This book is a publication that traces the history of the study of Chinese and concentrates on what has transpired in language education over the past 20 years in America.
This book is written in English, consisting of six chapters.
In Chapter One, Dr. Dowd traces the recent history of language education and language education policies in America by discussing the Common Core curriculum that began in 2009 in many states in the United States. From there, she discusses the Standards Movement that began in all subjects in the 1990s and continues to this day.
Chapter Two describes the history of the teaching of the Chinese language in the American school system starting with the founding of heritage schools. From there the reader is led to the modern-day teaching of Chinese in public schools and even after school in the summer in STARTALK programs.
Chapter Three focuses on how Chinese education is assessed in the United States. The chapter introduces a number of external and national assessments, including the SAT II Tests, AP exams, GRE, OPI/MOPI, SOPA, ELLOPA, COPE, and Avant STAMP.
Chapter Four is a short chapter about lesson planning, with a sample lesson plan designed based on many templates for teachers’ reference.
The last two chapters, Chapters Five and Six are devoted to an overview of the curriculum that teachers may wish to use when they are teaching Chinese in their classes. Chapter Five focuses on grades 1–6 and shows how the material covered relates to the International Curriculum for Chinese Language Education created by the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban). Chapter Six focuses on grades 7–11 and also is related to the International Curriculum.
