Burlington Notre Dame foreign language instructor Richard Dunshee, together with Iowa Learning Online, is working to provide students across Iowa the opportunity to learn Chinese, Arabic and other critical languages. Dunshee feels strongly that all students should be given the opportunity to take these courses and has worked tirelessly to bring Chinese to Iowa students this year. He feels that the ICN is a great way to reach these students and share limited resources with the entire state.
The U.S. State Department classifies certain languages, including Chinese and Arabic, as “critical needs languages.” Individuals who can speak these languages will find increased opportunities throughout their education and in their careers. Grants and scholarships are also available for students who study these languages. Dunshee feels that increased instruction in these languages will help not only the individual, but also help our country. With the rapid increase in worldwide trade and manufacturing, as well as ever-growing security issues, the U.S. needs to improve its communication efforts. In addition to these economic and security needs, Americans will be perceived in a more amicable way if we make the effort to learn more about other countries’ languages and cultures. Despite this need, many schools still only offer students Spanish and maybe one or two European languages. Students are not typically offered the chance to take these critical languages, and yet research is showing that the need for these languages is growing every day.
The barrier for many schools is not that they do not want to teach these critical languages, but they can’t afford or find qualified teachers to do so. Dunshee feels strongly that the ICN and/or Internet provide a means to reach kids who might not otherwise be reached. “A little school could never hire a Chinese teacher, but with this technology, we can reach even one student,” he says. Schools are able to share the cost of the teacher in this manner. He feels that the ICN setting is not as ideal as a traditional classroom, but it does work well and gives access that is not possible any other way.
The pilot course, Chinese, had a successful first semester and is having an even more successful second semester. The new instructor, Yehmin Yu, is an excellent teacher who has been teaching Chinese on a grant at Colona Elementary for the past few years. Currently, students from five different districts or schools are taking the course, which is offered at 7:15 a.m. before the regular school day begins. Students are very enthusiastic about the course, and Dunshee feels strongly about the success of the program.
As a result of the success of the Chinese course, as well as interest from students, several new courses will be offered next year. First year Chinese will continue to be offered, but will increase to three sections offered during the school day. Second year Chinese will be offered at the zero hour for students in the current Chinese course. Three sections of Arabic will be added, and Japanese is a possibility. Dunshee hopes to continue adding new courses and new languages each year in an effort to eventually offer four years of all eight languages listed on the government’s critical language list.
To learn more about any of these courses, contact Richard Dunshee at richard.dunshee@gpaea.k12.ia.us. For questions related to Iowa Learning Online, contact Arlan Thorson at athorson@iowalearningonline.org or at (515) 238-4765. Interested individuals can also visit http://iowalearningonline.org for more information.
