Chinese -- It's Got the Power!

Is this a clue on which languages “matter”? The College Board dropped the AP Italian exam from its slate of AP Language Placement exams in January 2009. The recent removal of the AP Italian exam is just one sign of Italian’s waning influence. When the Italian AP exam program launched in September 2003, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi flew to New York and several Italian cultural groups donated funds. However, even with all of the investment put into the exam, it still “incurred losses of $1.5 million a year.” The funds did help enroll more students for Italian, but not enough to sustain the program.

So which languages have better endowments and prospects? Not surprisingly, Chinese is amongst the most promising ones. The Chinese government and several private organizations have committed $30 million (not a typo – $30 million USD) to fund Chinese teacher recruitment. Dr. Cuomo claims that this is “not an equitable situation for teachers of Italian,” yet should every language have to carry equal weight? From our discussions in class, we already see that several languages carry more clout than others.

Let’s return to a discussion of how Chinese language learning is becoming more widespread in the United States. According to a recent article from the New York Times’ Education section, there are about 325 Chinese guest teachers who “have volunteered to work up to three years in American schools, with their salaries subsidized by the Chinese government” as the result of a partnership between China’s Education Ministry and the College Board. The claim is that “China wants to teach the world its language and culture.” In return, there are about 2,000 American school administrators in China… at Beijing’s expense. Although the exchange is not balanced, each country is getting a better glimpse of the other’s culture.

The cultural exchange is certainly acting in both directions. Chinese teacher Ms. Zheng is learning from her American students, whom she feels lead more interesting lives than Chinese students, who “study and study and study.” Furthermore, some of the Chinese teachers are trying to adjust to the informality of American schools and the diminished respect that students have for teachers. In some ways, when I was reading the article, I felt that American students were being called “rude,” yet perhaps that was more of a comment on the informality of the classroom setting than on the students themselves. As Chinese teachers continue to enter the United States to teach the culture and language of their homeland, will they change the nature of the classroom? Language – it’s got the power!

Article: Italian Job: Resurrect the AP Exam
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703674704575234232176866638.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsForth

Article: Guest-Teaching Chinese, and Learning America

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/education/10teacher.html