The Program * Eligibility Requirements * Required Documents * Oral Interview * Fees/Fellowships * Rights and Responsibilities * Travel Procedures * Applying * Contact Information
Advanced Filipino Abroad Program
at
De La Salle University, Dasmarinas
PhilippinesJune 13 - August 9, 2008
view flyerApplication deadline: Thursday, January 31, 2008
***This program is contingent on U.S. Department of Education funding***
Description
The Advanced Filipino Abroad (AFA) program is an intensive eight-week advanced Filipino language-training program held in De La Salle University, Dasmarinas. It aims to fill a void in the academic community by providing 3rd year level students a one-of-a-kind opportunity to acquire the linguistic foundation necessary to engage in academic research, professional discourse, and cultural interaction with all segments of Philippine society. An important aspect of the program is a eight-week stay with Filipino families in Dasmarinas, Cavite, a rural area. This helps immensely in enhancing cultural immersion.
Schedule
This immersion program focuses on advanced-level language acquisition and consists of a structured academic program of four hours of language instruction every morning and two to three hours of task-based activities in the afternoons and field trips during weekends as a group. The AFAP intensive program is equivalent to two semesters of language study. Instruction is given in small individualized groups taught by in-country language teachers. They have extensive experience in teaching Filipino as a foreign language. Topics for instruction in Filipino will focus on culture, history, literature, arts, economics, political issues, and globalization. One topic is discussed each week.
Requirements
The eight-week program will be capped by a written and oral presentation of each participant's mini research project. Participants are encouraged to select their own topic at the beginning of the program. This experience not only adds immeasurably to their language competence; it develops greater awareness and sensitivity about another culture, and possibly of their own. In language study, immersion is the best guarantee for increased proficiency. The language immersion provided by this program is only possible in an in-country setting. Other major activities are the reading of a novel, its report and a formal debate on a Philippine issue.
Advanced Filipino Credits
Selected participants are required to enroll in Filipino 303 (Advanced Filipino), 6 credits, and pay the fee of less than $100. This arrangement, made for your benefit, with the University of Hawaii Outreach College is not funded by the Department of Education grant. Regular tuition is $600-$800.
back to the topFederal Register/Vol. 48, No. 244/ Monday, December 19, 1983/Rules and Regulations
664.3 Who is eligible to participate in projects funded under the Group Projects Abroad Program?
An individual is eligible to participate in a Group Projects Abroad, if the individual:
(1) is a citizen or national, or is a permanent resident of the United States
(2) is a faculty member who teaches modern foreign languages or area studies in an institution of higher education,
(3) is a teacher in an elementary or secondary school,
(4) is an experienced education administrator responsible for planning, conducting, or supervising programs in modern foreign languages or area studies at the elementary, secondary, or post-secondary level, or
(5) is a graduate student, or a junior or senior in an institution of higher education enrolled in a program of study at the time of the 2008 AFA Program, who plans a teaching career in modern foreign languages or area studies.
Individuals who are not eligible:
have participated in either the US/ED Group Project Advanced Program or Seminar Abroad Program in the past three years (2005-2007); or
have had two awards with either the US/ED Group Projects Abroad Program or Seminars Abroad Program, unless the award was received 10 years ago, are currently unemployed or not enrolled, are native speakers.
ALTHOUGH A MINIMUM OF TWO YEARS OF FORMAL TRAINING IN TAGALOG (FILIPINO), OR THE EQUIVALENT, IS REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROGRAM, A HIGHER PROFICIENCY LEVEL IS PREFERRED.
ANY APPLICANT NOT HOLDING A VALID PASSPORT MUST OBTAIN ONE.
Applicants for the Advanced Filipino Abroad (AFA) program must submit the following documents for the consideration of the selection committee:
* Official transcripts of all college and/or university training undertaken to date
* Three letters of reference, two from individuals who can comment on the applicant's academic ability and ability to adapt to the Philippines, and one from a current or former teacher of Filipino who can comment on the applicant's skill as a student of Filipino.
* Copies of any Filipino proficiency assessments that the applicant may have completed.
* A personal statement outlining academic and/or career goals, indicating how participation in the program will help to achieve those goals.
* A one-page statement hand written in Filipino concerning your reasons for wishing to participate in the AFA Program and the benefits you expect to derive from it.
* In preparing the personal statement, applicants who have lived and worked in the Philippines previously should discuss their experience there, and indicate how they plan to incorporate that experience in their future studies. Those with extensive prior study of Filipino and/or experience in the Philippines should indicate why additional training is now necessary.Applicants should bear in mind that the selection committee gives careful attention to the personal statement. A full discussion of all points is essential for a successful application.
In addition to submitting the application form and the documents discussed above, each applicant will be required to participate in an oral interview in Filipino. The interview, which will be recorded and retained for future reference, will normally be conducted by telephone by a member of the Filipino Language Program faculty. Arrangements for the interview will be made after a preliminary review of all applications has been completed by a committee of three instructors of Filipino based outside Hawaii. The interview may be done during the first week of March or earlier.
There is a program fee, but each applicant who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident may apply for a fellowship in partial support of travel, tuition, program fees, and basic housing costs. Other applicants may be accepted as auditors, but are not eligible for Federal support and must pay their own costs.
Successful applicants will be required to attest to their ability to participate in program activities and to provide evidence of current health insurance prior to departure from the United States.
1. Rights and Responsibilities of American Participants
A person accepting a grant is not an official or employee of the US/ED or other agency of the US government, or of an agency of the government of the Philippines.
Project participants are responsible for observing satisfactory academic and professional standards and for maintaining a standard of conduct and integrity which is in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Fulbright-Program and which will contribute positively to the promotion of mutual understanding between people of the US and the Philippines.
AFA participants are expected to obey the laws of the Philippines.
AFA participants should be aware that their public political statements or activities might draw them into the political arena, which can be incompatible with objectives of the project. Participants are responsible for exercising discretion and judgment in all of their actions.
2. Revocation or Termination of Project ParticipantsUnder the rules of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, the AFA Program Director may terminate or send a participant home for any of the following reasons:
Violation of US or Philippine law;
Acts likely to be offensive to the Philippines;
Failure to observe satisfactory academic or professional standards;
Failure to devote full time to project activities.
3. Repayment of MoniesParticipants who return to the US prior to the completion of the project, whether they have been terminated for cause or for other reasons, may be required to repay all funds
International Travel and Local Travel
Participant travel funded by the US Government must be in accordance with the Fly America Act. Federal Travel Regulations require that US carriers must be used for travel that is to be reimbursed from federal grants and contracts. This policy is called the Fly America Act.
AFA participants will travel as a group during the overseas phase of the program. At the end of the overseas phase, participants who want to stay longer in the Philippines or who want to travel to other places are required to pay the difference in airfare or local transportation cost.
Health and Accident Insurance
US/ED requires that participants be covered by health and accident insurance plans that are valid abroad as well as in this country.
This insurance should include Emergency Medical Evaluation as well as Repatriation of Remains coverage.
Neither US/ED nor the University of Hawai`i/AFA Program assumes any responsibility for any injury, accident, illness and loss of personal property, or other contingencies that may befall project participants during or as a result of their stay abroad.
Inoculations
For information on availability of medical services abroad and recommended shots (e.g. gamma globulin), project director and participants should follow US Embassy recommendations. Additional information on recommended shots may be obtained by calling the Center for Disease Controls International Travelers Hotline at (404) 332-4559 or from the website http://www.cdc.gov/.
Passport and Visas
Participants are responsible for obtaining their passports and the appropriate visas. The grant does not provide funds for passport and visa expenses.
Participant Information Required by the AFA Program Prior to Departure
Approximately five (5) weeks prior to the departure to the country of study, the participants must submit to the Project Director the following documents:
Participant's name (as listed in passport)
Home address
Present employer (or name of institution/school/organization)
Position title
Email address
Current phone number (up to departure date)
back to the topYou may download an application form in MS Word format (below), fill it out and mail it together with your other materials to the address below or you may hand the completed forms directly to Dr. Ramos at her office in Spalding Hall 456.
Application deadline: Thursday, January 31, 2008
Send application materials to:
Teresita V. Ramos, Co-Director
Advanced Filipino Abroad
Indo-Pacific Languages
2540 Maile Way, Spalding Hall 255
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Honolulu, HI 96822Email: teresita@hawaii.edu
Phone: (808) 956-8933
Fax: (808) 956-5978