ADVANCED FILIPINO ABROAD PROGRAM
The Advanced Filipino Abroad Program (AFAP), now on its 8th year, is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and administered by the University of Hawaii Center for Southeast Asian Studies.  Dr. Teresita V. Ramos, Director of the program has announced that for the year 2000, the summer intensive program will begin June 16 and end July 31, 2000.  A national selection will take place sometime in February 2000.  Application deadline is January 31, 2000.

These summer programs are designed to provide American teachers and students with the opportunity to learn the Filipino language (Tagalog) in a Philippine setting, through a unique short-term immersion program.   Unlike the typical and conventional travel abroad programs, it focuses on advanced-level language acquisition and consists of a structured academic program of four hours every morning and from two to three hours of task-based language use in the afternoon.  The latter activity provides the participants maximum exposure to native speakers outside the classroom.  It is this combination of structured and unstructured learning environments that is difficult to duplicate in the student's home institution.

This program has five primary goals:

  • It is designed to provide intensive and specialized instruction in Filipino (Tagalog) for advanced students and teachers of Filipino and Philippine studies within its natural, cultural, and social context.  It will enable participants from a variety of American institutions and different disciplines to supplement their previous training in Filipino and to attain a high level of language competence within a relatively short period of time.
  • It is intended to promote cooperation between the United States and the Philippines and stimulate discussions among scholars from these countries.
  • It aims to provide in-country experience and preparation which will enable the participants to deal with cross-cultural stress in the Philippine society and to develop the social skills necessary for life in the Philippine society before they go into the field.
  • It will provide potential researchers an opportunity to see their chosen area first hand, and to select appropriate research sites and introductory contacts.
  • It will provide and test a body of pedagogical materials for intensive language study abroad programs and field test proficiency examinations in Filipino.

The AFAP was first funded for $45,000 by the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program in the summer of 1991.  It was funded again in 1993 at $120,000 for 3 summers, and again in 1996 at the same amount.  This year 1999, AFAP's eighth year, the program was again funded $141,000 for 3 summers.   The program has received a total of $426,000 from Fulbright-Hays Groups Projects Program of the U.S. Department of Education since 1991.

A consortium of six universities supports this program: Cornell University; University of Hawaii; University of Michigan; University of Wisconsin at Madison; University of California at Berkeley; and University of Washington.   They contribute consortium fees, participate in the selection of participants, and their Tagalog faculty act as co-directors for the project.

Students' evaluations of this program reveal extremely positive feedback.  Their overall response spoke highly about their maximum exposure to Philippine language and culture.  They attribute significant gains in achieving higher proficiency in Tagalog to this aspect of the program.  it is a level of proficiency in Filipino which existing programs in the United States are not able to achieve.  This experience not only adds immeasurably to their language competence, it develops greater awareness and sensitivity about another culture, and possibly of their own.

For further information about the program, contact Dr. Teresita V. Ramos, AFAP Director, at the Department of Hawaiian and Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures.

NEWS UPDATE! NEWS UPDATE! NEWS UPDATE!

The Summer 2000 AFAP will be held  at the Philippine Normal University in Manila, Philippines from June 16-July 29.  Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad, U.S. Department of Education funds this intensive language study program.

To apply, contact:

Flo Lamoureux, Associate Director
Center for Southeast Asian Studies
1890 East-West Road, Moore Hall 416
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
Phone: (808) 956-2688
Fax: (808) 956-2682
E-Mail: cseas@hawaii.edu

The application deadline is January 31, 2000.

Applicants must be non-native speakers who have had at least intermediate-level study of Filipino, the equivalent of two year of college work.

Fellowships covering transportation, housing, and partial program costs will be awarded to the ten applicants selected to participate in the program.

Country Life
Noel P. Blanco
Oil on Canvas, 1983
58.42 x 88.9 cm