McGraw-Hill Higher Education and China's Leading Foreign Language Publisher, FLTRP, Expand Publishing Alliance

As China emerges as a global economic power, an unprecedented number of students worldwide are pursuing the study of Chinese language and culture. To meet much of that growing demand, McGraw-Hill Higher Education and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP) are expanding their efforts to provide more high quality teaching and learning materials to colleges and universities across North America.

"Enrollment in Chinese studies continues to grow at a rapid pace and around the world, and there are an estimated 30 million people who are learning Chinese as a second language," said Simon Allen, senior vice president, McGraw-Hill Education (International). "McGraw-Hill Higher Education is excited to expand its relationship with FLTRP to produce the highest quality content to meet this quickly growing need in the marketplace."

The McGraw-Hill Higher Education/FLTRP co-publishing program was launched in 2006, and began with Me and China, a college-level, introductory Chinese text for heritage speakers published this year. FLTRP is the leading publisher of foreign language education materials in China.

The next major undertaking for the two publishers will be a text for an introductory Chinese-language college course. It will be published in early 2009. This textbook will target students who are learning Mandarin (the dialect of choice for international learners) for the first time. The text will take a more innovative approach than most traditional Chinese curriculum texts, focusing on the functional use of Chinese through communicative tasks and a spiraled syllabus enabling learners to integrate and consolidate what they have learned.

Dr. Jun Liu, professor and head of the department of English in the College of Humanities at the University of Arizona, will lead the author team. Dr. Liu is the current president of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), the leading association of ESL teachers with 13,500 members in 120 countries. Dr. Liu is also the executive director of the English Language Center at Shantou University, Guangdong, China. In addition, he is in charge of developing teacher standards for Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL) in his capacity as a senior consultant to Hanban, a Chinese government agency.

"Working with McGraw-Hill Higher Education on our joint efforts has been extremely rewarding," said Yu Chunchi, president of FLTRP. "We are pleased with the collaborative nature of our alliance and our ability to complement one another's strengths to produce an exceptional product. We look forward to continued success together."

"We are listening to students everywhere who seek a better understanding of other languages and other cultures," added Allen. "This collaboration is based on the assumption that learning Chinese is a gateway to new awareness of communication and culture through which students can begin to achieve their full personal potential as citizens of the world."

About McGraw-Hill Higher Education

McGraw-Hill Higher Education is a premier provider of teaching and learning solutions for the post-secondary and higher education markets worldwide. It is a unit of McGraw-Hill Education, a leading global provider of instructional, assessment and reference solutions that empower professionals and students of all ages. McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 40 languages. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com/.

About Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP)

Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP) is the leading publisher of foreign language education materials in China. Headquartered in Beijing, FLTRP provides textbooks in more than 30 languages for more than 5 million college students and 20 million school students nationwide. FLTRP dictionaries, journals and academic works cater to a wide range of users, from primary school students to college students and professionals in a variety of fields. Its academic works in linguistics, literature, and social sciences enjoy high prestige among experts and scholars. FLTRP publishes 15 journals for language learners and researchers, and the general public.

  Contacts: Mary Skafidas                       Tom Stanton
            McGraw-Hill Education               McGraw-Hill Education
           (212) 904-2078                      (212) 904-3214
            mary_skafidas@mcgraw-hill.com       tom_stanton@mcgraw-hill.com

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SOURCE: McGraw-Hill Higher Education

CONTACT: Mary Skafidas
McGraw-Hill Education
212-904-2078
mary_skafidas@mcgraw-hill.com
Tom Stanton
McGraw-Hill Education
212-904-3214
tom_stanton@mcgraw-hill.com

Web site: http://www.mheducation.com/