Chinese Language Initiatives team at Asia Society has designed a series of China Studies Seminars. Our goal is to help Chinese language teachers gain a deeper understanding and knowledge of modern China—of Chinese language and Chinese culture per se, as well as to guide teachers to integrate both traditional and contemporary cultural elements into their Chinese classrooms. This summer we facilitated the first seminar in Shanghai. In the coming months, we will share reflections from our participants, and give you a taste of what they experienced through interviews with them and the seminar experts.Read on for details of the seminar, and watch a video to hear from the participants themselves.