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Dr. A. Ronald Walton (1943-1996),
a long-time member of CLTA, was an internationally-recognized expert in
the areas of language pedagogy, policy and planning for the less commonly
taught languages in general and Chinese in particular. Ron helped found
the National Foreign Language Center (NFLC) in 1987, and served as its
Deputy Director until his death. In that capacity, he served as either
principal investigator or co-principal investigator for at least fifteen
major grants shaping a new vision for language learning and teaching in
America. Dr. Walton played a critical advisory role in the development
of both the Generic and Chinese ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, the Chinese
Proficiency Test and Pre-Chinese Proficiency Test, and the NFLC Guide for
Basic Chinese Language Programs. His 20 years of Chinese language teaching
experience included prominent positions with the FALCON intensive language
program at Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the
University of Maryland.
While Ron was clearly one of the
preeminent members of the Chinese language teaching profession at the college
level, he was particularly willing to give his time, counsel and support
to those just beginning their careers as Chinese language educators, as
well as those teaching in settings other than the college level. It thus
seems appropriate that the best way to honor Ron is through two annual
awards that might serve both to recognize long-term contributions to the
field of Chinese language pedagogy, and to provide financial support for those
who might not otherwise be able to attend the CLTA annual meeting.
CLTA WALTON AWARD
The CLTA Walton Award, founded in 1998 by friends and colleagues of Ronald Walton, and funded in 2005
by a perpetual endowment from the Cheng & Tsui Company
in honor of Ronald Walton's (1943-1996) lifetime
dedication to Chinese language education and cross-cultural understanding, is given for overall
contributions to the field of Chinese language pedagogy. All members in the community of Chinese
language teaching and research, with the exception of current CLTA officers and members of the
Board of Directors (as of 2001), are eligible for the award. The CLTA Walton Award consists of a plaque
presented at the CLTA Annual Meeting.
To nominate a candidate for the CLTA Walton Award, please submit: 1) a letter of nomination
describing the candidate's scholarship, service, leadership, and innovative contributions in the field
of Chinese language teaching, 2) a current Curriculum Vitae of the nominated candidate, and 3) two
letters of support from other CLTA members addressing the candidate's accomplishments in the categories
mentioned in (1).
Nominations for the CLTA Walton Award should be sent (preferably as PDF file attachments via email)
by May 31 to:
Professor Chengzhi Chu
Chair of the 2008 CLTA Awards Committee
Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
University of California
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
Email: <czchu@ucdavis.edu>
The notification of winner will be sent out via email by September 13.
The name of the winner will be announced and Award presented at the CLTA Annual Meeting.
The name of the winner will also be reported in the January issue of
CLTA Newsletter and on this web page.
RECIPIENTS OF THE CLTA WALTON AWARD (1998 - )
| 1998: |
John DeFrancis, Emeritus Professor of Chinese at the University of Hawaii, was
awarded (in absentia) the inaugural CLTA Walton Award for his outstanding contributions
to the field of Chinese language pedagogy, on November 21, at the 1998
CLTA General Membership Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. |
| 1999: |
Professor Shou-hsin Teng, Director of the Graduate Institute of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, National Taiwan Normal University,
and Editor of the Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers
Association from 1995 to 2002. |
| 2000: |
Dr. Madeline Chu, Program Director and Chair of the
Chinese Program at
Kalamazoo College, and CLTA Executive Director from 1992 to 2000. |
| 2001: |
Dr. John Young, Honorary Member (CLTA Board of Directors), Seton Hall University,
former Secretary-Treasurer of CLTA, and one of the founding members of CLTA. |
| 2002: |
Professor George Chao (University of Chicago),
Professor Chauncey Chu (University of Florida), and
Ms. Chih-Ping Chang Sobelman (Columbia University).
Professors G. Chao and C. Chu are retiring at the end of the academic year,
after many decades of teaching and contributions to the field.
In November 2002, our CLTA Walton Award recipients were each presented a plaque at the
CLTA banquet, where they had been invited to be guests
at the
2002 CLTA Banquet and Roundtable
Discussion,
celebrating CLTA's 40th anniversary (that is, the end of 40 years
since the establishment of the Association in 1962). A lively
roundtable discussion, moderated by CLTA President, Prof. Claudia Ross,
centered on the theme of "CLTA past, present and future." |
| 2003: |
Professor Yuehua Liu (Harvard University) has been a
long-time member of the Chinese language teaching profession.
She is author of numerous articles and books, and is one of the prime movers
in producing the successful Integrated Chinese series. |
| 2004: |
Professor Te-ming Yeh (National Taiwan Normal University) and John Montanaro (Far Eastern Publications), who have
made outstanding contributions to the profession. |
| 2005: |
Professor Tsung Chin (University of Maryland) was recognized for his long-term dedication and contributions to both calligraphy education and Chinese language teaching. Over the past 20 years he has been a dedicated promoter of calligraphy education as an important component of the teaching of the Chinese language.
Professor Chin passed away at the age of 80 on 8 April 2006.
To express the CLTA Board of Directors' deepest condolences on the loss of our long-time colleague,
an open letter written by Professor Jerome Packard on the
Board's behalf is published in the May 2006 issue of our Journal. |
| 2006: |
Professor Jing-heng Ma (Dept. of E. Asian Langs. and Lits., Wellesley College) was recognized for her myriad of
contributions to the field of Chinese language pedagogy and linguistics.
She has been a prolific contributor in all aspects of the field, teaching
all levels of Chinese language, developing teaching materials (both texts
and computer-assisted materials), researching in both pedagogy and
linguistics and training teachers. |
| 2007: |
Professor Vivian Ling (Oberlin College), for her outstanding lifetime achievement in Chinese teaching. The Awards Committee recognizes Ling as a gifted and extraordinarily dedicated teacher, scholar, and program administrator in the field of Chinese teaching. Ling started her Chinese teaching career in early 1970s. Her teaching skills are recognized as a model to the profession. Ling has been an important mentor of new generations of Chinese teachers in a good few Chinese programs in U. S. and study-abroad programs in Mainland China and Taiwan. Additionally, Ling is the author or co-author of more than a dozen Chinese textbooks, two dictionaries and thirty some articles. She also served as Editor of the JCLTA for four years and maintained its high standards in scholarship. |
WALTON PRESENTATION PRIZE
The Walton Presentation Prize (formerly known as the Ron Walton Young Scholar Travel Award),
founded by friends and colleagues in 1998, was funded in 2005 by a perpetual endowment from
the Cheng & Tsui Company in honor of Ronald
Walton's lifetime dedication to Chinese language education and cross-cultural understanding.
This Prize is given to recognize the best first-time presentation at the CLTA Annual Meeting.
Preference is given to teachers at the pre-college level and graduate students who have their
paper proposals accepted for the annual meeting. The CLTA Walton Presentation Prize carries
an award of $300, and an invitation to submit a manuscript based on the presentation, to be
considered for publication in the Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association.
As indicated in the “2008 CLTA Annual Meeting Call for Papers” announcement, to apply for the Walton Presentation Prize, a CLTA member should have submitted her/his conference proposal (the 500-word abstract) as an individual paper only by the January 11, 2008 deadline, and indicated on the proposal it is also for "Walton Presentation Prize Application."
If an applicant’s proposal is accepted for presentation at the conference, in early April 2008 he/she will be contacted by the Awards Committee for a 3-5 page outline of her/his paper. The outline is due on June 15, 2008. The Award Committee reviews all the application outlines, and selects 4 finalists to present at a special panel session of the conference and compete for the Prize. The 4 finalists’ names will be announced on July 20, 2008 or earlier. The name(s) of the Prize winner(s) will be announced and Prize(s) presented at the CLTA members’ general meeting. The name(s) of winner(s) will also be reported in the January issue of the CLTA Newsletter and on this web page.
RECIPIENTS OF THE WALTON PRESENTATION PRIZE (1998 - )
| 1998: |
Miao-fen Tseng, University of Illinois at Urbana, presented an excellent paper
titled "Invitations in American English and Mandarin Chinese: Implications for
Teaching," and was chosen to be the first awardee
at the 1998 CLTA General Membership Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. |
| 1999: |
Yi Lin, University of Iowa.
Presentation: "Vocabulary Acquisition in CFL Learning." |
| 2000: |
(no recipient) |
| 2001: |
Co-recipients:
Jun Yang, University of Arizona.
Presentation: "The Categorization of the Particle 'le' and its Implications for Pedagogy."
Song Jiang, University of Hawaii.
Presentation: "Chinese Word Associations for English Speaking Learners." |
| 2002: |
Jeffrey Hayden, University of Hawaii.
Presentation: "Shocking Our Students to the Next Level: Language Loss and Some Implications of National Standards." |
| 2003: |
Jing Liang, Carnegie Mellon University.
Presentation: "Markovian Decision Process: Examining the Effects of Culture-Oriented Instructional Materials." |
| 2004: |
Alice Lee, National Taiwan Normal University.
Presentation: "A Study of the Relationship between Side Sequence and Student Interaction: The Function of Triggers and Indicators." |
| 2005: |
Ling Wang, University of Minnesota. Presentation: "The Impact of Multimedia on Students' Recognition of Chinese Characters: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study." |
| 2006: |
Yifang Zhang, University of Oregon. Presentation: "Analysis of Chinese L2 Learner Interlanguage Development in Written Discourse." |
| 2007: |
Co-recipients:
Jiajia Wang, University of Pennsylvania.
Presentation: "Enhancing Current CFL Teacher Preparation Process Through Beginning Teachers' Perspectives."
Chunsheng Yang, Ohio State University.
Presentation: "Attitudes and Motivations of Chinese Heritage Learners and Non-Heritage Learners." |
We are now soliciting additional contributions for the Walton Presentation Prize Fund.
Contributions, payable to the Chinese Language Teachers Association, should be sent to
CLTA Headquarters at the University of Hawaii:
CLTA Headquarters
Prof. Cynthia Ning
Center for Chinese Studies
Moore Hall # 416
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, HI 96822
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