CAIS Partial Immersion Experience

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CAIS Partial Immersion Experience

• Andrew Corcoran
• Chinese American International School
• Head of School

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Chinese American International School

• School founded in 1981 w/4 students now 420
• Started with 90/10 (C/E) immersion Kindergarten
• Traditional characters and Bopomofo (Zhuyin)
• Moved to 50/50 partial immersion PreK-5th grade
• Middle school added 1998
• Initially 25/75 (Language Arts and Social
  Studies)
• In 2005 changed to 35/65 (added electives)

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CAIS Continued 1

• Chinese and English programs compliment each
  other PreK-5 (50/50 with 2 teachers 1 at a time)
• E aligns with CA State Standards
• English (LA, SS, Science, Math, PE, Music 3-5,
  Art, Computer )
• Chinese (LA, SS, Health, Math, Music PreK-2
  Computer)
• 5th grade exchange to Taipei
• Some topics introduced in C some in E
• Taught in both C and E. All computers C enabled
  
• CSS is about Chinese culture, history, etc.

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CAIS Continued 2

• Middle School
• English aligns with CA State Standards
• English (LA, SS, Math, Science)
• Chinese (LA, SS)
• Significant interdisciplinary/cross language work
• Process
• Immigration/migration
• Electives include language requirements.
• Those taught in Chinese include brush painting,
  calligraphy, Chinese instruments (guzheng, erhu,
  pipa, yueqing, Yangqing), dance
• 8th grade exchange to Shanghai

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Materials

• Initially from Taiwan
• Planning started in 1979
• Use traditional and zhuyin fuhao initially
• Now from Hong Kong
• Emerging materials of higher quality include
  support materials
• We start with traditional and hanyu pinyin
• Authentic materials
• Learn both traditional and simplified by
  graduation

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CAIS is not just Immersion

• 7 off site after school programs
• Summer School
• High school alumni classes
• SAT2, Intermediate, Advanced (AP)
• Summer classes (SFUSD credit)
• Administrator Workshops
• For those starting or sustaining/expanding
  programs in both immersion and Chinese as a
  foreign language
• National Conference for teachers, building
  administrators and parents in March each year in
  San Francisco (started in 2007)
• Teacher Acculturation for teachers from China w/
  China Connections (teachers gain classroom
  experience w/American Students)
• Teacher Interviews

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Things to Do When Starting 1

• Be Clear on Purpose
• Culture
• Include other disciplines
• Communication
• Film, email, OPI
• Literature
• Reading
• Advanced study
• AP

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Things to Do When Starting 2

• Select a teacher
• Language Level (CAIS assist for Chinese)
• Classroom practice (CAIS assist w/ acculturation)
• Teacher vs. Student centered
• Differentiated Instruction
• Past experience (60/class vs. 16)
• School Culture
• Parents

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Things to Do When Starting 3

• Select Materials
• Significant improvements last few years
• Traditional/Full Form or Simplified
• Advanced learners should know both
• Refer to Hopes slides
• References at the end or in IS article
• Authentic materials including films

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Things to Avoid/Pitfalls 1

• Expectations (purpose)
• Literature in 3rd year?
• Parent expectations
• Assessments (not just AP)
• Noella, STAMP, SOPI
• Adequate Resources
• Computers enabled
• Audio Visual

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Things to Avoid/Pitfalls 2

• Geo-political world view
• Opportunity
• Flags and One China Policy
• Stability vs. Individuality
• Form vs. Creativity
• The three Ts
• Visiting Stanford
• Please do not ask the students

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Resources (Films)

• The Story of Qiu Ju (1993)
• Set in a Chinese village, the pregnant
  peasant Qui Ju seeks justice after the village
  elder assaults her husband. In the process, she
  gets caught in the mess of an exasperating legal
  system.
• To Live (1994)
• An impoverished couple faces their
  personal and political problems from 1940 to
  1960.
• The King of Masks (1999)
• Forced by the custom of handing down his
  crafts to a male successor, Mr. Wang, the
  heirless mask magic performer, has to buy a child
  in order to preserve his unique art. After
  learning the childs secret, Mr. Wang faces some
  very hard choices.
• Yi Yi (2000)
• Yi Yi chronicles three generations of a
  family in Taiwan mired in a crisis of self-doubt.
• Not One Less (2000)
• The inspiring tale of Wei, a 13-year-old
  girl who is asked by her community to serve as a
  substitute teacher in a poor farming village
  school.
• Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005)
• Hoping to mend a deep rift with his dying
  son, a Japanese fisherman sets off for Chinas
  Yunnan province to fulfill his sons dream where
  he encounters a jailed Chinese folk-opera singer
  and his little boy.

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Resources Books Software

• BetterChinese www.betterchinese.com
• China Books and Periodicals, Inc.
  www.chinabooks.com
• ChinaSprout, Inc. www.chinasprout.com
• Cheng Tsui www.cheng-tsui.com
• Asia Books www.asiabooks.com
• Eastwind Book Store www.eastwindbooks.com
• IQ Chinese www.iqchinese.com
• Pan Asian Publications (USA) Inc. www.panap.com
• Nan Hai Books www.nanhai.com
• Simplex Publications www.simplexpublications.com
• Tuttle Publishing www.tuttlepublishing.com
• U.S. International Publishing, Inc.
  www.usipusa.com
• The Office of Chinese Language Council
• International (Hanban) www.hanban.edu.cn/en_hanban

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Resources Other

• Word Processing Software
• TwinBridge Software Corporation
  www.twinbridge.com
• NJ Star Software www.njstar.com
• Online Resources
• Yuan-Liou Publishing Taiwan www.ylib.com
• Popular Singapore www.popular.com.sg/jsp/index.jsp
  
• YouFu Books Taiwan www.168books.com.tw
• Asiapac Singapore www.asiapacbooks.com
• TsaiFong Books www.tsaifong.com/Chinesebook/Defaul
  t.asp
• Huawenwang (book4u) www.book4u.com.tw

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On-line Chinese Newspapers Chinese
News http//chineseculture.about.com/library/news/
blns_news.htm China .org http//www.china.org.cn/e
nglish/ China the Beautiful http//www.chinapage.c
om/china.html Exploring China http//www.kn.pacbel
l.com/wired/China/scrapbook.html Xinhua http//www
.xinhuanet.com/english/ Ming Bao http//www.mingpa
onews.com/
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Thank You!a_corcoran_at_cais.org