Read On: Training Modules for Literacy in Chinese

Program Description

The Read-On STARTALK program focuses on reading literacy development among learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). Our participants are teachers of CFL in the United States. They learn about research on lower- and higher-level literacy skills that demonstrate the skills and knowledge that successful CFL and L1 (native speaker) readers possess. Working in grade-level teams, they apply this information to develop lessons for lower- and higher-level reading literacy development that they can use with their students.  The final products, thematic units differentiated by grade level, follow ACTFL’s World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (the “Standards”), and are available at this link. In the years 2012-2018 the program took place in-person at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and included K-16 teachers. The 2021 program is fully on line, with support from Holy Cross, and includes CFL teachers in grades 9-16.

Program Goals

• Collaboration across grade levels to develop research-informed best practices in character and text literacy instruction for CFL learners.
• Promotion of cooperation and articulation across grade levels.
• Development of Standards-based, student-centered, thematic units that incorporate character and text literacy instruction and practice at each of the four grade levels.
• Dissemination of these instructional units through websites hosted by professional organizations and educational institutions.

Enduring Understanding

Read-On I (Character Literacy) 2012:
Character acquisition is the foundation for Chinese literacy development and should be an integral part of a Standards-based curriculum for K-16.

Read-On II (2013) : Text Literacy – Lower Level Processes
Reading skills in Chinese are enhanced by the explicit instruction of reading strategies.

Read-On III (2014) : Text Literacy – Building a Foundation for Reading Literacy
The Chinese literacy curriculum should target lower-level and higher-level reading processes at all levels of instruction.

Read-On IV (2015) : Text Literacy – Developing Higher Level Reading Processes
Reading expands our understanding of the world, its people, and ourselves. Successful readers have the skills to access, analyze and apply the content of texts to enrich their lives.

Read-On V (2016) : Text Literacy – Character acquisition is the foundation for Chinese literacy development and should be an integral part of a Standards-based curriculum for K-16.

Read-On VI (2017) : Text Literacy – Reading literacy, including the ability to identify and evaluate the information in a text and the viewpoint and motivation of its author, is essential for the full participation of individuals in society.

Read-On VI (2018) : Text Literacy – Reading literacy, including the ability to identify and evaluate the information in a text and the viewpoint and motivation of its author, is essential for the full participation of individuals in society.