Master of Arts in Chinese Studies Program Valparaiso University December 2006

Dec. 4, 2006 Educator Workshop is a success

• Mr. Robert Davis, Director of the Confucius Institute in Chicago and Manager of Chicago's Chinese Connections Program, was in attendance to speak about his successful program in Chicago Public Schools.
• Ms. Cathy Blitzer, Coordinator of International Education for the Indiana Department of Education, was also present and spoke about Indiana's establishment of a relationship with several Chinese provinces and sister cities. Ms. Blitzer also detailed statistics about Chinese language ranking 3rd as the most-spoken native language in Indiana, and Chinese citizens are the 4th highest population in Indiana.
• Mr. Jiajie Jiang, Vice Consul of the Education Section of the Chinese Consulate in Chicago, explained his duties - the Education Section is responsible for 9 Midwestern states - and praised Chicago for their work in establishing Chinese in K-12 schools. Mr. Jiang also offered support of the Education Section to Indiana for establishing the foundation of teaching Chinese in K-12 schools. He also offered significant praise to VU for their leadership in Chinese Studies.

Meet a Current MACS Student: Bethany Birch

• I graduated from Valparaiso University in 2006 with a double major in Biology and Chinese Studies. A lot of people think these two majors are a strange combination, but I think that if you find something interesting you should learn more about it! As it turns out, Biology actually works very well with Chinese as China has a lot of issues that a person with background biology and Chinese can help address. I think it is great that I can use both Chinese and Biology in a future career because I have liked both of them since I was a little kid!
• I chose the Masters of Arts Chinese Studies at Valpo because it is the most affordable one out there. I also had a really good experience at Valpo with my undergraduate studies, so that helped me take a "leap of faith" to try this new program. So far, I am pleased to say I am happy with my decision. My motivation comes from a few different places. I have been intensely interested in China since I was a kid so that is motivation, I also really want to help and serve the Chinese people too. Three years from now, God willing, I will have my debt paid off and be working in China with a NGO of sorts. We'll see what happens though!
• I would recommend [the MACS program] especially for people that are not yet super amazing in Chinese. The teachers are patient and the classes are small so if you need a lot of extra help then you can totally get it! Valpo also has over 20 Chinese nationals studying for their masters here right now, so there are ample opportunities to use Chinese outside of the classroom.

Excerpts from the December 4, 2006 Workshop Minutes:

• School districts represented included Union Township School Corporation, La Porte Community School Corporation, Valparaiso School Corporation, Clinton Central Schools, Merrillville School Corporation, Fegley Middle School (Portage Community School Corporation) and Bishop Noll Institute.
• Following a luncheon, a video presentation was shown of the Valparaiso University Master of Arts in Chinese Studies students performing a skit in Chinese that they wrote.
• Two Valparaiso University students gave brief introductions of themselves and their interest in the Chinese language studies at VU - Anthony Lance (MACS student) and Brekke Berg (Undergraduate in Chinese & Japanese Studies program).
• Professor Zhimin Lin gave an introduction to the VU's Chinese programs: the undergraduate Chinese & Japanese Studies program, the graduate Master of Arts in Chinese Studies program, Hangzhou Study Programs, Summer Study Courses (for students with no Chinese fluency), the Summer Immersion Program (for students and K-12 teachers and administrators), faculty trips to China, and community and extracurricular activities.
• Dean David Rowland gave a brief introduction to the Summer Immersion Program, offered for K-12 teachers and administrators, and college students. He also described the efforts to establish a Confucius Institute at VU.
• Mr. Phil Boley, Superintendent of Clinton Central Schools, then spoke about his trip to China to establish a "sister" exchange relationship and his work on establishing and regulating guidelines for exchange students.
• Mr. Robert Davis gave a background of his personal interest in China and explained how Chicago decided to fund Mandarin Chinese classes in the public schools. Presently, 35 Chicago schools are on the waiting list to begin a Chinese program and described Mayor Daley's commitment to implementing the Chinese language program.
  • The Chicago program receives donations from the Chinese Consulate of books, films and other materials for the classrooms. Recently, the Han Ban contributed $500,000 for books in the Chicago program.
  • Chicago also receives Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP, funded through the Dept of Education) grants to hold workshops about teaching Chinese.
• During a Q&A time, teachers asked about how the language program fits into students' schedules (4 days a week, 45 minutes a day), the greatest obstacle to starting a program (other foreign language teachers trying to keep Chinese out), Mr. Davis' thoughts on the Michigan State University's virtual high school program (good for teacher shortage, bad for language studies when extra time is needed, good for dying languages like Latin, Russian and German) and how can schools work with the Han Ban (teachers for Chicago are arriving from China in January to teach as visiting teachers).
• Professor Lin concluded with an offer to arrange another trip to China for interested teachers, and let teachers know that VU is willing to provide resources for teachers and schools - materials, training workshops, VU students to speak and tutor, and exchange programs.
• The workshop concluded with participants signing up for a Northwest Indiana Network for Teaching Chinese to maintain contact about plans and workshops for Chinese language. If you are interested in being part of the network, email Jamie.Haney@valpo.edu. We plan to circulate regular newsletters to members of the network.

Recent TIME Magazine Article: Mandarin Chinese is the new second world language

• TIME Magazine has named Mandarin Chinese as the next second world language. Estimates say that Chinese is spoken by one out of every six people on the Earth.
• China is the fastest growing destination of college students looking to study abroad. Establishment of Confucius Institutes (modeled on Spain's Instituto Cervantes or Germany's Goethe-Institut) around the world has also helped promote the learning of Chinese language.
• Why should students take Chinese? According to Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language Institute in Washington, "The level of interest is high, but the level of expertise is low." Fluency in Chinese can open many doors for students in their career paths.

For more information regarding the MACS program, contact Jamie Haney, Program Coordinator, at 800-821-7685 or email Jamie.Haney@valpo.edu; Professor Zhimin Lin at Zhimin.Lin@valpo.edu; or the Graduate Studies Office at graduate.studies@valpo.edu or www.valpo.edu/gce/macs.