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Why Chinese?

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One in five people worldwide speak Chinese, yet very few Americans are learning the language. Image: Shijie Ribao.
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One in five people worldwide speak Chinese, yet very few Americans are learning the language. Image: Shijie Ribao.

The rise of China has presented new economic, political and social realities that demand greater U.S. engagement at every level. As a result, there is an urgent need in schools to create programs that will raise the number of Americans who can demonstrate a functional proficiency in Chinese language. There are a great number of reasons for the Chinese language to become a more integrated part of the American curriculum, and some of the most important examples can be surmised quite quickly.

China’s increasing political importance in the Asia-Pacific region is now broadly acknowledged and, particularly in the post-9/11 era, its help has become sought by countries such as the United States on resolving difficult foreign policy issues such as North Korea and continuing the fight against international terrorism. Collaboration with China is becoming increasingly essential for solving a vast range of global issues; from nuclear proliferation and green initiatives to currency exchange problems and outlining modern trade laws, there are fewer world projects can be solved without China’s involvement every day.

China’s tremendous economic growth has created new opportunities and challenges for U.S. businesses. Between 1978 and 2002, the annual GDP growth of China leapfrogged continually, eventually reaching 9.4% or what is three times the world average. In recent years (2001-2004) China has accounted for one third of global economic growth, and shows no sign of losing ground.

China is also well on its way to becoming an immense market for American goods and services in addition to its familiar role as the vital supplier to American manufacturers and consumers. U.S. trade with China exceeded $245 billion in 2004, second only to trade with Canada and Mexico, and it is expected to increase further.

As a world civilization that has endured a 5,000 year and mostly exclusive history, modern China is poised to become a major international cultural presence with the ever-expanding reach of its literature, various cuisines, music and film, dance and art, and its contributions to various religions and philosophy. The youth of today’s world should be prepared to join the Chinese in conversation and analysis as they draw upon their tremendous heritage and rediscover knowledge and works that will undoubtedly enrich our present world.

Aside from having been an official language of the United Nations, Chinese has also risen in its recent boom to become the most widely spoken first language in the world. In addition to the mainland’s People’s Republic of China, the Chinese language extends beyond to regions such as Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, and Mongolia.

In cyberspace as well, the last decade has seen Chinese skyrocket to being the second most-used internet language, with the outlook remaining clear that its percentage is expected to grow.

In terms of the United States’ diverse demographics, China is likely to contribute to the projected Asian and Pacific Islander growth of 213 percent over the next 50 years from 10.7 million to 33.4 million. This will become a substantial demographic shift with the Asian percentage of the America’s population doubling from 3.8 percent to 8 percent, and addresses the fact that while the vast change remains abroad, it will quickly become a domestic issue for the United States and other nations in the decades ahead.

Related Links:

A Challenge to Change: The Language Learning Continuum Claire W. Jackson, Editor. | link

A Framework for Introductory Japanese Language Curricula in American High Schools and Colleges. J. Marshall Unger, Fred C. Lorish, Mari Noda & Yasuko Wada. Washington: National Foreign Language Center. 1993.

AP Chinese Language and Culture Course Home Page, The College Board | link

Foreign Language Annuals, Special Middle School Edition, Spring 1994, vol 27:1. ACTFL.

Guide for Basic Chinese Language Programs. Cornelius Kubler et al, Pathways vol III. Washington: National Foreign Language Center. 1997.

Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education | link

Introducing Chinese into the High Schools: the Dodge Initiative. Sarah Jane Moore et al, NFLC Monograph Series, 1992

Nanduti: Early Foreign Language Learning | link

"Report on the 2000 CLTA Articulation Project," Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association. vol 36:3. October 2001, p. 25.

Mapping the Course of the Chinese Language Field, Madeline Chu, Editor, CLTA monograph series. vol III. 1999 | link

Starting a Secondary School Chinese Program. Margaret Wong, 1996.

In An Emerging Field. Scott McGinnis, editor. Columbus, OH: Foreign Language Publications, p. 159-180.

 

A Teacher | 08:15:09 03:05pm
Brian, thanks for the chuckle - your post made me laugh. I do agree with you to a certain extent ... theory is academic ... real learning is a function of the motivation of teacher and student and the connection between teacher and student. However, making that connection is usually much more difficult if you do not have the training and tools that the theory provides. Understanding the foundational principles and theories about teaching language helps a teacher tremendously in becoming "good at it." Explaining the quirks of language and grammar in a simple, clear and systematic way is a lot more difficult than it first appears. I learned this lesson as a 22 year-old college student when I tutored some non-native English speakers of my own age. After a career in Business, I became a teacher of Chinese at the high school level. I had no training to be a teacher, so I had to develop techniques on my own ... but I have also kept an open mind over the last ten years to any and all suggestions of technique and theory so as to improve my skills in connecting with my students. Everyone can teach. Developing that "range of techniques" can be done in the classroom ... even if you study theory, you need to practice the techniques in the classroom. Something to keep in mind is that the teaching methods in China are very very different from the teaching methods in the USA. (We are not memorizers) Native Chinese do really need to learn the techniques to reach American students in order to succeed in the classroom.
kurt Hamm | 02:05:11 07:36am
I agree with what you are saying. "Explaining the quirks of language and grammar in a simple, clear and systematic way is a lot more difficult than it first appears. " as well as "Westerners are not memorizers". I live in China and I have found a solution custom made for English speakers who are beginners in Mandarin. It is a complete program that can be downloaded for free. I think, with the right teaching methods, the program should take about two years to complete. The program has two text books that are taught side by side, the Grammar Text (322 pages) and the Workbook (283 pages). Each Workbook lesson has an accompanying MP3 sound file that has recordings of all the dialogs and new words. The Grammar Text has complete grammar explanations combined with ample usage examples and the Workbook has dialogs, exercises and speaking activities. You don’t have to be an expert on grammar to use this program. The only grammatical terms used in this program are verb, noun, adjective, subject and object. It begins by teaching sentences that use the Subject-Verb-Object sentence pattern because it is familiar to English speakers and makes learning as intuitive as possible. It can be found at www.chineseocw.com
Brian | 08:04:09 03:36pm
I disagree with anonymous. Teaching a foreign language is only as difficult as the students desire to learn divided by the teachers desire to teach. Language acquisition theory is a bunch of hogwash made up by English language professors who exist in a persistent quagmire of desperation caused by the fact that they wasted 6 years in college studying all the redundant and useless (dead) branches of English which no one on Earth besides other English professors have the slightest interest in blow harding about (or paying them to do so). The truth is, most advanced language theories are nothing more than a gimmick designed to bewilder and thus create a false impression that there is a need to learn more than every native speaker already knows and ultimately sell new generations of foreign language text books. $$$ Don't buy into it $$$. Most English language professors I have met, who write and sell books about Language Acquisition Theory haven't spent any significant amount of time in a class room filled with foreign students. And when asked for their opinion on any common challenge to be found in the foreign language classroom, stammer and back peddle their way out of the conversation and usually end with a statement which implies that the answer is far too complex for anyone less educated than they are to understand. Heh heh heh. The point is, anyone can teach their native language, not all will be good at it. Mostly it takes experience in the skill of discovering what turns your students on and developing a range of techniques. But I believe, if you want to teach, and your students want to learn, you will find success no matter what training you have had. Of course a new teacher should follow an established curriculum, and then over time learn to incorporate their own personal improvements into the lessons. Eventually each teacher will find their own best method and it will become second nature to them. Once that happens, watch out, you will find you even surprise yourself with insights and details you never realized before, essentially learning as you teach. This is how a real teacher is born. Cheers!
samuel welsh | 07:31:09 12:18pm
This is a great opportunity to make friends with Chinese folks and learn about their culture.
Blitzen4 | 07:24:09 01:10pm
Anyone who has spent sufficient time in China for the past 20 years, and who has worked there long enough to become acquainted with the evident strengths and development evident there, will agree that the U.S. places itself at a disadvantage in failing to establish Chinese language study in U.S. public schools. Demographics, economic development, strategic security and evident international trade prospects indicate that China may well be the "prime mover" in the 21st century. How can we engage these challenges without a better pool of people with Chinese language proficiency? The greatest difficulty has been that the U.S. is training far too few teachers of Chinese language. This is exacerbated by the fact that the U.S. makes it very difficult for Chinese undergraduate students to obtain visas to study in the U.S., and in addition, many school boards and administrators seem to be unaware of the possibilities that already exist to help teach Chinese language in our public schools. Chinese universities have many excellent English majors and other majors with at least 3 years of university level English who could be brought to the U.S., at reasonable cost, to begin Chinese language instruction in our primary and secondary schools. There are means of improving this situation, but to do so will require a well organized effort on the part of educators in the U.S. and in our government.
Anonymous | 08:02:09 11:33am
Blitzen4 seems to think that anyone can just walk in off the street and teach something they know. Just because I can speak English doesn't mean I should move to Asia today and think I can walk into a classroom and teach it. Obviously you know nothing about teacher training, language aquisition theory or the plethora of problems that come from the teachers we have been experiencing as a result of native-speakers who have no formal teacher training and are not accustombed to the American educational system.
Kurt Hamm | 02:05:11 07:43am
I have found very few people teaching English in China that really understand how to handle the Chinese students. I find Chinese people who try to teach Chinese particularly difficult to learn from. I have been to a lot of classes and found the memorizing very tedious and the lack of theory (step by step grammar) leaves a student with a lot to piece together as the course goes on. Read the first two units of the Grammar Book at the www.chineseocw.com website if you want a good summary of the whole language. Demystifying the language is the first step.

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