2008 Student Summer Program
Description of the Program:
1. Three-week Enrichment
Summer Camp:
Students will focus on developing conversational skills. They will be
guided toward learning various useful language functions in daily conversation,
and the language structures required to express these functions, through
role plays, dialogues, games, presentations, skits, videos, and songs.
Every Wednesday will be devoted to cultural activities such as calligraphy, Chinese chess, Chinese painting, and Kung Fu.
2. Language-learning Partners:
Students will pair up with language-learning partners in Beijing through
the creation of a virtual learning community. This community will allow
students to communicate regularly with 7th through 12th grade students
in Beijing via e-mail or video. This exchange will be conducted in a secure
environment with supervision, via a website created specifically for the
summer program.
3. Four-week Online Instruction
with One-on-One Conversation:
Online instruction is a flexible way to allow students to continue learning
Chinese systematically for an extended period of time. The focus of the
online instruction is developing students' literacy skills in reading
and writing Chinese. We will make the online materials available for students
to use for a year.
Before the online instruction begins, we will provide students and parents with clear instructions and demonstrations on how to use the online materials, contact their language supervisors, submit assignments, and get technical support. Students are required to work 30 minutes a day to complete daily reading and writing exercises covering diverse topics and genres. Essay writing assignments will be submitted to instructors via e-mail. Worksheet-based assignments will be handed in and corrected by tutorial session instructors.
In addition, students will be expected to practice conversation with a student teacher during supervised one-on-one meetings for 75 minutes per week at a pre-arranged time at Hunter's Chanin Center. No makeups will be given for these meetings. Students will not be allowed to meet their instructors in locations other than the designated one, the Chanin Language Center at Hunter College. If you are out of the country, you may, with the permission of Der-lin Chao, Program Director, set up a time to carry out online chat or phone calls in Chinese with instructors during designated hours.
4. The Language and Culture
Project:
Students and their language-learning partners will team up to work on
a language and culture project, to introduce their native cultures to
each other in their target language- Chinese or English.
Students will be encouraged to be creative in their efforts. For example, they might decide to do a project related to a TV show that a student in China or the U.S. enjoys watching, or the popular music students listen to. The project can also be based on a personal experience. For example, some Chinese students in the program will be taking a trip to Beijing to watch the Olympic games; their projects might describe their trip and what they learn.
Students will write sentences or paragraphs each week during the online instruction session and submit these to their instructors for revision and comments. The final product will include a PowerPoint presentation with videos or photos.
5. Documentation and Assessment:
Students will keep a journal to document their personal learning experiences.
They will take the pre- and post-STAMP Tests to measure their learning
progress. The results will be kept in individual students' Chinese Language
Learning Passports. The STAMP test is a nationally recognized standardized
test. It can be used as proof of language proficiency.
During the final session of assessment, students will deliver presentations on their language and culture projects. Students who complete the program with outstanding performance will be recognized at the Achievement Ceremony.
6. Schedule for the 3-week Camp:
June 30 to July 18, Monday through Friday:
9:10 - 11:00 morning classes
11:00 - 12:00 Lunch
12:00 - 2:00 afternoon classes
2:00 - 3:00 Supervised homework
*
Each class is 50 minutes long with a 10-minute break.
* Classes and activities will be held at Hunter College's main campus
on Lexington Ave.
* Students can pack their own lunch or purchase lunch at the College's
cafeteria.
**Students are required to speak only Chinese in the classrooms.**
Questions and Contact Information:
E-mail: Chinesesummer@hunter.cuny.edu
Telephone: 212-772-4965