Nomination Process for Technical Work Group

The U.S. Department of Education and the Chinese Ministry of Education will solicit nominations for the Technical Work Group of the e-language learning system from organizations and individuals in the field who are experts in linguistics, language education, technology, and the private sector. Each country will solicit nominations and resumes to fill 24 spaces on the work group, 12 of which will be composed of Chinese members and 12 of which will be composed of American members. It is helpful, but not essential, that panel members are fluent in English.

Configuration of the Panel
The Department and Ministry are looking for nominations of individuals with specific expertise in: (1) content and pedagogy in second language acquisition, including assessment; (2) design and development of software or Internet systems; (3) product dissemination and sustainability strategies; and (4) evaluation. Participation in the technical work group does not preclude an individual from participating on the grant.

The configuration of the technical work group will look something like this:

Content/Pedagogy in Second Language Acquisition:
Chinese language: 2 Chinese experts, 1 American expert
English language: 2 American experts, 1 Chinese expert

Assessment of Language Learning:
1 Chinese expert, 1 American expert

System Design and Development (e.g., animation, speech translation, etc.)
4 American experts
4 Chinese experts

System Dissemination and Sustainability (e.g., public-private partnerships, profitability, teacher interface, integration into the education system, funding)
3 American experts
3 Chinese experts

Evaluation of Language Learning Programs Using Technology
1 American expert, 1 Chinese expert

Criteria for Selection
The Ministry and Department are looking for individual members to serve on the technical work group who can conform to the same specific criteria. In addition, the Department and Ministry are looking for a panel that is balanced in its expertise.

Criteria for Every Work Group Member. Overall, the Ministry and the Department are looking for members with the following same three attributes:

1. Recognized as a leader in their respective field.
2. Able to integrate knowledge across several disciplines.
3. Willing to actively participate in the technical work group and attend both domestic and international meetings.

Criteria for the Collective Work Group. The panel, as a whole, should meet the following four criteria:

1. Knowledge of the body of content and research in their field (including language acquisition, second language instruction, assessment of language proficiency using technology, instructional uses of technology, and various types of technology, such as animation, text to speech, simulation, and broadband width).
2. Ability to apply this body of knowledge for use in the classroom.
3. Ability to develop educational programs or products using this knowledge.
4. Knowledge of educational product delivery and dissemination.

Once nominations are received by the Department or the Ministry, resumes will be obtained from the individuals nominated. Both the Ministry and the Department will share the resumes they receive for each others’ mutual understanding of the candidate pool. A core group of Department staff will review the resumes and make their recommendations to the Director of Policy and Program Studies and the Counselor to the Secretary for their final approval. Priority will be given to candidates with knowledge and leadership in more than one relevant field. A core group of Ministry staff will review the resumes and make their recommendations to the Deputy Director-General for International Cooperation and Exchange.

Recommendations— These reflect a blend of Alan’s, Yong’s and my recommendations. I have made notes below where I think we should do some additional consideration of the nominees.

Content/Pedagogy in Second Language Acquisition:
Chinese Language:
1 American Expert:
Dr. Cynthia Ning, University of Hawaii

English language:
2 American experts
Dr. David Nunan, University of Hong Kong
Dr. Peggy McCardle, NICHD

There are several very fine nominees here: Perfetti and Cummins, for example

Assessment of Language Learning:
1 American expert:
Dr. Elvira Swender, ACTFL

System Design and Development (e.g., animation, speech translation, etc.)
4 American experts
Dr. Gary Cziko, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Dr. Ron Cole, University of Colorado
Dr. Marilyn Adams, Soliloquey Learning
Unfilled

I think we should consider Carnegie-Mellon here. They are the leaders in speech recognition and speech translation for the Army’s DARPA program. Unfortunately, Dr. Waibel can not participate, but has recommended one of his younger colleagues, Dr. Tanya Schultz. I will call her and see if she can submit a resume. In addition, we might consider Dr. Millie Abell for her work on understanding how to motivate students through computer-based distance learning.

System Dissemination and Sustainability (e.g., public-private partnerships, profitability, teacher interface, integration into the education system, funding)
3 American experts:
Dr. George Trone, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
Dr. Tracy Gray, Morino Institute
Ms. Vivien Stewart, Asia Society

I think we should consider Milton Chen with the George Lucas Foundation for one of these positions since he is very interested in participating. However, all of the three nominees above are also very interested in participating.

Evaluation of Language Learning Programs Using Technology
1 American expert:
Dr. Bertram Bruce, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Alan was going to see if he could find other candidates, too. This is a close friend of Yong’s.