STANFORD UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
485 LASUEN MALL
STANFORD, CA 94305-3096
OFFICE OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS
TELEPHONE: (650) 724-9440FAX: (650) 725-7412
July 29, 2008FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Duarte Silva, Executive Director of the California Foreign Language Project, (650) 736-9042, duarte.silva@stanford.eduRELEVANT URLS: http://startalk.umd.eduhttp://www.stanford.edu/group/CFLP/Over 130 Chinese guest teachers to train at Mandarin summer institute at StanfordEducators will teach Chinese language and culture in U.S. schools in 32 statesStanford, CA— Starting today, Stanford University is hosting an eight-day intensive training and orientation program for 136 teachers who have arrived from China to teach Mandarin Chinese language and culture in K-12 schools throughout the U.S. The effort, hosted by the California Foreign Language Project (CFLP) at the Stanford School of Education, is part of an initiative led by the College Board and Hanban to address the shortage of qualified teachers of Chinese in U.S. schools.California Foreign Language Project Director Duarte Silva said increasing concerns that the U.S. is not doing enough to prepare its students to work and succeed in a global economy is helping drive the need to develop more K-12 programs in Mandarin, which is the world’s most widely spoken language."While 200 million Chinese students are studying English in China, only about 25,000 students are learning Chinese in the United States,” said Silva. “We need to balance this equation in order to be more competitive in the world marketplace. These Chinese guest teachers will enable us to jump-start programs in our schools while we develop and certify more American teachers to teach Mandarin in our schools."CFLP, along with the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages, was invited back by the College Board and Hanban for the second year to provide teacher professional development for the program, which is known as the largest K-12 Chinese guest teacher program in the U.S. The sessions address issues concerning the nature of living and teaching in the U.S., and the organizing principles of the American educational system and language teaching curricula goals.After completing the training, teachers will be placed in host K-12 schools and districts in 32 states throughout the U.S., where they will work for two to three years; upon satisfactory review, they will have the option of renewing for an additional year. Most will be the first Chinese teachers in their schools and will launch new language and culture programs for students with no background in the language. The program’s goal is that schools will hire a local teacher who will continue the Chinese program after the guest teacher departs.Reporters interested in visiting the Chinese Guest Teacher Summer Institute or learning more about the program should contact Duarte Silva, Executive Director of the California Foreign Language Project, at (650) 736-9042 or duarte.silva@stanford.edu.