Chinese Language Teachers Association of Texas (CLTA-TEXAS) welcomes submissions of outstanding written work from Chinese language learners of all ages and levels to be selected and digitally published in the 2nd annual Chinese Writing Selection (CWS).
Launched in 2021, the CWS aims to support our members by giving them a platform to showcase their students’ outstanding and creative written works. CWS is only open to students of current CLTA-TEXAS members.
Qualifications
The participant’s teacher must be a current member of the Chinese Language Teachers Association of Texas (CLTA-TEXAS).
Requirements
- Writing entries must either be typed or handwritten legibly. Pictures or illustrations may be used as a supplement to writing entries.
- All entries must be the student’s original independent work*. No participants may use a writing entry by another participant in previous years or resubmit a writing entry that was a previous submission. CLTA-TEXAS reserves the right to disqualify participants with identical writing pieces.
- It is the responsibility of the participating teacher to place his or her participating students in the most appropriate level according to each student’s writing abilities.
- Each CLTA-TEXAS member may submit up to ten student entries in total.
- The maximum length of writing is 560 characters.
- Each entry will be evaluated based on the level and group as registered by the teacher.
- Theme: Any topic of your choice.
Application Materials:
- Student Pledge and and Release From signed by the applying student and his/her parent/guardian. Student Pledge and Release Form
- A basic information about the student and a short paragraph about the assignment guidelines in either English or Chinese by the recommending teacher (to be filled out in registration form),
- Student’s manuscript (with teacher’s correction and feedback as appropriate)
- Submit items 1-3 via registration link. Registration Link.
Submission and Notification
- Deadline of Submission: All submissions must be turned in no later than May 27, 2022.
- Notification: Entries selected for the digital publication will be announced on July 9, 2022. The school principals will be informed in September 2022.
Award and publication
- The participants whose entries are selected by our CWS Judging Committee** will receive a certificate; moreover, these selected entries will be published in the Annual Chinese Writing Selection E-edition.
- All participants will receive a CLTA-TEXAS certificate of participation. Both certificates of award and participation will be emailed electronically to participating member teachers.
- Award Ceremony: Teachers of selected entries will be recognized and honored at the CLTA-TEXAS annual conference.
- Publishing: We will publish selected entries in the annual Chinese Writing Selection, E- edition, around December 2022. When submitting your entry, you agree that you give permission to CLTA-TEXAS to publish it in any medium.
Selection categories
Entries are divided into four different groups according to school level; each group is further separated into three different proficiency levels as defined by the ACTFL Proficiency Guideline: novice, intermediate and advanced, as described in the following table:
| Group | Level*** | Students are assigned the group and level by teachers |
| Group AK-5 grade | NoviceIntermediateAdvanced | •Beginner K-5: Students who have beginner Chinese writing competency•Intermediate K-5: Students who have intermediate Chinese writing competency•Advanced K-5: Students who have advanced Chinese writing competency |
| Group B6-8 grade | NoviceIntermediateAdvanced | •Beginner 6-8: Students who have beginner Chinese writing competency•Intermediate 6-8: Students who have intermediate Chinese writing competency•Advanced 6-8: Students who have advanced Chinese writing competency |
| Group C9-12 grade | NoviceIntermediateAdvanced | •Beginner 9-12: Students who have beginner Chinese writing competency•Intermediate 9-12: Students who have intermediate Chinese writing competency•Advanced 9-12: Students who have advanced Chinese writing competency |
| Group DCollege & adults | NoviceIntermediateAdvanced | •Beginner Adults: students who have beginner Chinese writing competency•Intermediate Adults: students who have intermediate Chinese writing competency•Advanced Adults: students who have advanced Chinese writing competency |
*Definition of “Original Independent Work”
Writing must be drafted and written by individual student authors. No parental or teacher assistance/editing is allowed. Proper citation is required if others’ words are quoted or employed.
**Please note: CLTA-TEXAS Writing Selection Judging Committee reserves the right to reject any entry that is under the suspicion of plagiarism or having been tampered with more sophisticated authorship. If two judges raise the suspicion based on their professional knowledge, a third authoritative figure such as the CLTA-TEXAS president or a board member will be consulted to make the final decision. Teachers and administrators are expected to model and reinforce ethical behaviors.
Scoring Rubric:
Our judge committee will employ the following scoring rubric:
Group ____ level_______ Name___________ teacher_______ Score _______/20
| Guidelines/score | Very Good4 | Good3 | Adequate2 | Weak1 |
| Content | Writing is clear, accurate and focused with rich supporting details. | There are believable details to support the main ideas. | Presents the central topic n but not enough details. | Lacks central topic. |
| Organization | Well organized and coherent, with a clear progression of ideas; use of appropriate transitional elements and cohesive devices; well-connected discourse of paragraph length | Generally organized and coherent; use of transitional elements and cohesive devices may be inconsistent; discourse of paragraph length, although sentences may be loosely connected | Portions may lack organization nor coherence; infrequent use of transitional elements and cohesive devices; disconnected sentences | Scattered information generally lacks organization and coherence; minimal or no use of transitional elements and cohesive devices; fragmented sentences |
| Language Use | Rich and appropriate vocabulary and idioms, with minimal errorsWide range of grammatical structures, with minimal errors | Mostly appropriate vocabulary and idioms, with errors that do not generally obscure meaningMostly appropriate grammatical structures, with errors that do not generally obscure meaning | Limited appropriate vocabulary and idioms, with frequent errors that sometimes obscure meaning; intermittent interference from another language Mostly simple grammatical structures, with frequent errors that sometimes obscure meaning | Minimal appropriate vocabulary, with frequent errors that obscure meaning; repeated interference from another languageLimited grammatical structures, with frequent errors that obscure meaning |
| Impact and Creativity | Excellence in reading value — entertaining, thought-provoking, heart-moving, etc. | Good reading value | Limited reading value | Lacking in reading value |
| Cultural Proficiency | Demonstrates deep comprehension of Chinese culture and integrates Chinese concept and culture effectively into the project. | Demonstrates comprehension of Chinese culture and integrates Chinese concept and culture into the project. | Somewhat integrates Chinese concept and culture into the project but may demonstrate incorrect understanding of Chinese culture. | Superficially touched on Chinese culture or concept. |
Forms: