Hong Gang Jin, the William R. Kenan Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures and director of the Associated Colleges in China Program (ACC), recently received a grant of more than $300,000 from the Henry Luce Foundation for the establishment of an ACC Post Study Abroad Field Experience in Rural China. The program will enable 12 students who have already completed a term or more of study in China to participate in a language-intensive and experience-based language and cultural internship in rural China for eight weeks during the summer.
The Post Study Abroad Program is unique in that it will give students with advanced Chinese language skills the opportunity to experience a part of China rarely seen by those who study the country, particularly study abroad students. Most study abroad programs are conducted in urban areas, but nearly 80 percent of the Chinese population lives in rural areas.
Jin started the Chinese Program at Hamilton in 1989, and in 1996 she helped establish the Associated Colleges in China program, a rigorous study abroad consortium in Beijing. The summer term project will involve collaboration with the Capital University of Economics and Business (CUEB), a long-time partner with the ACC, and Education and Science Society (ESS), an NGO with 25 years of operating experience in China.
The Luce-funded program will target students who hope to become teachers, and prepare them to enter graduate education programs with a high degree of language competency. This will equip them to introduce the development of Chinese language and area studies into their future classrooms.
The Henry Luce Foundation, established by the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time, Inc., in 1936, has special interest in interdisciplinary exploration of higher education, increased understanding between Asia and the United States, the study of religion and theology, scholarship in American art, opportunities for women in science and engineering and environmental and public policy programs. Today the foundation has assets of about $800 million.
Jin explained that the post study abroad project addresses several pressing issues and needs in the larger field of foreign language education and of Chinese language/culture education in the U.S.: a shortage of competent and fluent speakers of critical languages, of which Chinese is one; serious language loss and maintenance every student faces after study abroad programs have been completed; the prevalence of urban-based and classroom-oriented study abroad program design; the lack of opportunities to expose students to a comprehensive and in-depth study of the Chinese culture and society; the need to develop experience-based, field learning study abroad programs; and, the need to find innovative ways to inspire more American students to engage in foreign language/culture learning and teaching.
Jin hopes this program will address the issue of paucity of proficient foreign language experts in the U.S. In her proposal she noted, "Because of the difficulty in finding opportunities to speak Chinese in America after completing study abroad programs, many students' language skills suffer and most students struggle to reach the superior level. We hope to use our project to demonstrate that a post-study abroad program is necessary for further advancing students' Chinese linguistic and cultural ability. This project will serve as a model for other study abroad programs that may be interested in developing post-study abroad opportunities for their students.
"Because part of our selection criteria for students will be their intention to work as an educator in the fields of Chinese language and cultural studies, this project will consequently help create a pool of future professionals who will contribute to the development of modern foreign area and language studies in U.S. education," Jin wrote in the proposal.
The post-study abroad project will give students the opportunity to interact with communities in rural China who make up 80 percent of China's population, thus providing a more realistic and complete picture of China and Chinese culture. "Because of this," she said, "we believe that this project will make an important contribution our students' knowledge of China, which will help to round out their area studies curriculum."
The Post Study Abroad Program is unique in that it will give students with advanced Chinese language skills the opportunity to experience a part of China rarely seen by those who study the country, particularly study abroad students. Most study abroad programs are conducted in urban areas, but nearly 80 percent of the Chinese population lives in rural areas.
Jin started the Chinese Program at Hamilton in 1989, and in 1996 she helped establish the Associated Colleges in China program, a rigorous study abroad consortium in Beijing. The summer term project will involve collaboration with the Capital University of Economics and Business (CUEB), a long-time partner with the ACC, and Education and Science Society (ESS), an NGO with 25 years of operating experience in China.
The Luce-funded program will target students who hope to become teachers, and prepare them to enter graduate education programs with a high degree of language competency. This will equip them to introduce the development of Chinese language and area studies into their future classrooms.
The Henry Luce Foundation, established by the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time, Inc., in 1936, has special interest in interdisciplinary exploration of higher education, increased understanding between Asia and the United States, the study of religion and theology, scholarship in American art, opportunities for women in science and engineering and environmental and public policy programs. Today the foundation has assets of about $800 million.
Jin explained that the post study abroad project addresses several pressing issues and needs in the larger field of foreign language education and of Chinese language/culture education in the U.S.: a shortage of competent and fluent speakers of critical languages, of which Chinese is one; serious language loss and maintenance every student faces after study abroad programs have been completed; the prevalence of urban-based and classroom-oriented study abroad program design; the lack of opportunities to expose students to a comprehensive and in-depth study of the Chinese culture and society; the need to develop experience-based, field learning study abroad programs; and, the need to find innovative ways to inspire more American students to engage in foreign language/culture learning and teaching.
Jin hopes this program will address the issue of paucity of proficient foreign language experts in the U.S. In her proposal she noted, "Because of the difficulty in finding opportunities to speak Chinese in America after completing study abroad programs, many students' language skills suffer and most students struggle to reach the superior level. We hope to use our project to demonstrate that a post-study abroad program is necessary for further advancing students' Chinese linguistic and cultural ability. This project will serve as a model for other study abroad programs that may be interested in developing post-study abroad opportunities for their students.
"Because part of our selection criteria for students will be their intention to work as an educator in the fields of Chinese language and cultural studies, this project will consequently help create a pool of future professionals who will contribute to the development of modern foreign area and language studies in U.S. education," Jin wrote in the proposal.
The post-study abroad project will give students the opportunity to interact with communities in rural China who make up 80 percent of China's population, thus providing a more realistic and complete picture of China and Chinese culture. "Because of this," she said, "we believe that this project will make an important contribution our students' knowledge of China, which will help to round out their area studies curriculum."
