This fall Oxford students across the district will be formally introduced to the People’s Republic of China.
‘This generation’s going to be doing more business with China than any other generation has,? explained Jim Schwarz, assistant superintendent of curriculum. ‘It only makes sense to be offering some preparation, so there’s some familiarity with dealing with that culture.?
With that in mind, the Oxford Board of Education recently hired Jessie Qi (pronounced ‘Chee?), of Auburn Hills, to teach students at the elementary, middle school and high school levels all aspects of Chinese life, from language to culture, beginning in the 2008-09 school year
‘I can’t wait to teach there,? said Qi, who has a Bachleor of Arts in English Language Education from the Capital Normal University in Beijing and a Master of Arts in Language, Reading and Culture from the University of Arizona.
Since January, Qi’s been working with the district as a paid consultant, developing the Chinese curriculum. It’s all being paid by a $23,000 grant through Oakland Schools.
From September 2003 until June 2006, Qi taught Chinese to pre-kindergarten through 10th grade students at the Accelerated Learning Lab, a charter school in Tucson, Arizona.
‘According to my past teaching experience, I think Chinese is not a hard language to learn,? she said.
An introductory course in the Chinese language known as Mandarin will be offered to grades 9-12 at the high school
Qi, who moved to the U.S. from China in 2001, believes it’s ‘very necessary for them to learn this unique language? in order to ‘broaden their views? and be able to effectively communicate in the future.
Mandarin is the ‘main? or ‘official? language in China. Of the estimated 1.3 billion people who speak one of several Chinese languages or dialects, approximately 880 million speak Mandarin, outnumbering any other language in the world.
Because it’s new, only one or two introductory Mandarin sections will be offered for the 2008-09 school year.
‘I don’t think we’ll have any trouble filling the sections,? Schwarz said. ‘Anytime you offer anything new, there’s the novelty factor that you contend with.?
The introductory course will focus on developing listening and speaking skills.
Qi said Chinese grammar is easier to learn than English because there’s no need to memorize every verb’s past or future tenses.
‘We don’t have verb tense changes,? she said. ‘Just adding one fixed word before or after any main verb will change the present tense to future or past tense.?
Mandarin is a tonal language, meaning it has four tones ? discrete speech sounds like consonants and vowels ? used to distinguish words from each other. Correct tonal pronunciation is essential for intelligibility.
There are approximately 1,700 possible syllables in Mandarin, compared to more than 8,000 in English. As a result, there are many homophones ? words that sound the same but have different meanings ? that can be distinguished by using correct tones.
‘It’s not hard once you learn the rules,? said Qi, noting they’re ‘very clear? and ‘easy to follow.?
Qi said students are generally ‘quick learners? when it comes to phrases and vocabulary, but it’s when they try to compose complete sentences that they tend to struggle a bit at first, which is only natural.
‘I think that’s the most difficult part for them to get at the beginning level,? she said. ‘However, it is very normal in language acquisition.?
Students will begin learning how to read and write Chinese when more advanced sections are offered beginning in the program’s second year and beyond.
Unlike English letters which are part of an alphabetic system used to form words, the Chinese language is written with different characters (also called sinographs), each corresponding to a single spoken syllable.
‘That’s a totally different style of writing,? said Qi, who noted there are ‘explicit, basic rules? to guide students.
A majority of Chinese words are polysyllabic so they require two or more characters in a group to represent one meaning.
Knowledge of about 3,000 characters equals basic literacy and enables one to read about 99 percent of characters in Chinese newspapers and magazines. A well-educated person will know well in excess of 4,000 to 5,000 characters.
Chinese characters are written using 12 basic strokes. A single character may consist of between 1 and 64 strokes.
Schwarz said the writing is ‘extremely complex? and probably wouldn’t be offered until students reached an advanced class like a Chinese 3 or 4.
In February, Qi visited a Spanish 4 class at the high school and gave a 30-minute Chinese lesson.
‘The students were fascinated,? she said. ‘That impressed me a lot.?
‘The kids were really energized about it,? Schwarz said. ‘The kids seemed to catch on pretty quickly ? faster than the adults.
At the middle school level, a 10-week exploratory class will be offered to seventh-graders focusing on Chinese ‘culture, history, geography, traditions and etiquette.?
‘That’s basically going to be more of a Chinese studies course,? Schwarz explained. ‘They’ll be some language, but it won’t be the entire focus of the class.?
Fifth-grade (and possibly fourth-grade) students at Clear Lake, Lakeville, Leonard and Oxford elementaries will spend two, 30-minute sessions per week ‘getting a sense of what China is, what it’s all about, where it is,? according to Schwarz.
Familiarizing students with China has been a ‘major focus? in Oakland County, particularly by county Executive L. Brooks Patterson who wants to have the first county in the nation to offer Chinese in all of its school districts.
With China ‘opening itself up to the free world? and many companies deciding to outsource work or establish headquarters there, Schwarz said, ‘The forecasts are that China’s going to be a major market player in this generation’s future.?
The county government partnered with the intermediate school district to secure the financial backing of corporations in order to finance the creation of Chinese curriculum and the hiring of teachers.
To get the program started, Oxford received $20,000 to pay for Qi’s consulting work from January through June and $3,000 to cover curriculum materials.
In July, Oxford can reapply for this grant for up to $30,000 to help cover the costs when Qi starts actively teaching the program in the fall.
Any costs beyond the $30,000 would be the district’s responsibility.
The grant is renewable for the next two years, according to Schwarz.