2008 Woodie Awards
Miami looks to improve Chinese education with new institute
Charlie Turner
Issue date: 8/28/07 Section: Campus
Ohio needs to adapt to a changing world and Miami University needs to lead the way-particularly with regards to China, said Quanyu Huang, a visiting professor of Chinese language at Miami.
In this spirit, Miami is working with HanBan, the Office of Chinese Language Council International in Beijing, to open a program called the Confucius Institute on Miami's Oxford campus.
According to Robert DiDonato, chair of the department of German, Russian and East Asian languages (GREAL), the institute will maintain a strong affiliation and partnership with Miami, but will also remain semi-autonomous in working outside the university.
This year, the program will also provide Miami with $100,000, new Chinese language instructor and associate director for the institute. The tenure for provided staff is expected to be three years. At that point they will be replaced, and the annual funding for the project is in the form of grants, varying in amount based on Miami's planned programming for the institute.
Although the institute does not currently have a physical presence at Miami, the institute's office is planning on opening in McGuffey Hall within the next two or three months. This will enable students and tri-state area residents to access nearly 3,000 Chinese books, a library of movies and regular classes that examine Chinese art and culture.
DiDonato said that students who study under the new instructor from HanBan-it remains unclear whether the associate director will teach classes-can expect to see a different style of teaching. Unlike the American method of teaching a language that typically involves simulated real-world situations, DiDonato said that Chinese language instruction is heavily drill based.
"People who are trained to teach languages in different countries use different pedagogies," DiDonato said.
" … What that means is there are certain methods used in China to teach Chinese to foreigners, and there are certain methods used in the U.S. and it's always good to have different methods while you're teaching."
In this spirit, Miami is working with HanBan, the Office of Chinese Language Council International in Beijing, to open a program called the Confucius Institute on Miami's Oxford campus.
According to Robert DiDonato, chair of the department of German, Russian and East Asian languages (GREAL), the institute will maintain a strong affiliation and partnership with Miami, but will also remain semi-autonomous in working outside the university.
This year, the program will also provide Miami with $100,000, new Chinese language instructor and associate director for the institute. The tenure for provided staff is expected to be three years. At that point they will be replaced, and the annual funding for the project is in the form of grants, varying in amount based on Miami's planned programming for the institute.
Although the institute does not currently have a physical presence at Miami, the institute's office is planning on opening in McGuffey Hall within the next two or three months. This will enable students and tri-state area residents to access nearly 3,000 Chinese books, a library of movies and regular classes that examine Chinese art and culture.
DiDonato said that students who study under the new instructor from HanBan-it remains unclear whether the associate director will teach classes-can expect to see a different style of teaching. Unlike the American method of teaching a language that typically involves simulated real-world situations, DiDonato said that Chinese language instruction is heavily drill based.
"People who are trained to teach languages in different countries use different pedagogies," DiDonato said.
" … What that means is there are certain methods used in China to teach Chinese to foreigners, and there are certain methods used in the U.S. and it's always good to have different methods while you're teaching."
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