Archive for category: CLTA

From the President

December 2009

I am very proud to serve as the President of the Chinese Language Teachers Association this year.  I will try to follow in the footsteps of our outgoing President, Jerry Packard, in positioning CLTA to best meet the needs of the expanding ranks of Chinese language teachers in the United States and abroad. In this task I am joined by a very able Board of Directors and highly committed officers of the Association.  I look forward to working with Yea-fen Chen, our new Executive Director, and thank our outgoing Executive Director, Cyndy Ning, for nine years of dedicated service to the Association.

One of the most exciting developments in our field is the emergence of regional Chinese language teachers’ associations throughout the United States.  I look forward to continuing to work with the Regional Committee co-chair, Board Member Cathy Wei, and regional CLTA representatives, to develop a framework of affiliation between the regional and national organizations that supports the growth of regional organizations and increases our collective strength. We welcome the participation of all regional CLTA organizations in this process.

The CLTA Annual Meeting is an exciting opportunity to meet with colleagues from all over the country and the world to learn about developments in the field.  I look forward to working with this year’s Program Chair, Chuanren Ke, and Conference Chair, Janet Xing, to plan an exciting meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.  The Call for Papers is open, and I encourage you to submit a proposal and to plan to join us in November.

In closing, CLTA is striving to meet your needs as a Chinese language teacher.  We hope you find that the reviews and articles in our Journal and the field updates in our Newsletter help to keep you well-informed.  We are working to increase our service to the field through teacher training and regional conference support, and I look forward to progress in these areas over the coming year.  Please contact me if you have suggestions that you think will strengthen the organization.  My email address is cross@holycross.edu.

From the President

January 2008

Source: CLTA Newsletter 32.1. January 2008, pp. 5-6. December 2007

Dear CLTA Members,

The 45 year-old CLTA is growing strong! The long list of achievements in the past year, as described in the report by the 06-07 President, Jennifer Liu, would not have been possible without the tremendous effort from the CLTA board, Executive director, Journal editor, Newsletter editor, Webmaster and the impressive leadership of the president. Please join me in thanking this great team.

In addition to looking back and celebrating a wonderful year, we also need to plan ahead and capitalize on the current
momentum, ensuring that the CLTA truly “represents Chinese language teachers in all educational settings… supports
establishing and sustaining quality Chinese programs, K-16 articulation, teacher education and professional development, and research relating to all aspects of teaching and learning about Chinese languages and cultures… [and]
is committed to providing leadership, scholarship, and service to its members and to all sectors of society.” (CLTA
mission statement).

We have many lofty goals and need the support and sacrifice from everyone. In the coming year, we will strive to

1. Enhance collaboration with other national language organizations. In addition to co-sponsoring the CLTA-CLASS forum at the annual conference, we will actively seek collaboration opportunities with ACTFL, CLASS, heritage school organizations, other associations, institutions, agencies regarding articulation, assessment, standard, professional development and rigorous theoretical and empirical research in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. The effort will be headed by the Steering Committee (chaired by the President) and supported by the board and our very enthusiastic members.
2. Establish strong links with regional CLTAs. For the last several years, we have witnessed the blossoming of regional organizations. It is important that experiences and resources are shared and that efforts are not duplicated. The CLTA will be the facilitating and unifying force that connects all CLTAs in a cohesive and strong network. Claudia Ross, our Regional Chapter Committee Chair, and Cathy Wei, our Regional Chapter Liaison, will be working tirelessly towards this goal.
3. Encourage and strengthen research on Chinese language teaching and related studies; provide stronger support and better opportunities for professional development. This requires funding for research and workshops to share knowledge, experiences and results. There have been more awards, thanks to the hard work and continuing commitments from the Awards Committee (headed by Chengzhi Chu) and Jiede Committee (headed by Songnren Cui this past year and Xiaohong Wen in the new year). Jerry Packard expanded the funding resources last year and we have strong confidence that the new chair of the Fundraising Committee, Shengli Feng, will bring the achievement to an even higher level. The CLTA monograph #4 is in the very competent hands of Mike Everson and its successful completion will come soon.
4. Strengthen the presence of the CLTA and make the CLTA more relevant to all its members. We need to continue to grow and brand CLTA so that our organization can be an effective galvanizing force uniting Chinese language professionals and all those interested in this profession. Members of the CLTA should be able to benefit from the organization uniquely and significantly. The board is already considering measures to increase membership privileges and promote greater communication among members. Theresa Chao, chair of the embership-drive Committee, will be working creatively to expand our organization. We look forward to reporting great results next year.

We will continue to strengthen and expand the great tradition of the CLTA so that it can serve all its members more efficiently and provide resources and leadership to the field of Chinese language teaching. We can meet our goals with important contributions from each of you. I look forward to hearing from you and receiving your support!

Y-H Audrey Li
President, CLTA
Professor
EALC, Linguistics
University of Southern California
email: audreyli@usc.edu

From the President

September 2006

Source: CLTA Newsletter 30.2. September 2006, p. 4. September 2006

Dear CLTA Members:Fall 2006 is a season of harvest as many new Chinese programs and AP Chinese courses are being implemented. Those CFL educators who have spoken directly with policy makers addressing the value of CFL teaching have done substantive and important work for our field. To those seasoned teachers who have traveled all over the US to conduct workshops and disseminate AP information, thank you for getting the teachers ready for this new academic year. And to young teachers who begin either high school or collegiate teaching this fall, we congratulate you on your new positions.

I would first like to share with you a couple of things the board has worked on during the past few months. The Program Committee and Conference Chair have prepared for you 76 presentations, four workshops, and the second K-16 forum at our annual meeting. The workshops will be offered by Songren Cui (CFL empirical research), Michael Everson (Writing Research Proposal), Hong Gang Jin (Form-based and Task=based Teaching) and Hsin-hsin Liang (Lesson Plan Step by Step). If you are interested in these workshops, you may contact the respective presenters for details. I hope you all have registered for the conference and booked your hotel reservations. All paper presenters must pay dues for both CLTA membership and ACTFL conference registration.

Our web team is currently working on making CLTA membership renewal, payment, and databases available online. We hope these services will be a convenient way to save you both time and postage. If you have sons and daughters who are studying Chinese in local Chinese heritage schools, I encourage you to share CLTA newsletters and journals with their heritage school teachers and encourage them to join CLTA. The board has approved a special membership rate ($35 per year) for heritage school teachers to join us. Some of you might doubt that this will bring extra revenue to our organization and perhaps worry that this might even make our organization less professional. This decision, however, is meant to bring teachers in three CFL sectors together heritage schools, middle and high schools, and colleges and universities. Continuously marginalizing and undervaluing heritage Chinese instruction will disrupt the continuity of K-16 articulation and CFL research.

If you have other any suggestions for CLTA’s management and services, please do not hesitate to contact the officers or board members. Your votes have already allowed these motivated and professional members to serve our field. We are all here to serve our community with a certain sense of urgency, as it becomes increasingly important for CLTA to successfully diagnose its weaknesses while working hard to perfect the profession.

In closing, allow me to be a little old fashioned. For those who hope to squeeze in as much material as possible in one semester, or eagerly desire their students to master the Chinese sound system in one week, we must remember that steady, gradual growth is more lasting.

I hope you will continue to enjoy your teaching and wish all of you a successful new semester!

Sincerely yours,
Mienhwa Chiang

From the Immediate Past President

December 2005

Source: CLTA Newsletter 29.3. December 2005, pp. 5-6.

The year 2004­ 2005 has been an extremely exciting and significant one, marking a turning point in the history of Chinese language teaching in the USA, as the field expands and joins the mainstream. At this historical moment, it was my great privilege to serve as President of CLTA and to have the opportunity to work with a highly talented and dedicated Board of Directors and officers. The year thus has been unquestionably meaningful and rewarding for me.

In addition to routine work by our sub­committees and teams on the conference program, nominations, awards, finance, and other business, the Board also responded to changes and challenges with field initiatives and projects throughout the year. These included: initiation of the CLTA and CLASS joint forum on K­16 articulation in Chinese language education; organization of professional development workshops, such as the empirical research workshop led by Michael Everson and the pedagogical workshop led by Cyndy Ning; formation of a fund­raising committee and launching of fund­raising campaigns, the activities of which prompted a $10,000 Walton Endowment by Cheng Tsui Company, $2000 Jiede contribution by CET, and $6000 dollar matching fund by the original Jiede donor to promote excellence in research and teaching Chinese as a second/foreign language.

All these achievements were the result of the Board’s collective wisdom. Each and every officer and Board member offered unconditional support and contribution in the form of continued brain­storming, constructive discussions, effective implementation, and incalculable amounts of volunteered time. I am especially indebted to Immediate Past President Jianhua Bai, this past year’s Program Chair Richard Chi, Nominating Chair Julian Wheatley, Award Chair Hsin­hsin Liang, Jiede Chair Songren Cui, Finance Chair Gloria Bien, Fund­Raising Chair and Vice President Mienhwa Chiang, JNCL Representative Shuhan Wang, and all the Board members for their tremendous support and dedication. And as always, my deepest gratitude also goes to our dedicated and hard working officers, Executive Director Cyndy Ning, Journal Editor Vivian Ling, Newsletter Editor Tianwei Xie, and Web­master Marjorie Chan. Without their tireless efforts and active involvement, the board could not have achieved what we achieved this year.

I would like to conclude with a famous Chinese idiom “ 未雨绸缪” (Repair the house before the storm comes). While we are enjoying the exciting and rapid development of the Chinese language teaching field, we must keep in mind that it takes careful planning and a solid infrastructure to ensure that our field continues to grow and expand. I believe that, as an association which aims to provide better service to its members, CLTA and its Board must, first of all, lead the field in seizing the momentum of current “Chinese fever,” and in meeting the challenges of taking the field into the main­stream of foreign language instruction. At the same time, CLTA must work closely with CLASS and other related associations to make long­term strategic plans and construct careful road maps for a necessary and long lasting infrastructure in field research, program building, teacher development, curricular implementation, material development, and assessment. With our joint efforts and a solid infrastructure, our field not only will grow and expand steadily, but also will sustain any unexpected twists and turns in the future.

2004—2005年在中文语言教学史上是一个具有 重大转折意义的一年。这一年也标志着中文教学开 始向主流外语教学领域发展。在此历史关键时刻, 作为会长,我能为全体中文教师学会会员服务,并 与本届理事会成员及工作人员共同工作一年,深感 到万分荣幸。

在过去的一年中,CLTA理事会全体成员 除 了 进 行 CLTA“ 年 会 ” , 年 度 选 举 , 颁 奖评 选,财务管理等日常事务外,还就本年度领域 的变化及挑战组织了各种活动及项目,其中值 得提及的有:1. CLTA及CLASS联合讨论会: 美国K­16中文教育在新时期面临的挑战;2. 为 提高领域专业水平而组织的两个专题工作坊: a. 由Michael Everson主持的实验研究工作坊, b. 由 Cyndy Ning 主 持 的 教 学 法 工 作 坊;3. 成立 CLTA募款委员会并进行各种募款活动。到目 前为止,募款委员会已收到来自Cheng & Tsui 公司的一万元Walton 捐赠基金,来自CET 的 2000元及“皆得”原始捐赠人的6000元。

这一年来的工作成就都是本届理事会及工 作人员集体智慧的结晶。没有理事成员的无私 奉献,出谋献策,有效实施,没有本会全体会 员的支持信任,今年的任何工作都无法完成。 本人在此特别鸣谢前会长白建华,本年度“年 会 ” 负 责 人 齐 德 立 , 年 度 选 举 负 责 人 Julian Wheatly,颁奖评选负责人梁新欣,皆得委员 会负责人崔颂人,财务管理负责人卞荣青,募 捐委员会负责人及副会长蒋冕华,以及本会 JNCL 常任代表周淑涵。与此同时,本人再度 感谢在CLTA 各种岗位上无私实干的工作人 员:总部执行主任任友梅,学报总编陵志蕴, 学会季刊谢天蔚,以及网络负责人陈洁雯。

最 后,我谨借用一句中国著名成语“ 未雨 绸缪”来结束本文。在中文教学领域突飞猛进 的时刻,我们切不能忘记,一个领域的发展及 成熟需要审慎周密的计划以及坚实的基础建 设。CLTA是一个以服务学会成员为宗旨的专业组织,本人认为,此刻CLTA不但要利用全球“中文热”这一大好形势带领学会及中文教学领域迈向主流外语, 而且要与CLASS及其它有关中文教育组织联合起来共同制作长期领域发展计划,绘制领域基础建设的蓝图,其中包括:领域基础研究,中文项目发展,师资培 训,课程设计,教材发展,能力测试等。只有大家携起手来,我们的领域方能不断发展,在将来的不测风云中成长壮大。

Respectfully,
Hong Gang Jin 靳洪刚
Professor of Chinese
Department of East Asian Languages and Literature
Hamilton College

From the President

December 2004

Source: CLTA Newsletter 28.3. December 2004, pp. 3-4. 在此辞旧迎新之际，我谨向全体CLTA会员致以节日的问候。

对中文教师学会(CLTA)来说，2005年将是一个有着特殊意义的一年，也是中文教学(Chinese as a Foreign Language) 领域发展关键的一年。这一年，我们外语教学全体同仁将在美国展开“外语之年”（the Year of Languages）的 庆祝活动。中文教学界当借此东风，吸引更多的人学习中文，了解中国文化。同时推动更多的人参与中文教学，投身 于中文教学(CFL)的学科建设及理论研究。

2005年也将是AP中文项目在美国全面开展的第一年。很多学者预测，AP中文的发展将对美国的中文教学领域有着不可估量的影响。这是因为：首先，AP中文将成为整合全美大、中、小学中文课程的中枢纽带；其次，AP中 文将成为联合各层次中文教学组织的桥梁，促进全美中文教学的交流与合作；再次，AP中文将为中文教学领域提供 多种研究素材，成为中文教学理论及实验研究的基地。

2005年还将见证中文教学领域已进入一个新的发展阶段。在过去十年中，中文学生的注册率有了大幅增长， 中文教师队伍不断扩大，各种中文教学资料层出不穷，地方性及专门性中文教学组织大量发展，中文教学理论及实验 研究亦逐步成熟。这些发展及变化证实中文教学领域经过几十年的奋斗，已经从一个边缘外语学科进入主流学科。中 文在全球正在成为一个令人瞩目的强势外语。

作为一个独立的外语学科，中文教学(CFL)一方面在逐步成熟、发展；另一方面，也将面临诸多新的挑战。 中文教师协会是一个具有40年历史的中文教学组织，在新的挑战面前应起到学科的带头作用，确立CLF学科意识，设定CFL的长期发展方向，加强CFL本学 科内及学科外的交流与合作。做为本届CLTA的会长，我希望在前任会长白建华教授及其他前任会长所创业绩的基础上，在全体理事会成员的协同帮助下，不负全 体会员的重托，在以下几个方面做出努力：

1. 确立CLTA的学科研究目标。理事会将从明年开始讨论CLTA的学科发展方向，建立相对统一的CFL学科意识，有目标，有系统地进行CFL理论及实验研究。为促进这一目标，本届理事会决议拟定在2005-2006期间开始编纂第一套CFL实验研究专辑。专辑文章将采用公开征稿，专家评审的方式进行。此项工作由本届副会长蒋勉华老师负责。此外，CLTA在第一届实验研究工作坊的基础上，将在2005年会期间向全体会员提供第二届实验研究工作坊，此项工作将由皆得学术研究基金负责任人崔颂仁教授安排，具体专题将在下期会员通讯通知。
2. 积极配合AP中文的发展，开展与之相关的课题讨论及研讨会。在2005年期间，围绕AP 中文，本会鼓励会员及语言中心在网上或在各地组织专题性研讨会，邀请专家为本会通讯及杂志组稿或投稿，系统介绍AP中文的设计理论及对中文教学领域提出的新挑战。
3. 继续加强与其它中文教学组织及外语学科的联系，交流与合作。具体做法包括:(1) 为加强本会与其它外语教学组织的联系，今年理事会决定任命周淑涵为四年一任的CLTA学会代表参加全美外语教师协会(JNCL)在华盛顿举办的年会，以为本会争取应得利益及支持；(2) 为继续加强CLTA与其它中文教学组织的联盟及合作，本届理事会决定在没有CLASS理事成员的情况下，将邀请CLASS派代表列席参加CLTA理事会的例行讨论及例会。
4. 大力发展中文教师学会的会员。除了进行例行的会员发展活动外，本会也要通过不同的电子通讯方式联络更多的中文教学机构及教学人员加入本会。
5. 配合ACTFL的倡议，在中文教学领域展开2005年的”外语之年”活动。本会决定将明年CLTA年会的主题定为“中文教学领域的新挑战及新起点”(Taking TCFL to a New Level: Challenges and Prospects)。除了现有的专题研究报告外，本会年会负责人齐德立教授正与ACTFL 协商，增设中文教学研究展示组 (poster sessions)，欢迎会员踊跃参加与同仁分享教学及研究成果。
6. 积极开展各种募款活动，吸引各方资金支持学会活动，保持并建立专项研究基金及奖励项目。

最后，在新的一年里，我们将尽全力为学会及全体会员服务。再次感谢大家的信任与支持。祝大家节日愉快，来年诸事如意!

靳洪刚

Season’s Greetings to all CLTA members. As 2005 is fast approaching, we know that it will be an exciting and significant year for CLTA as well as the field of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) has designated 2005 as The Year of Languages to celebrate and communicate the power of language learning. Our Association will work in concert with ACTFL to promote and celebrate the learning of Chinese language and culture, and at the same time, attract more professionals engaging in CFL teaching and research.

The year 2005 will mark the first stage in the development of AP Chinese programs in the USA. Many scholars expect AP Chinese to make a profound impact on the CFL field. Not only will AP Chinese serve to bridge the curricular and instructional gap between K-12 and post-secondary schools, it will also help bring together Chinese teaching organizations representing both academic and heritage sectors. In addition, AP Chinese will form an important base for more serious and rigorous theoretical and empirical research in CFL.

The year 2005 may also mark a significant step in our field’s progress from the margins to the mainstream. In the past ten years, the field as seen a significant growth in enrollments, an increasing number of new and exciting Chinese programs and expansion of existing programs at all levels. The field has also produced an unprecedented number of high quality teaching materials and incorporated the most advanced technology into our daily teaching. At the same time, many in-depth and systematic theoretical and empirical studies of CFL are emerging. As CFL merges into the mainstream and becomes more mature, it faces new challenges and new responsibilities in taking leadership among less commonly taught languages.

At this important juncture, CLTA with its history of over forty years must take the lead in better understanding the field of teaching CFL and in advancing it to a new professional level. As the in-coming CLTA president, I look forward to continuing the traditions and constructive contributions established by the Immediate Past President Bai Jianhua and many other previous CLTA presidents. I will also work closely with the elected Board of Directors as well as the appointed officers. In the next year, we hope to achieve the following objectives:

1. Systematically identifying needs for CFL research and practice. Throughout the coming year, the Board will engage in on-line discussions on needs, building strategies, and research agendas for the field of CFL. At its November meeting this year, the Board voted to undertake two specific projects in connection with the Jiede Grant: to publish a monograph dedicated to empirical studies in CFL, and to conduct another workshop on empirical research. Vice President Mienhwa Chiang will chair the Monograph Committee, which will seek a publisher, issue a call for papers, and evaluate them for publication. Songren Cui, as Chair of the Jiede Committee, will offer the workshop at next year’s CLTA annual conference in Baltimore. The theme of the workshop will be announced in the next issue of the CLTA newsletter.
2. Actively supporting the development of AP Chinese. During 2005, the Board will work closely with the AP Chinese task force appointed by the College Board. We hope to initiate various on-line-discussions on issues related to AP Chinese tests and curricular requirements, to invite AP specialists and AP task force members to give lectures and contribute articles to CLTA newsletters and journals, in order to inform CLTA members of developments in AP Chinese and their potential impact on our future teaching.
3. Further strengthening communication and collaboration with other language teaching organizations in the USA and in the world. The CLTA Board of Directors will continue to participate in organizations such as ACTFL, AAS (Association of Asian Studies), JNCL-NCLIS (Joint National Committee for Languages-National Council for Languages & International Studies), and NCOLCTL (National Council of Organizations of Less Commonly Taught Languages). At the same time, CLTA will continue our close alliance with such CFL organizations as CLASS (Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools), CSAUS (Chinese School Association in the United States) and NCACLS (National Council of Associations of Chinese Language Schools). This year, since no member of CLASS was elected to the Board, the Board voted to strengthen our longstanding association by inviting a representative from CLASS to participate as a nonvoting member in our routine discussions and meetings. The Board also voted to appoint Shuhan Wong to a four-year term to represent CLTA at JNCL.
4. Planning for a vigorous membership drive. In addition to our regular annual membership drive, we hope to use different electronic and other devices to reach out and to attract more CFL professionals to join CLTA.
5. Celebrating The Year of Languages. In conjunction with ACTFL’s celebration of The Year of Languages, CLTA has adopted a theme for next year’s conference: “Taking TCFL to a New Level: Challenges and Prospects”. Next year’s Program Chair, Professor Richard Chi, is working closely with ACTFL on the addition of poster sessions. A Call for Proposals appears in this issue of the Newsletter.
6. Organizing fund raising campaigns. In 2005, we hope to approach different organizations and business groups to raise funds for long term CLTA endowments in support of continuing awards and research scholarships

I will conclude with my sincere hopes that through my hard-work and the collective efforts and wisdom of the Board, CLTA will better serve its members and its field. If you have any questions and suggestions during the year, please feel free to contact me or any of the board members and officers. Once again I thank you for your trust and support. Best wishes to you all for a fruitful and peaceful year!

Hong Gang Jin

From the President

December 2003

Source: CLTA Newsletter 27.3. December 2003, p. 3. December, 2003

Greetings, it is my turn and my distinct pleasure to serve this year as president. As I begin my message, let me start with some good news: foreign language education is gaining more attention in the United States.

MLA’s recent survey has shown “more college students studying foreign languages than ever before” and the number of students studying Chinese in U. S. institutions of higher education increased by 20%, from 28,456 in 1998 to 34,153 in 2002, a 5.5 times increase since 1970. Secretary of Education Rod Paige stated at this year’s ACTFL annual conference, “foreign language instruction is an important part of education and vital knowledge for every child. … our students need a working knowledge of languages to compete in the future …” ACTFL and co-sponsoring organizations proclaim 2005 The Year of Languages.

As we enter the 21st century, we can look forward to exciting changes. CLTA is devoted to advancing the worldwide mission of education in Chinese and advocating the advancement of scholarship in Chinese language, literature, culture, pedagogy, and applied and theoretical linguistics. We have made great strides over the past 40 years in professionalizing our field and we are building success from a strong base. During our progression, we have acquired much better understanding of the nature of Chinese language acquisition and Chinese language pedagogy. We have achieved a great deal of success in curriculum and material development, assessment, and the integration of technology. Yes there is still much to do. We need to explore new horizons to make language, literature and linguistics integral components of a strong Chinese program. We need to create new opportunities for teacher development and for action research that helps teachers understand more about the teaching and learning process, reflect on the effectiveness of their work, and make informed instructional decisions. At this year’s board meeting we decided to initiate a plan for empirical research workshops led by Board Member Professor Michael Everson.

As the result of the generosity of an anonymous member, CLTA has recently established the Jiede Empirical Research Grant to support empirical research in Chinese pedagogy and applied linguistics that contributes to building a sound understanding of teaching and learning Chinese as a Foreign Language. We also have the following awards for competition: Walton Award for overall contributions to the field of Chinese language pedagogy, the Walton Presentation Prize to recognize the best presentation by teachers at the pre-college level and graduate students at the annual meeting, and the Cheng & Tsui Professional Development Award to support the attendance of pre-collegiate and collegiate teachers to training workshops and seminars. For more information on these awards, visit our website https://www.clta-us.org/awards/ [URL updated]. This year’s Walton Award goes to Prof. Yuehua Liu, and the Jiede Grant to Dr. Helen Shen. The Cheng & Tsui Award will be held over until next year. Congratulations to all! Our challenge is to ensure that similar funds continue to grow, so that we can recognize and serve the most deserving members of our community, as we ought. If you can, please contribute and encourage others to make similar contributions. I also encourage all CLTA members to work to make our organization stronger and broader by providing a membership form to your colleagues and invite them to join.

I conclude by thanking our Immediate Past President Dana Bourgerie and our outgoing members of the Board of Directors Martha Wang Gallagher, Claudia Ross (IPP for 2002-03), Richard VanNess Simmons, and Zheng-sheng Zhang for their dedicated service. As always, we are most grateful to our hardworking Executive Director, Cyndy Ning, and to Prof. Marjorie Chan and her web team for providing us with the most updated and relevant information. Our thanks also go to our new journal editor Vivian Ling, our new book review editor Michael Everson and our new Newsletter editor Tianwei Xie. They are working hard to enhance our publications. As you may notice from the recent issue of our journal, more features were added to make it more user-friendly and reaching out to a larger readership. I look forward to a productive and fulfilling year with you all and I hope you will feel free to share your thoughts and views with me at <bai@kenyon.edu>.

Best wishes to all for 2004!

Jianhua Bai, President of CLTA, 2003-04
Kenyon College

From the Immediate Past President

December 2002

Source: CLTA Newsletter 26.3. December 2002, p. 3.

I write this at the conclusion of the CLTA annual meeting and at the completion of my term as President. It has been a busy and rewarding year, and I thank the Board of Directors, and the CLTA officers, especially Dr. Cynthia Ning, our Executive Director, for their hard work on behalf of our organization. The year also marked a transition in the CLTA journal. After eight years of dedicated and professional service as Editor, Dr. Shouhsin Teng is stepping down and I am happy to announce that he will be succeeded by Dr. Vivian Ling, who brings with her extensive expertise in Chinese literature, pedagogy, and program management. Our Newsletter Editor, Ted Yao, will also be stepping down after eight years of service, and we are undergoing a search for his replacement. On behalf of our Board of Directors and our membership, I thank Dr. Teng and Dr.Yao for their service and contributions to our Association.

For me, the highlight of the Annual meeting was the CLTA banquet and special 40 th anniversary roundtable. Our special guests, George Chao [University of Chicago], Chauncey Chu [University of Florida], and C.P. Sobleman [Columbia University], recalled for us the history of CLTA and shared their advice as we move forward. We learned, for example, that the organization is actually 42 years old, that the first newsletter appeared in 1965, edited by C.P. Sobelman and a graduate student with the help of an IBM selectric typewriter, a razor, and glue. We learned that in those days, some students were more conversant in literary Chinese than in spoken Mandarin. How far we have come! Finally, we were advised to continue to insist that we be treated as professionals on par with faculty in other disciplines in the academic community.

The last official survey of our profession was completed by the Modern Languages Association in 1998. At that time, almost 23,000 students were enrolled in Chinese classes at the college and university level. The National Foreign Language Center reports that over 75% of overall Chinese language enrollment is at the high school and heritage school level. The MLA is currently compiling up-to-date enrollment figures which will be released next year. The National Foreign Language Center is about to begin a comprehensive survey of the field as part of a Chinese Language Field Initiative. The figures they compile will be provided by us, the teachers and administrators in this field. We know our field is growing, and it is important that those outside of the field receive an accurate picture. Please respond promptly to the NFLC request for information, so that our strength is as clear to those on the outside as it is to us on the inside.

Claudia Ross]

From the President

March 2002

Source: CLTA Newsletter 26.1. March 2002, pp. 3-4. March 2, 2002

We are in a post-9/11 world, in which the United States has been forced to recognize the need to understand the languages and cultures of other nations and peoples. President Bush has shifted the focus of his presidential priorities, and national diplomacy has moved higher on his list. Congress is considering the allocation of additional funding for the study of critical languages, including Chinese, to create an incentive for students to pursue advanced study in these languages. Our responsibilities as Chinese language teachers and researchers are clear. We must prepare our students to understand the Chinese speaking world by building language skills and cultural knowledge, and we must motivate them to continue their studies in our classrooms and beyond.

The presentations at our most recent Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. demonstrated that we are focused on these tasks, and that we are teaching the micro- and macro-level skills necessary for the mastery of language and culture. We continue to stress the accuracy of discrete skills (as was clear, for example, by the lively discussion in the panel devoted to the particle le, as well as in the papers devoted to the acquisition of tones.) We are confronting the unique difficulties involved in Chinese reading and writing. We continue our innovative use of multimedia to enable multi-skills learning. We focus on outcomes and performance based learning. We use the web to broaden the context of language use. We make the language immediate, relevant, and fun for our students through our use of real, “out of textbook” language (as seen, for example, in the paper on liuxing expressions.) Presentations continue at the upcoming Annual Meeting of the Association of Asian Studies in Washington, D.C., where CLTA member and former Board member Professor Jane Parish Yang has organized a roundtable discussion entitled “Asian Languages in the Area Studies Curriculum: Challenges Ahead.” I want to remind you all of the importance of maintaining links to the broader Asian Studies academic community. Please try to attend the AAS conference and Professor Parish’s panel.

The Olympics have concluded their visit to Salt Lake City and we are preparing to move in for our Annual Meeting in November. Dana Bour-gerie, our Program Chair for 2002 and Vice-President of CLTA, is working with his committee to prepare a program which will enable us to share our research and expertise again and to choose the recipient of the Walton Presentation Prize. We look forward to the publication of the papers of our 2001 recipients, Jun Yang of the University of Arizona (the author of the above-mentioned paper on le) and Song Jiang of the University of Hawaii (the author of a fine paper on Chinese word associations), in our Journal. On behalf of you, the CLTA membership, I thank the CLTA Board members for their ongoing participation in the management of this organization. I give special thanks to the officers of the organization who have worked so hard for all of us this year. Professor Marjorie K. M. Chan, the immediate past president, set high standards and clear tasks for the Board. She continues to serve the organization as its Webmaster, maintaining and developing our informative, well-designed web site. Professor Shou-hsin Teng, the Editor of the Journal, has been responsible for the high quality of the journal. He will be stepping down from his position and we are in the process of a search for a new editor. Professor Cynthia Ning, our Executive Director, has demonstrated her professionalism, care, and strong organizational skills in her first year of service. Professor Ted Yao, our Newsletter Editor, continues to produce a high quality, informative newsletter. Professor James Dew is Chair of the Nominating Committee this year and will be presenting a quality slate of candidates for election to office and to the Board for the coming year. Professor Zheng-sheng Zhang chairs our Awards Committee, responsible for selecting recipients of the Walton Award for overall contributions to the field of the Chinese language pedagogy, and the Walton Presentation Prize for the best conference presentation by a first-time presenter. Professor Jianhua Bai is chairing our newest committee, the Finance Committee, which provides oversight for CLTA’s financial operations.

Watch for your CLTA ballots later this spring and don’t forget to vote. Watch for conference information for our annual meeting and take advantage of the early bird registration fees. I look forward to seeing you all in Salt Lake City in November.

Claudia Ross

From the President

March 2001

Source: CLTA Newsletter 25.1. March 2001, pp. 3-4.

Happy New Millennium to all!

January 2001 saw a smooth transition of CLTA Headquarters, from Kalamazoo College to the University of Hawaii, thanks to the efforts of outgoing Executive Director, Madeline Chu, and incoming Executive Director, Cynthia Ning. The new Executive Director, nominated by last year’s CLTA President, Chuanren Ke, and approved by the CLTA Board of Directors, will serve a four-year term ending 31 December 2004, with renewal possible, as per Article VI of the CLTA By-laws concerning appointed officers of CLTA (URL: <https://www.clta-us.org/bylaws/art6.htm> [URL updated]). Our hearty welcome to Cyndy Ning in her new role as CLTA Executive Director.

The move of CLTA Headquarters to the University of Hawaii is accompanied by other changes. One major change affects the Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association. Beginning with 2001, services related to printing of the Journal and to sales of back issues will be managed by the National East Asian Languages Resource Center’s Foreign Language Publications & Services at the Ohio State University (URL: <http://flc.ohio-state.edu/flpubs/>). The contract between CLTA and OSU’s NEALRC/FLPubs was signed in March 2001 by CLTA President, CLTA Executive Director, FLPubs Executive Director, and FLPubs Managing Editor. With the delay in contract-signing, there is the inevitable, concomitant delay in the printing and distribution of the February 2001 issue of the Journal. Our sincere apologies for the publication lag for the February issue, but aim to have the Journal back on schedule for the May issue.

While the official move of CLTA Headquarters to University of Hawaii took place on 1 January 2001, changing of the guard with respect to Board of Directors and elected officers of CLTA took place upon the adjournment of the Annual Meeting of the CLTA Board of Directors and Officers on 16 November 2000 in Boston, as part of the 2000 Annual Meeting of CLTA. See, in this issue, Board member, James Dew’s summary report of that board meeting, based on reports prepared for the meeting and the minutes of that meeting. Since the November meeting, chairs and members of standing and ad hoc committees have been busy. For instance, Zheng-sheng Zhang, Program Chair, and committee member, Tianwei Xie, are working on various stages of the CLTA program and scheduling of meetings and the annual banquet. Martha Gallagher, Nominating Chair, together with Chih-p’ing Chou and Dana Scott Bourgerie, is working on nominations for the upcoming CLTA election. Xiaohong Wen, Awards Committee Chair, and her committee members, Claudia Ross and Tianwei Xie, are drafting a set of general procedures and guidelines for new and existing CLTA awards. (See the announcement on the awards in this issue.) The newest set of awards to be administered by the CLTA Awards Committee comes from the Cheng & Tsui Professional Development Fund. (See C&T President, Jill Cheng’s speech delivered at the 2000 CLTA General Membership Meeting. URL: <https://www.clta-us.org/awards/ct-fund-speech.htm> [URL updated].) The Steering Committee, consisting of the President, Vice President, Immediate Past President, and two Board members, James Dew and Jing-heng Ma, have been taking care of various matters pertaining to the move of CLTA Headquarters to University of Hawaii, and working out an agreement between University of Hawaii and the Chinese Language Teachers Association, including “buying” release time for CLTA’s new Executive Director to perform her duties, using what had been an annual stipend for the CLTA Executive Director.

Other major changes to launch the new millennium include revision of the CLTA By-laws, which will be submitted to the CLTA membership for ratification. In charge of this task that was begun in November 1999, is our very capable Vice President/President-Elect, Claudia Ross. Most important among the proposed changes to the By-laws is the creation of a Finance Committee, which is charged with reviewing the budget of the Association and all of the Association’s investments, and with advising the Board of Directors annually on the financial condition of the Association. Other changes include the addition of CLTA Webmaster as an appointed officer position, alongside those of Journal Editor and Newsletter Editor, and changes on the dates of the Association’s fiscal year. As ratification of the CLTA By-laws revision requires a vote from the general membership, the Board plans to conduct this process via mail ballot. This will take place in spring or early summer, so please watch for the ballot in the mail and cast your vote.

The start of the new millennium also marks the 25th anniversary of our CLTA Newsletter. To celebrate this occasion, our CLTA Newsletter Editor, Ted Yao, has graciously prepared a short history of the Newsletter for this issue. The new millennium and the Newsletter’s 25th anniversary also serve as timely reminders that our Association has a history, albeit a fairly short one, with establishment of CLTA only since 1962. Thus, while we look forward to many exciting challenges in the Chinese language teaching profession in the new millennium, we need also to look back to our Association’s past and to reclaim its history. Ted Yao’s “reconstructing” of the Newsletter’s history is part of that endeavor. And CLTA’s homepage will be adding information on the Association’s past, including past CLTA Headquarters, and Board of Directors and Officers. A web page highlighting CLTA activities and accomplishments over the years will also be added to our CLTA website (URL: <https://www.clta-us.org> [URL updated]).

Before ending this presidential message, for those going to the 2001 AAS meeting in Chicago (22-25 March 2001), do plan to attend the CLTA-sponsored panel (Session 126, Saturday, March 24, 8:30 a.m.): “Acquiring Competence: Chinese Language Study in the Asian Studies Curriculum.” Organized and chaired by CLTA Board member, Jane Parish Yang (Lawrence University), other panelists are: Chuanren Ke (University of Iowa), Honggang Jin (Hamilton College), Galal Walker (Ohio State University), Joseph Fewsmith (Boston University), and Yanfang Tang (The College of William and Mary).

Enjoy the springtime and happy teaching! Our students may know that English is the lingua franca of our global economy, but learning of a foreign language such as Chinese is increasingly becoming a career plus, and oftentimes a career must.

Marjorie K.M. Chan
08 March 2001

From the Immediate Past President

December 2001

Source: CLTA Newsletter 25.3. December 2001, pp. 6-8.

Invoking the image of 2001: Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 movie, the theme of ACTFL 2001, the 35th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), was “A Professional Odyssey: Exploring New Spaces.” The theme of this year’s convention is indeed apt, as we usher in the new millennium with year 2001, and explore new spaces in acquiring greater professional knowledge of foreign language studies, foreign language education, and international communication.

Among ACTFL’s oldest member organizations is our Chinese Language Teachers Association, established since 1962 and affiliated with ACTFL since the formation of ACTFL out of the Modern Language Association (MLA) in 1967. (See <http://clta.deall.ohio-state.edu/clta_actfl.htm>.) CLTA has thus benefited from several decades of collaboration with ACTFL on issues of interest and concern to foreign-language teachers and foreign-language teaching organizations throughout the United States. One very important ACTFL-initiated project is the “New Visions in Action” project, involving PreK through 16+ foreign language educators nationwide. The project is a collaborative effort to improve the foreign-language teaching profession, by identifying and implementing the actions necessary to improve foreign language programs throughout the United States. Thus, the new millennium promises to continue CLTA’s critical role in collaborating with other organizations dedicated to foreign-language teaching and foreign language education.

CLTA is a professional organization whose purpose is to advance the teaching and learning of the Chinese language, and to encourage and disseminate study and research in Chinese language pedagogy, Chinese linguistics, and Chinese literature. Over the years, papers presented at our annual meetings have reflected topics relevant to all three areas of teaching and research. At the same time that we, as an organization, reach out to other foreign-language organizations, we also need to maintain dialogue with scholars and colleagues in the three related fields of Chinese studies, fields that are reflected in the teaching and research at East Asian languages departments in the country, namely: Chinese language pedagogy, Chinese linguistics, and Chinese literature. CLTA’s continued affiliation with the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) also bespeak our recognition that linguistics, literature, and language pedagogy are, in turn, part of the larger arena of East Asian culture and East Asian history. Thus, we enter the new millennium, ready to meet new challenges in exploring new spaces in the galaxy of international communication, foreign language studies, literary studies, linguistic studies, and cultural studies.

In this first year of the new millennium, changes that have been taking place at the Association level as well as at the national level have been reported to the membership in the CLTA Newsletter via messages from the President, the Vice President, the Executive Director, as well as via other means of disseminations, such as printing of the full text of the newly-voted upon and ratified 2001 CLTA By-laws (in the September 2001 issue of the Newsletter). We look back to the past year’s activities of the Chinese Language Teaching Association with a brief reporting of the information disseminated at the 2001 CLTA General Membership Meeting in Washington, DC. Chairing the meeting as the CLTA President, I was accompanied by my trusty notebook, connected to an LCD projector, and thus taking advantage of the technology and hardware available, so that the meeting agenda could be displayed for easy viewing on the screen.

The meeting opened with an introduction of the (2001) Board of Directors who were elected by the CLTA membership, together with the four incoming Directors: Jianhua Bai, Mien-hwa Chiang, Stephen Fleming, and Lucy Lee. (The new slate of officers and directors is online at: <http://clta.deall.ohio-state.edu/officers.htm>.) Each of the Directors had an opportunity to introduce himself/herself in front the audience, and in some cases, to make some announcements concerning this year’s program changes, welcoming members to the 2002 CLTA meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, and so forth. Those introductions were followed by corresponding self-introductions (and announcements) by the appointed officers of the Association.

With time constraints, only some of the activities of the board over the past year were reported or touched upon at the general membership meeting. These activities are expanded upon in the following paragraphs. In any event, at the conclusion of the meeting, the President thanked all the appointed officers, committee chairs, and Board of Directors for their diligence. Special thanks went to Cyndy Ning for her hard work and dedication at CLTA’s headquarters in University of Hawaii. Also thanked was the audience for taking time to attend the general membership meeting, despite the late hour when all must be starved by then. The meeting adjourned just after the scheduled 8:30 p.m. end of the meeting.

One of the activities at the general membership meeting was the announcement of Dr. John Young as this year’s recipient of the Walton Award, with Awards Committee Chair, Xiaohong Wen, presenting, amidst the warm applause from the audience, the award to Dr. Young, a founding member of CLTA and for many years also the CLTA Secretary-Treasurer (today’s CLTA Executive Director). (For more on Dr. Young as the recipient of this year’s Walton Award, see the separate announcement in this issue of the Newsletter.) Jane Parish Young, as our liaison with our affiliate organization, the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), invited everyone to attend the CLTA-sponsored, border-crossing session, entitled “Asian Languages in the Area Studies Curriculum-Challenges Ahead,” which will be take place at the 2002 AAS meeting in Washington, DC. Ted Yao reported in his capacity as elected co-chair of the Chinese Language Field Initiative’s National Chinese Language Commission (see <http://clta.deall.ohio-state.edu/clta_clfi.htm>), and alerted all to a field-wide survey that will be administered through the Commission. (Cornelius Kubler, the other elected co-chair of the Commission, was unable to attend the CLTA annual meeting this year.)

The CLTA board, including elected and appointed officers, chairs of the standing and ad hoc committees and committee members, has been working extremely hard during the past year, with CLTA business conducted via email correspondence, including voting via email ballot. Nominating Committee Chair, Martha Gallagher, together with help from committee members (Chih-p’ing Chou and Dana Bourgerie), Cyndy Ning, and others on the board, took care of the 2001 elections. Zheng-sheng Zhang worked on the 2001 CLTA program, with help from board member, Tianwei Xie, and CLTA member, Hongyin Tao. Special thanks go to CLTA member, Professor Chung-wen Shih, for making local arrangements for this year’s CLTA banquet. Everyone enjoyed the social get-together and feast at Tony Cheng’s Seafood Restaurant.

Awards Committee Chair, Xiaohong Wen, and her committee members (Tianwei Xie and Claudia Ross) drafted guidelines for the three awards that are currently administered by the CLTA Board of Directors, namely: the Walton Award, the Walton Presentation Prize, and the Cheng & Tsui Professional Development Award. Detailed guidelines for the administration of the awards were submitted to the board and approved by the board via email ballot in spring. The awards and information on eligibility, etc., were then announced in the September 2001 issue of the CLTA Newsletter and was placed online as well (URL: <http://clta.deall.ohio-state.edu/awards.htm>). The Awards Committee will, beginning with the new Board of Directors, be a standing committee, as per the 2001 CLTA By-laws. The ad hoc By-laws Revision Committee, chaired by Claudia Ross, drafted the revision of the 1996 bylaws that were ultimately approved by the board of directors in spring, and then sent out from CLTA Headquarters for membership vote. The 2001 revision of the CLTA By-laws, ratified as of 15 June 2001, was published in the September 2001 issue of the CLTA Newsletter, with a corresponding online copy also available at the CLTA website (URL: <http://clta.deall.ohio-state.edu/bylaws/>).

The Steering Committee, composed of the elected officers and two board members (James Dew and Jing-heng Ma), worked with Cyndy Ning on various aspects of the move of CLTA Headquarters to University of Hawaii, including repeated communication with old CLTA headquarters for past book-keeping and financial records. (To date, CLTA headquarters at U.H. has only received the Association’s past three years of income tax information.) The Steering Committee also took on the task of updating the CLTA Handbook for Officers and Directors, a handbook first created by Cynthia Ning when she was CLTA President in 1999. As she indicated in her presidential message in the September 1999 issue of the Newsletter (also available online <http://clta.deall.ohio-state.edu/prez/prez_1999-09.htm>, she had taken, as her major charge for CLTA, “the production of an officer’s handbook, so that procedural knowhow and institutional records of the association can be readily accessible in writing.” In recognition of the importance of the Handbook for guiding the Board of Directors in their work for the Association, I made it a task for the Steering Committee to update the Handbook. The 2001 edition of the Handbook is the result of that commitment. Now 102 pages in length, it contains 29 more pages than the original 1999 edition. The Table of Contents was shown to the general membership at the November meeting. Included, for example, are past minutes of the CLTA Board of Directors (1991 through 2000), budgets and financial statements from recent years, and guidelines for standing committees and their chairs. Cyndy Ning, in her September 1999 presidential message and at the 1999 CLTA general membership meeting, invited members to contact her for requests of a copy of the Handbook. Rather than follow her footstep in responding to individual requests, current and previous copies of the Handbook can be accessed at <http://clta.deall.ohio-state.edu/handbook/>.

At the general meeting, since not everyone in the audience had visited the CLTA Homepage, as CLTA Webmaster, I took the opportunity to display some of the webpages from the CLTA website (e.g., the main page, the CLTA 2001 Program, etc.). The general membership meeting concluded with a display of the 2001 CLTA Financial Statement, and a brief reporting by Cynthia Ning, elaborating on some of the figures shown in the Excel spreadsheet on the screen, including 2001 income (as of 11/13/01) and CLTA assets (as of 10/31/01).

The first year of the move of CLTA Headquarters to the University of Hawaii required much patience from the membership, and we thank you all. We also appreciate your understanding in the late publication of issues of the Journal this past year, while we settle into a new routine. There were also some matters that had to be placed in the back burner during this year of transition to the new headquarters. These include looking into online and offline membership payment via credit card, and reduced registration rates from ACTFL for retirees in the profession. These matters, along with next year’s 40th anniversary activities, and other exciting things, are in the capable hands of our new President, Claudia Ross, and her new team.

My personal thanks to the CLTA Board of Directors and appointed officers for their hard work and dedication during the past year of my term as President. Our gratitude to outgoing Directors, Chuanren Ke, Tianwei Xie, Xiaohong Wen, and Jane Parish Yang, for their service during their term on the Board of Directors. No one walks alone, as ACTFL keynote speaker, Ronan Tynan, noted; for me, the road was paved with teamwork from a great group of team players on the board. My sincere thanks go to the CLTA membership for giving me the opportunity to serve the Association as its President during the past year. The experience has been a deeply rewarding one for me, as I tried to do my part in taking our Association into the 21st century, into the new millennium, and in contributing to the professionalization of our Association.

I’ll end with a brief mention of my presentation on “Concordancers, Concordances, and Chinese Language Teaching” at the 2001 CLTA meeting. Due to time delay in setting up the computer and LCD projector, my presentation was semi-completed. While an article-length paper is forthcoming, a Powerpoint version of the presentation is now online for interested souls. The URL is: <http://deall.ohio-state.edu/chan.9/conc/chan_clta_2001.pps>.

Season’s greetings to all!
With my usual “thump and zap,” glitches and all, due to having missed our CLTA Newsletter Editor’s Nov. 30 deadline,

Marjorie K.M. Chan
The Ohio State University
4 December 2001

From the President

March 2000

Source: CLTA Newsletter 24.1. March 2000.

Greetings GEWEI from Iowa.

You should all have received a copy of the CLTA Articulation Project Survey recently. If you have not done so, I urge you to take a moment to fill out this important survey and mail it to CLTA Headquarters as soon as possible, in the envelope provided. As Chinese becomes more widely taught, the success of our instructional efforts increasingly relies on rational coordination among curricula at different instructional levels in different settings. This national survey is aimed at collecting data on the perceptions of pre-college and college Chinese instructors on curriculum areas that may need better coordination. The survey also solicits information about the strengths and weaknesses of students coming from pre-college programs and on any perceived adjustments that might need to be made in programs at both the pre-college and college levels. Data collected in this survey will serve as an important guide for our national and local/regional articulation efforts. The articulation committee will make a report on the results of this survey at the 2000 CLTA annual conference in Boston in November. Thank you very much for your input.

In addition to this national articulation survey, the CLTA Board of Directors is also engaging in a number of important tasks this year for the purpose of reaching out to other national organizations in and related t our field. One of them, led by Professor Jane Yang, is to strengthen connections with the Association for Asian Studies (AAS). CLTA has been holding its annual conferences in conjunction with those of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), a practice that has served us well in our efforts to deal with issues in second language acquisition and pedagogy in general while at the same time focus on issues of purely Chinese concerns. While we will continue to be affiliated with ACTFL for our annual conferences, we think it is also important for CLTA to strengthen its ties with AAS. AAS is a most appropriate setting for us to bring together area studies faculty and faculty in Chinese language instruction to discuss how Chinese language study can be better integrated into the Asian studies curriculum. Efforts are being made to put together a proposal for a CLTA-sponsored panel for the 2001 AAS annual meeting in Chicago.

Another task currently being taken on by the CLTA Board of Directors is the revision of sections of the CLTA By-Laws in order to allow ex-officio representatives from all three major pre-college Chinese language teacher associations to attend the Board meetings. These three associations are the Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS), the Chinese School Association in the United States (CSAUS), and the National Council of Associations of Chinese Language Schools (NCACLS). Representatives of CLASS and NCACLS have been invited to sit in on our Board meetings over the past few years. As more students are taking Chinese at the pre-college levels, in either high schools or community schools, than at the college levels, it is important for CLTA, the oldest association for Chinese language education in North America, to reach out to all these major pre-college organizations. Led by Professor Claudia Ross, the Board is currently examining the Bylaws carefully and exploring feasible options to accommodate this by-laws revision. As changes to the By-laws will need to be voted on by the membership, you will be hearing from the Board in the months ahead regarding this matter.

Best wishes for a productive spring semester.

Ke Chuanren