Chinese spoken here
More local school systems see language as a way for students to compete in an expanding economy
ACTON - Virginia Taylor's two daughters are Chinese, but neither can speak the language of the country where they were born.
Taylor is hoping to change that, now that Acton-Boxborough Regional High School has become one of the latest public schools in Massachusetts to offer Chinese as part of its foreign language curriculum.
Taylor, who adopted her daughters, now 13 and 9, when they were infants in China, is part of a parent group that had been lobbying the school district to offer a language other than the Western languages currently offered: French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin.
"It's important to offer this, not just for the kids like mine but because it's so much of where the future is with so many opportunities," she said.
"Without the language, they won't be able to participate in that."
Other communities northwest of Boston that already offer Chinese include Belmont, Concord, and Lexington.
At Acton-Boxborough, funding for the program is included in the district's budget for next year, and students have the choice of signing up for Chinese in the fall. Taylor's oldest daughter plans to enroll.
School officials hope many children will take advantage of the opportunity.
"We are here to help prepare kids for the future and a global society, and, looking at the world language program, it is not as forward-looking as it could be," said Xuan Kong, a member of the Acton Public School Committee and a Chinese immigrant. "China has become a world power and has a very rich history. It's an aspect of the world that's important for children to learn."
Claire Dix, chairwoman of the high school's world languages department, said the addition of a language of critical need has been in the works for several years, and she is excited that her vision is taking shape.
Until two years ago, the district offered only Spanish and French. Since then, Italian and Latin have been added, and next year Chinese will be a part of the curriculum. So far, more than 60 students have signed up.
Dix said she conducted a survey last year in which junior high students were asked their preference among languages not offered. She said Latin and Chinese topped the list.
"We know we need to put in another global language," Dix said. "It's very exciting."
Superintendent William Ryan said that although Chinese will be offered only at the high school next year, it could be offered at the junior high as early as the year after.
The federal government has determined that there is a critical need to increase the number of Americans who learn certain foreign languages, including Arabic, Chinese, and Russian.
Parents have been pushing to get Chinese offered at the high school and junior high because they see it as an important opportunity for their children.
Parent Martin Whyte, a professor at Harvard University, studied Chinese in grade school and now uses it in his work. He said it is a language that will be more important as time goes by.
"China is a rising power, and there are more and more business opportunities and cultural exchanges," he said.
"I think we need to prepare our kids for the future world they're going to face."
Whyte said his ninth-grade daughter took a Chinese class at the Acton Chinese Language School one day a week, but it wasn't enough to learn a difficult language.
Educators say Chinese can be difficult to learn because it is written in characters, and Mandarin, the official dialect of Chinese, has four tones. The language does not have verb tenses, however, which simplifies grammar lessons.
About 60 public and private schools in Massachusetts offer Chinese, according to the parent group, who say the number is based on various sources. The state Department of Education does not track such programs.
But the language appears to be gaining popularity at all levels of education.
A recent study by the New York-based Modern Language Association shows a huge jump in the number of college students enrolled in Chinese. Rosemary Feal, its executive director, said that is probably because of an increase in the number of students taking it at the elementary and high school levels.
The research shows that interest in language study in colleges has been increasing steadily since 1998. While the study of the most popular languages - Spanish, French, and German - continues to grow, their dominance is slowly decreasing as other languages such as Arabic and Chinese gain popularity. Enrollment in Chinese was up 51 percent since the last study in 2002, representing the second-largest enrollment hike after Arabic.
There are no current statistics that show an increase in the study of Chinese at the elementary and high school levels. But educators say the growth is seen at those levels as well.
"What we do know anecdotally is there has been an enormous interest in Chinese at all levels, though one of the most active levels is in the elementary schools," said Stephen Ackley, spokesman for the Virginia-based American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. The group conducted an enrollment study in 2000 and is set to do another this year.
"It's fairly obvious to almost everyone that China is becoming a major power globally, economically, and diplomatically. Seeing that, there are more and more educators and parents who see the long-term implications of their students or children having that capability."
Lexington started offering Chinese at the high school six years ago and this school year began offering it to students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.
Marie Murphy, chairwoman of Lexington’s foreign language department, said Chinese was added because of its increasing popularity at the high school. There are 104 high school students in the program this year, up from 80 last year.
Belmont has offered Chinese at the high school for 10 years and added a middle school program in 2004.
It started with 31 students taking Chinese in 1998, and now 238 students systemwide are studying the language, said Janice Darias, director of the foreign language department.
"We felt it was important to offer a language that is a non-Western language and one that gives students an opportunity to learn about a culture very different than ours," Darias said.
Jennifer Fenn Lefferts can be reached at jflefferts@yahoo.com.
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