Township dishes up Chinese language course

Second Place

Headline Writing

Division 2

Township dishes up Chinese language course

Taylor Bundy

Grade 11

Hi-Lite

Manheim Township HS

Adviser: Marty Pflieger

Class commences conventionally on a typical Wednesday morning, first period, as students in room 188A take out the necessary materials and patiently wait for instructions to begin. The teacher offers her class a polite greeting… in Chinese.

The group is comprised of approximately a dozen students, three of whom actually attend Manheim Township. The remainder of participants are located cross-county in Hempfield, where the program is broadcasted from the district’s level 1 Chinese classroom.

Similar to the traditional language classroom setting, the virtual teacher prompts students by asking them to repeat phrases and recite the language’s alphabet. Students learn to introduce themselves to one another in Chinese; vocabulary words, practiced that day were “teacher” and “student.”

Granted, in the typical classroom, one usually doesn’t witness the teacher instructing students to “move to the right so the camera sees you.”

Other schools considering adopting Chinese as a course include the School District of Lancaster, Solanco, Penn Manor, Conestoga Valley, according to the Manheim Township district webpage.

“Any language study is extremely useful,” said Manheim Township High School Principal David Hanna. “A foreign language can help in understanding one’s own natural language by making more sense of grammar, syntax, sentence structure, etc.”

Chinese has joined the ranks of Spanish, French, and German at Manheim Township, as it is now part of the World Language Department.

The “Distance Learning” program, taught Monday- Friday, first period, takes place in room 118A in the new wing. The program embraces the new space’s offered technology by literally utilizing the projector screen as a two-way mirror to receive the Hempfield based broadcast, as well as display the MT students as they participate in class.

The newly instated Chinese classes embody the core concept of distance learning. Inter-district students are able to network with each other via technology. Video cameras and microphones adorn the classroom, enabling both teachers and scholars to communicate amongst themselves.

Although the class is primarily taught by the Hempfield Chinese One instructor, MT teacher Mable Payne remains in the classroom in order to answer students’ questions face-to-face and provide one-on-one aid. Payne is able to make her rounds quite efficiently, as only three students are enrolled in the first period class of room 188A.

For students who wish to take Chinese but lack room in their schedules, Chinese One is offered after school as well. This venue, with each session’s duration an hour instead of the regular period length (the course is just four days a week: Monday- Thursday), takes more traditional approach to mastery of a world language. Sharon Kent, teacher of the after-school classes, believes that hosting Chinese language classes at Manheim Township, or at any district, is essential to schools’ collective progressive movement toward furthered cultural integration.

“Increasingly, Chinese has become important because China is a rising power in today’s world. It is critical to become aware of the language and culture,” said Kent.

Prior to teaching at Manheim Township, Kent has taught Chinese at Oberlin College in Ohio. She feels it is important for Chinese to be offered not only in college but in the high school setting as well.

Manheim Township has gone the extra mile by offering adult classes to the community. In the form of a ten-week course, the school district currently provides Mandarin Chinese classes at the Middle School.

Upon Superintendent Dr. Singer’s return from a trip to China this summer, the Chinese program at Manheim Township is beginning to rapidly stretch its wings.

“Currently, 200 million Chinese students are learning to speak English. Students from both countries will have a better chance to appreciate one another as they learn each other’s language and culture,” said Singer.

Hanna adds that it is the district’s vision to “make Chinese available as a regular offering in the language department and to host a teacher from Chine to teach at Manheim Township.