Seven Gatton Academy students are spending their Winter Term in a three-week intensive field study in China.
by Derick Strode
Seven Gatton Academy students are in China this winter term studying with WKU’s Chinese Language Flagship Pilot Program. The Gatton Academy students join seven additional WKU students from the program and two students from the University of Miami.
The students are studying at Nankai University in Tianjin, China. Since arriving, the students have settled into the city of 12 million people and have gotten acquainted with the university.
The New Year’s holiday weekend gave students some free time to get out and explore. “To get adjusted to the city, we got in cabs and chose a random destination that we found on a map or online and then explored the area,” said second-year student Jared Mink. “We always try to pick a new part of the city– that way we can get a better feel for Tianjin culture.”
Senior Ballard Metcalfe elaborated on the Chinese taxi experience. “My favorite part about being in Tianjin is conversing with the local taxi drivers. They are a good resource to practice Chinese with and they like to talk to Americans. They are always helpful in correcting my Chinese.”
The students live on campus at Nankai University and are being introduced to the student lifestyle of their Chinese contemporaries. Students are free at meal times to eat where they choose, but the campus dining options are proving popular. Senior Amy Cordero commented on the Chinese dining experience, “Often times we eat in the Chinese style where we all order a different dish, but yet they are all put in the middle and we share them.” Students have tried uniquely Chinese dishes, including BBQ squid, seahorse, jellyfish, and of course, Peking duck.
Students attend Chinese language class each weekday and alternate between a second class of calligraphy and shadow boxing. One special feature of this trip is that every student has been assigned a one-on-one language mentor with a Nankai University student. Each day, students meet with their mentor to practice speaking Chinese with a native-speaking peer and to use their language in real-world settings.
“My fudao laoshi (one-on-one mentor) and I ate dinner at a student cafeteria on campus where I was able to review the Chinese names of certain food items. Today, we plan to play ping-pong,” said second-year Samuel Firkins.
Students are looking forward to the next two weekends as well. This weekend, students will visit the Huangyaguan Great Wall and the following weekend will be spent in the capital city of Beijing.
Gatton Academy students participating in the program and currently studying abroad in China are Amy Cordero (Pikeville), Samuel Firkins (Taylorsville), Jason Ludden (Columbia), Ballard Metcalfe (Eminence), Jared Mink (East Bernstadt), Sarah Schrader (Bowling Green), and Benjamin Venable (LaGrange).
This week’s View From the Hill television segment also focuses on Chinese Language Flagship.
Ashley Norman of Union, Ky., planned to attend another university until she learned about a new program at Western Kentucky University—The Chinese Flagship Institute Pilot Program.
The Flagship is an intensive, four-year Chinese language program funded through a Diffusion of Innovation Flagship Partner Planning Grant from The Language Flagship of the National Education Security Program at the U.S. Department of Defense.
Norman, who studied Chinese at Larry A. Ryle High School, said she changed her mind “almost instantly” upon learning of the Flagship program and other opportunities offered through WKU’s Honors College.
“The Honors College opportunity and the Flagship program are the primary reasons I decided to attend WKU,” she said. “The Chinese experience I had in high school motivated me to continue with Chinese language education, and I feel as though I caught on to the language rather quickly. For this reason, I felt that an intensive program would keep me enthralled to the highest degree.”
Amy Eckhardt, Director of WKU’s Office of Scholar Development, said WKU and the University of Kentucky are the only universities in Kentucky to offer four years of intensive Chinese language instruction.
“We are part of one of the most exciting innovative advances in foreign language education in this country,” Eckhardt said. “This will provide needed opportunities for Kentucky high school graduates to continue Chinese language studies.”
WKU is one of nine funded programs in the United States, along with Indiana University, Ohio State University, Brigham Young University, Arizona State University, University of Rhode Island, University of Oregon, University of Mississippi and San Francisco State University.
Ed McDermott, program manager for The Language Flagship, said the organization was proud to add WKU by creating the pilot program because of the commitment the University demonstrated in its proposal.
“Western Kentucky demonstrated that it intends to integrate this program across disciplines and meet the students’ needs,” he said. “That’s the direction we want to go.”
WKU has recruited Liping Chen as Academic Director of the Flagship and an assistant professor of Chinese language and linguistics. Dr. Chen, who has a doctorate in linguistics from Rutgers University, came from the University of Pittsburgh where she was the Chinese language coordinator.
“The moment I saw the job posting, I told myself I wanted this job because it fits both my passion and my expertise and experience with Chinese language and linguistics,” Dr. Chen said. “I see WKU as an exciting opportunity to use my expertise in Chinese linguistics and language pedagogy to help shape and develop its Chinese Flagship program.”
The Flagship curriculum incorporates a series of overseas experiences and internships, she said. It is also outcome based and student proficiency level will be measured by a series of assessment tools.
“Clearly, it is an ambitious project that calls for the commitment and dedication from both the administration and the students,” Dr. Chen said. “And I am convinced that WKU has both.”
“Students who participate in the Chinese Flagship program are committing to studying Chinese during their entire course of study at WKU,” Eckhardt said. “Along with access to excellent and personalized teaching and advising, students will receive scholarships to support summer language study and at least two funded overseas experiences in China as part of the pathway to proficiency.”
With China’s importance in the global economy, the Chinese Flagship program will play an important role in Kentucky’s economic development, Eckhardt said. Not only will learning Chinese help students become global professionals, having the program in Kentucky will have a positive impact on the state’s trade relationship with China, she said.
That importance was cited by Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear in a letter to WKU President Gary Ransdell. Beshear, who recently attended an economic development conference in China, said the Flagship program would be a positive correlation for Chinese investors and for economic development with China in Kentucky.
Dr. Ransdell added: “If there is a language that is going to help define this small global village, we’ll put our stake with the Chinese language.”
Eckhardt added that Chinese is also considered a critical language to the U.S. military.
Rachel Reetzke, a senior from Franklin, enrolled in the Flagship program after traveling to China this summer through the Honors College. For one month she volunteered and observed at the Chengdu Autism Training Center as an independent research project.
“It was through my volunteering and observations that I developed a passion for further learning the Chinese language in order to continue to help the children that I had the opportunity to work with,” the communication disorders major said. “After completing this Flagship program at WKU, I hope to utilize my new language skills to continue helping the individuals with autism in China.”
The Flagship is already attracting the “kind of students every teacher wants,” Dr. Chen said. “They are extremely smart, polite, motivated and dedicated,” she said. Of the 16 currently enrolled in the Elementary Chinese class, eight are members of the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, a residential program at WKU for select gifted high school juniors and seniors. Others are studying in areas such as photojournalism, the arts and psychology.
“Students came to my office hour the first day of class to practice their pronunciation and they could tell each other’s Chinese names in the second meeting of class,” Dr. Chen said. “I can’t wait to see them communication in Chinese when we are in China in January.”
Participants in the inaugural Chinese Flagship Institute Elementary Chinese class
WKU Students
Chris Groves, Bowling Green, Ky.
Jesse Hazel, Bowling Green, Ky.
Charles Meredith, Bowling Green, Ky.
Sara Moody, Bowling Green, Ky.
Ashley Norman, Union, Ky.
Angel Piper, Sebree, Ky.
Rachel Reetzke, Franklin, Ky.
Darra Jackson, Atlanta, Ga.
Students in the Gatton Academy for Mathematics and Science in Kentucky at WKU
Amy Cordero, Pikeville, Ky.
Samuel Firkins, Taylorsville, Ky.
Jason Ludden, Columbia, Ky.
Ballard Metcalfe, Eminence, Ky.
Jared Mink, East Bernstadt, Ky.
Joshua Robinson, Elizabethtown, Ky.
Sarah Schrader, Bowling Green, Ky.
Benjamin Venable, LaGrange, Ky.
More about the Chinese Flagship program at WKU
The WKU Chinese Flagship Pilot Program is an intensive undergraduate four-year course of study that leads to an Honors degree in a home major and to certified proficiency in Chinese. It is the only fully articulated four-year Chinese language program in the state and will offer students from Kentucky and throughout the U.S. an affordable, high-quality undergraduate education that combines the study of Mandarin Chinese with rigorous academics in an engaged Honors community setting.
The WKU Chinese Flagship Pilot Program will be an independent Honors-level certificate program housed in University College, with formal affiliations with the Honors College, Potter College of Arts & Letters and the International Office.
No prior Chinese language experience is required, but students must commit to the intensive study of Chinese for the duration of their degree program at WKU. Students must also commit to a year of study and professional internship in Nanjing, China, and all students must be admitted to, or be in good standing in, the Honors College.
There is a Pre-Flagship Summer Intensive Language Training for students with no Chinese or with beginning (Novice level) Chinese. Students (entering freshman, transfer, or currently matriculated students) who are accepted into the program will receive full scholarships for an intensive Mandarin language course in the summer term before their first fall term in the Flagship program.
In years 1-4, students will enroll each year in a minimum of 12 Chinese credits (eight credits in fall and spring and four credits during winter term). These classes will count toward Honors College credit requirements.
Additionally, each year between the fall and spring semester, students will participate in an intensive four-week Winter Language Practicum in China during WKU’s winter term. This immersion overseas language program will allow students to engage authentically with the culture and language from the outset. Financial support for this program is available to all Flagship students through the generous support of the Honors College and the Office of Internationalization.
All students graduating in this program will complete a capstone year of study at Nanjing University and an internship experience in China. The timing of the Capstone year is determined by each student’s language proficiency and academic major. Staff and faculty from the Honors College, the WKU Chinese Flagship, the Office of Scholar Development, and the Study Abroad office are available to provide guidance and personalized advising to students. While at Nanjing, they complete courses in their major and work individually with native-speaking tutors. Immediately following the semester in Nanjing, scholars complete professional internships at various locations in China.
In today’s competitive global economy, U.S. undergraduate and graduate students are under increasing pressure to gain skills that set them apart from the rest of the pack upon graduation.
The Language Flagship, an innovative and relatively new initiative established by the National Security Education Program, has scholarship and fellowship awards available to students with the motivation and determination to successfully complete an advanced language immersion and cultural studies program.
Western Kentucky University was selected earlier this year as of eight funded programs in the United States to receive the honor. Other universities participating in the program include: Indiana University, Ohio State, Brigham Young University, Arizona State University, University of Rhode Island, University of Oregon, and the University of Mississippi.
Additionally, six Gatton Academy students have been selected to participate in the program’s first cohort: Jared Mink, a second-year student from Laurel County; Megan Stulz, a second-year student from Kenton County; Amy Cordero, a second-year student from Pike County; Jason Ludden, a second-year student from Adair County; Sarah Schrader, a first-year student from Warren County; and Ben Venable, a first-year student from Oldham County.
By enrolling students from across all majors and disciplines—including the sciences, economics, business, and literature—Flagship programs mainstream language study into a student’s curriculum, ensuring that they will be capable of functioning in their profession in the target language. A U.S. workforce with language proficiency and more sophisticated cultural understanding will create goodwill leading to greater international cooperation and collaboration.
According to Michael Nugent, director of the initiative based in Arlington, VA, “Graduates of The Language Flagship already have started taking their place among the next generation of global professionals through superior proficiency in languages critical to U.S. competitiveness and national security.” In fact, alumni of the program now work in key leadership and diplomacy positions in the government, business, and civic sectors.
For many careers pursued by top college graduates today, it’s not enough to study political science coupled with two years of language instruction that may not have direct relevance to the student’s major. Today’s professionals need to be able to function at a high level in their chosen fields as well as in their language of study. To meet this need, Flagship programs include intensive language training with long-term overseas study in a non-language subject.
According to WKU’s Office of Scholar Development, these programs are rigorous but rewarding and come with highly personalized advising and lucrative scholarships. Moreover, participation in the program can increase students’ competitiveness for outstanding jobs in both government and industry.
All of the Flagship programs include two components: a domestic component at one of the U.S. Flagship institutions, and an intensive study abroad component at the Overseas Flagship Centers in China. Both components are mandatory and essential to student success.
In today’s competitive global economy, U.S. undergraduate and graduate students are under increasing pressure to gain skills that set them apart from the rest of the pack upon graduation.