Foreign Language and Area Studies Initiatives

Resources for foreign language research and instruction at the University of Hawai‘i are formidable. All undergraduate students who enter the UH at Manoa must complete one year of foreign language instruction, and most students complete a second-level study of language before graduation. The University has the capacity to teach up to 80 languages and annually teaches at least 30. For example, in the calendar year 2000, the College of Languages Linguistics and Literature offerings included 50 sections of Chinese, 182 sections of Japanese, 20 sections of Korean, 37 sections of the languages of the Philippines (Ilocano and Tagalog), 7 sections of Indonesian, 7 sections of Thai, and 8 sections of Vietnamese. UH language faculty also taught 49 sections of French, 22 sections of German, 102 sections of Spanish, and 10 sections of Russian. (See Appendix ? for table of foreign languages by enrollment.)

The UH CIBER and SHAPS have enjoyed a strong relationship since CIBER's inception in 1989, and they have collaborated on joint research, conferences and curriculum development. During the grant period, the CIBER plans to leverage the University's competence in the less commonly taught languages of Asia to provide innovative language learning resources that will build the capacity of institutions across the U.S. to offer these Asian languages. In addition, the business school will expand its collaboration with area studies and professional programs across campus to develop innovative interdisciplinary curriculum materials to reach more non-business students across campus.

• Business and Entrepreneurship Programs for Non-Business Students
• Interdisciplinary Graduate Level Courses in Sustainable Development in East Asia and Southeast Asia
• Workshop for Language Faculty and Professionals
• International Business Content Development with Area Studies and Professional Schools
• Web-based Advanced Language Courses for Korean, Japanese and Chinese
• Asian Business Language Workshop
• Islam and Asian Business Conference