KSU secures $99,774 grant for Intensive Summer Program for Chinese Teachers in K-12

KENNESAW, Ga. (Jan 24, 2011) — The National Foreign Language Center (NFLC) at the University of Maryland has awarded a $99,774 grant to the Department of Foreign Languages in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The title of the project is: Intensive Summer Program for Chinese Teachers in K-12. The Program Director is Dr. Luixi Meng (Associate Professor of Chinese). The NFLC proposal was co-authored by Dr. Anja Bernardy (Associate Professor of Spanish and Foreign Language Education) and Dr. Meng. Dr. Anja Bernardy will serve as Curriculum Development and Assessment Specialist. Dr. Wenhua Jin (Assistant Professor of Chinese) will serve as the instructional lead for the project.

As Program Director, Dr. Meng will be responsible for advertising the program and recruiting students, with the assistance of Ms. Betty Hu, president of the Georgia Chinese Language Educators group and program coordinator for the grant. Dr. Meng will give a guest lecture about pedagogical grammar and organize field trips and social events. He will be the main contact for StarTalk staff and will manage the day-to-day operations while participants are on campus, supervise the DFL administrative associate who will assist with program coordination, and assist Dr. Bernardy with writing the program report.

As Curriculum Development and Assessment Specialist, Dr. Bernardy will be responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of the curriculum, as well as conducting program assessment and writing program reports. In addition, she will supervise the graduate teaching assistant assigned to the program. She will also give guest presentations on multiple intelligences and assessment, and she will collaborate with the Lead Instructor in the development of the curriculum template, as well as in assisting participants with lesson plan development.

The NFLC solicits proposals from eligible schools, post-secondary institutions, or community-based organizations to participate in STARTALK, a federal initiative to enhance the national capacity for critical need languages. The goal of the STARTALK program is to increase the number and expertise of students and teachers in critical languages. The program will take place in summer 2011.