Teaching in America – Part 4: Language Teaching in America STARTALK Guest Teacher Summer Institute July 24-25, 2012
Chinese guest teachers…….. …♫..are coming to America! ..♪…
It’s Your Turn! Activating Your Background Knowledge • Take a few minutes to think about what you know and have heard about languagelearning in the United States of America. • Share your ideas with your group and record all of your ideas on a sheet of paper.
• Which of these comments do you think are accurate? (Put a “√”) Which of them might not be true? (Put an “?”)
EU and US Language Capacities European Union • Bilingual Citizens: In Europe Luxembourg was the highest with 99 % of its citizens being bilingual; Britain was next to last with 30 % being bilingual. • 8 out of 10 students, ages 1524, can have a normal conversation in at least one world language other than their native language. Source: Associated Press, 09/2005
United States • 9 % of Americans speak both their native language and another language fluently. Source: U.S. Senate resolution designating 2005 the "Year of Foreign Language Study”
% of World Using Two or More Languages Monolinguals 1/3 Bilinguals & Multilinguals 2/3
Crystal, 1997 National Council of State Supervisors for Languages
K-12 World Language Study 4.2 million (15%) of all elementary students are enrolled in a WL course. 10.5 million (or 41%) of secondary students (grades 7–12) are enrolled in a WL course. Source: Foreign Language Teaching in U.S. Schools: Results of a National Survey, CAL, 2008.
Source: CAL, 2008
Total K-12 World Language Enrollment in the U.S.
State and Local Language Policies • 16 out of 50 states require 2 years or more of language study for graduation or college admission • Most states and/or school districts have: – World Language Content Standards based on the ACTFL National Standards – Benchmarks for achievement
• Most school districts have World Language curricula • Federal grant funding influences local priorities
National Security Languages Initiative (NSLI) A policy of the federal government that promotes an increase in the number of K-16 students learning “less commonly taught” (LCT) languages like: Arabic Chinese Farsi Hindi Korean Russian Urdu
Chinese Enrollment Change 2004-2005 to 2007-2008
K-12 Chinese Trends: Ohio & Utah As Examples Academic Year
Total K-12 Chinese: Ohio
Total K-12 Chinese: Utah
2003-04
467
159
2004-05
492
263
2005-06
492
435
2006-07 *
777
1,215
2007-08
2,272
3,229
2008-09
4,928
7,502
2009-10
8,297
8,152
2010-11
10,852**
9,012
* Guest teachers’ arrival in Ohio and Utah ** Preliminary data
Estimated Growth of K-12 Chinese Language Study in the U.S. Since the 2000 ACTFL Survey
Grades K-6:
900%
Grades 7-12
300%
Higher Ed.
51%
Post-Secondary Language Study  1.57 million university students (8.6%) are studying at least one world language other than their native language. Source: Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Modern Language Association, 2009.
World Language Enrollments in U.S. Higher Education (2009) Modern Language Association
• • • • • • •
Spanish French German ASL Italian Japanese Chinese
55.1% 13.8% 6.1% 5.8% 5.1% 4.7% 4.0%
• • • • • • • •
Arabic Latin Russian Ancient Greek Hebrew Portuguese Korean Other
2.2% 2.0% 1.7% 1.3% 0.9% 0.7% 0.5% 2.1%
World Language Program Models Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) Programs Immersion Programs: Total, Partial & Dual Immersion Traditional Secondary School Programs (including AP) Career-Technical Language Programs Distance Learning, Web-Based and Other Digital Learning Programs Summer Intensive Programs (e.g., STARTALK) After School Programs
Teaching Materials Textbooks (selected and paid for by the school or district with very limited resources). Authentic Engaging Materials (selected and usually paid for by the teacher): • visuals (e.g., pictures, posters, etc.) • manipulatives (e.g., menus, puppets, games, etc.) • technology (e.g., PPT, CDs, DVDs, etc.)
www.AskAsia.org: Free online resources. www.classk12.org: Excellent site for resources! http://NNELL.org: Early language learning resources
Graduation Requirements Example # 1: Ohio (Typical) English Language Arts Mathematics Science Social Studies Electives* Fine Arts Health Physical Education Economics & Financial Literacy
4 Credits** 4 Credits 3 Credits 3 Credits 5 Credits 1 Credit ½ Credit ½ Credit Embedded
* Electives credits must include one or any combination of world language, fine arts, business, career-technical education, family and consumer sciences, technology, agricultural education or English language arts, mathematics, science or social studies courses not otherwise required. ** 1 Credit = 120 hours of focused study/class time. One credit usually equals one year-long class.
Graduation Requirements Example # 1: Delaware (Not Typical) English Language Arts Mathematics Science Social Studies Career Pathway Courses World Language Physical Education Health Electives
4 Credits* 4 Credits 3 Credits 3 Credits 3 Credits 2 Credits 1 Credit ½ Credit 3 ½ Credits
*1 Credit = 120 hours of focused study/class time. One credit usually equals one year-long class.
World Language Teaching Challenges • National perception that world language learning is unimportant/unnecessary. • Most students begin learning another language too late. • Many ineffective program models in the elementary and middle schools where programs do exist. • Poor K-12 program articulation / multiple entry points • Poor articulation between high school and university • Lack of sufficient national and local funding • Lack of certified teachers • Lack of curricula, textbooks and other teaching materials for languages like Arabic and Mandarin Chinese.