STARTALK 2009 - Programs in NM

University of New Mexico (student)

University of New Mexico Summer Institute in Arabic and Chinese for High School Students

By the end of this month-long Institute, to take place June 8 to July 3, 2009, 34 high school students (17 for each language) from the Albuquerque metropolitan region will have covered the curriculum of a first year semester course in Arabic or Chinese at the University of New Mexico. Through a cooperative agreement with the secondary schools in the region, these students will earn 3 UNM credit hours, as well as corresponding high school credits. The course emphasizes the three communicative areas of interpersonal, interpretive and presentational skills in both written and oral forms, as well as a cultural theme that is used to meaningfully integrate the linguistic material. Classes are taught by regular UNM faculty assisted by teaching assistants. Classes meet every day for three hours. Participants also connect with community resources to enhance the articulation between the real-world and academic forms of learning. Two cultural excursions per week are scheduled. The Institutes are open to both heritage and non-heritage students. The learning objective for the month-long program is for students to achieve a mid-Novice level in their respective languages, and to gain significant information about Chinese and Arabic speaking cultures.