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.