A Case Study of a Chinese/English Dual Language Program in New York City
This paper aims to review a Chinese/English Dual Language model in the U.S. The Chinese/English Dual Language program is a relatively new, but promising and fast-growing, language model to foster bilingualism in the context of U.S. education. This paper f
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A Case Study of a Chinese/English Dual Language Program in New York City Ya-Ning Hsu
Abstract This paper aims to review a Chinese/English Dual Language model in the U.S. The Chinese/English Dual Language program is a relatively new, but promising and fast-growing, language model to foster bilingualism in the context of U.S. education. This paper first provides the rationale for the study and then, an overview of the bilingual educational models currently available in the U.S. with elaboration on the Dual Language model. This study adopted a mixed method approach. Teacher interviews, classroom observation and field notes were collected for qualitative data analysis. Quantitative data includes the descriptive statistical analysis on the Chinese and English literacy materials currently available at the school. The Chinese/English Dual Language model informs the heterogeneity in Chinese educational models. The study discusses the development of the program, its challenges, and the significance and implications of the Chinese/English Dual Language model to Chinese education. The paper calls for greater resources and support from policy makers, educators, and administrators to further strengthen the model.
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Introduction
The Chinese population in New York City is on a steady rise. According to the 2010 census data, Chinese group makes up 6 % of the city population with a 10.5 % (2008–2010) growth rate, exceeding other ethnicities (Asian American Federation 2013). With the large number of Chinese-ethnic population comes the question of how their educational needs can be met, especially how the language education in Chinese language, culture and heritage can be maintained, if not promoted. For many Chinese parents residing in the U.S., maintaining their children’s proficiency in Chinese language is an ongoing aspiration and struggle (Carreira 2004; Garcia 2000; Mckay and Wong 1996; Valdés 2001; Wiley 2000; Wong Fillmore 1991, 1993, 2000). Official school curriculum in the U.S. rarely provides support in heritage language learning to the Chinese families, compelling them to often resort Y.-N. Hsu (*) Bilingual and Bicultural Education, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 C.P. Chou, J. Spangler (eds.), Chinese Education Models in a Global Age, Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects 31, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0330-1_23
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to weekend Chinese schools. The effect of weekend heritage language school, however, is contested (Cho 2000; Lee 2002; Lee and Shin 2008; You and Liu 2011). Research has well documented the predicament in heritage language schools, ranging from outdated curriculum, shortage of the qualified teachers, lack of interest from the students and pedagogical misalignment between the curriculum and the needs of the America-born youths (Cho 2000; Lee 2002; Zhou and Bankston 1998). In addition to the possibility of losing the heritage language, immigrant families often find
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