Foreign language instruction opportunities are growing for students enrolled in Delaware's public schools.
A new partnership between the Department of Education and a company from China will expose Delaware high school students to Chinese culture and develop their language skills.
At Conrad Schools of Science Wednesday Governor Jack Markell and a representative from the Wanxiang Group signed an agreement providing a $450,000 grant from the company to funding the study abroad program through 2016.
Wanxiang Group, which purchased the assets of the bankrupt Fisker Automotive nearly a year ago, including the shuttered GM Boxwood Road plant in Newport, is no stranger to hosting American students and various summer study abroad programs have supported President Obama's 100,000 Strong Initiative.
The Delaware Summer Chinese Language Initiative for Communicating STEM (LinCS) program will place 24 students at Wanxiang’s automotive and industrial facilities for four weeks to experience the culture and develop language proficiency.
Greg Fulkerson, DOE education associate for world languages and international education, said the LInCS will focus on science, technology, engineering and math applications of their learning, and interested students must have at least two years of Chinese instruction.
“For the State of Delaware this is the first time that a company from any other country has stepped forward to offer this type of support to encourage the learning of their language," said Fulkerson. "Without their financial support we wouldn’t have the financial means to make this happen.”
The agreement comes as the Department of Education announces another expansion of the world language immersion program, adding six more elementary schools utilizing the immersion model of academic instruction in English half the time and either Mandarin or Spanish during the other.
Markell said research shows foreign language instruction most effective when begun as early as possible, calling the program a chance to provide Delaware students an edge in the global job market.
“And it’s our expectation that as more and more families across the state experience the benefit of this that more and more schools sign up,” said Markell.
The initiative began in 2012 in just three schools. A 2013 expansion pushed the number of schools to 11. The state currently has 1,400 hundred Delaware students in the program developing proficiency. Between 2,200 and 2,300 are expected to be in the program a year from now when it expands to include the third grade.
$1.9 million annually goes to support the world language immersion programs. The additional six schools offering the program for the 2015-2016 school year are:
Spanish Immersion Programs
- Appoquinimink School District’s Townsend Early Childhood Center continuing to Silver Lake Elementary
- Appoquinimink School District’s Townsend Early Childhood Center continuing to Townsend Elementary
- Brandywine School District’s Claymont Elementary
- Capital School District’s East Dover Elementary School
- Colonial School District’s Wilbur Elementary
Mandarin Chinese Immersion Programs
- Colonial School District’s New Castle Elementary School
In addition, students participating in the first year of implementation of Spanish immersion at McIlvaine Early Childhood Center will continue their involvement at Brown Elementary School.