A Case Study of Chinese Language Teacher Development:

Challenges and Prospects

Huei-Shiuan Liau 廖惠萱 (Ph.D.)

The University of Maryland at College Park

It has been pointed out that the field of foreign language (FL) teaching is subject to ongoing challenges, such as new language teaching models, new curricula, and new national standards (Richards & Farrell, 2005). Unfortunately, research shows that teacher preparation programs have not been able to fully prepare FL teacher candidates for real-life classrooms (e.g., Cooper, 2004; Schulz, 2000; Wilbur, 2007). In addition, few studies exist on teacher preparation or professional development with respect to Chinese. As the population of learners of Chinese is growing and the supply of qualified teachers of Chinese is in demand (Asia Society, 2005), there is an imperative need for more research on Chinese language teacher preparation and professional development, in particular what teacher trainees’ expectations and learning needs are as well as how programs could balance institutional goals and trainees’ learning needs in order to have successful results. Given the speculation that personal beliefs might have an influence on what one expects to gain from professional training or how one shapes a teacher training program, having a better understanding of one’s beliefs in Chinese language teaching and professional development could help provide a more in-depth explanation about his/her expectations and needs.

With this in mind, this case study using a mixed methods research design examined the expectations and learning needs of teacher trainees as well as their beliefs in and attitudes towards Chinese language teaching and teacher professional development. Subjects also included teaching and administrative staff. The instruments were: (1) group interviews; (2) an attitudinal questionnaire that contained open-ended questions and Likert-scale items; (3) post-program emails with the subjects. The presentation will discuss the study results and propose a possible model of Chinese teacher training programs. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research will also be addressed.

References:

Asia Society (2005). Expanding Chinese language capacity in the United States. New York: Asia Society.

Cooper, T. C. (2004). How foreign language teachers in Georgia evaluate their professional preparation: A call for action. Foreign Language Annals, 37(1), 37-48.

Richards, J. C., & Farrell, T. S. C. (2005). Professional development for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Schultz, R. A. (2000). Foreign language teacher development: MLJ perspectives—1916-1999. The Modern Language Journal, 84(4), 495-522.

Wilbur, M. L. (2007). How foreign language teachers get taught: Methods of teaching the methods course. Foreign Language Annals, 40(1), 79-101.