Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Monday, April 13, 2009

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Xue-Lian Lei walks around her classroom to help the kids with new characters. Lei teaches Chinese to sixth- and seventh-graders at Crawford.

Xue-Lian Lei was born in China and started learning English in middle school – a yearly requirement through graduation. Now she’s teaching Chinese to sixth- and seventh-graders at Crawford Middle School who sign up for the elective.

Lei says in her day, English classes were basic and focused mainly on grammar. “We didn’t have pictures or flash cards or fun activities to help us learn,” she recalled. So at Crawford, she knows firsthand what might boost the tweens studying Chinese, such as pairing up to practice their language skills.

“It is hard to read the characters, so we take it slow,” said Lei, who helped launched the program last year.

Instruction in class emphasizes speaking the language, but to augment her lessons, Lei creates a themed workbook for the students roughly every two weeks. Working with district support and guidance, she combs through resources, textbooks and authentic supplies from her native country as she shapes the curriculum.

One day, for instance, her class wrestled with “transportation” concepts, focusing on the questions “Where are you going?” and “How do you get there?”

For her, the kids’ main goal is basic speaking proficiency; learning extra characters is gravy.

“I like to use conversations – not just vocabulary,” said Lei, who addresses her classes almost entirely in Chinese. “I want them to be able to communicate on the topic we talk about.”

LISTEN IN ON A CLASS

Alicia Vinson, the district’s world languages specialist, described Lei as extremely creative and said the Crawford classes are going well.

“I’m really amazed at the results and how engaged the students are – how confident they are when communicating in the target language,” Vinson said. “The kids are really interested and on task.”

Crawford can offer Chinese as an elective because of the Foreign Language Assistance Program, a federal grant awarded to Fayette County Public Schools in September 2006. FLAP provides for instructors and materials in less commonly taught languages. Chinese classes also began in 2007-08 at Dixie and Yates elementary schools, and Japanese instruction began at Picadome and Stonewall elementaries and at Jessie Clark Middle School. Through an unrelated state grant, Meadowthorpe Elementary also offers Chinese.

The federal FLAP grant ends this year. While the district is pursuing additional federal funding to keep the program going, district leaders will fund the Chinese and Japanese teachers out of 2020 Vision dollars if necessary.

“The kids come from all backgrounds and all skill levels,” Kim Hooks, the district’s grants compliance officer, said of the Crawford groups. “It’s truly amazing to watch a class.”

Lei, who taught music in China for several years, mixes it up in her classroom – sharing songs with the younger students and using word games to help kids recognize Chinese characters. Through pictures, DVDs and Web sites, her students also learn about cultural elements such as China’s one-child-only policy, the importance of respecting elders, and the difference between Chinese and American perspectives.

If the kids participate and pay attention, they generally have no problems in the class, she said.

“My favorite part is when we learn something new,” said seventh-grader Carlos Villezcas, who also studies Spanish. “(Lei) speaks a lot less English than Chinese so we can hear it and get accustomed to it,” he added.

Classmate Brittany Owens said she also enjoys their teacher’s use of technology too. Last year, for instance, the kids talked with Lei’s parents in China via a Web camera hookup.

Brittany also recalled when Lei introduced her class to Chinese dumplings. “We got to try a new culture’s foods,” she said.

And Lei seems more than happy to be bringing a little taste of China to Crawford.