APPLICATION OF SOME RESEARCH-BASED PRACTICE FROM TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES TO TEACHING CHINESE TO
SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES
(英语为第二语言教学中值得用以汉语为第二语言教学的成功经验借鉴)
Teaching Chinese to Speaker of Other Languages (TCSOL) has been growing and developing rapidly for the past three decades. There are more 300 Confucius Institutes (CIs) all over the world with many in the United States (US). The review of some TCSOL literature in China indicates that TCSOL theories were derived mainly from Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research in the Western countries. Issues discussed in TCSOL research focus on TCSOL for adults and /or at college level. Little research has been conducted in TCSOL for school-age children and even less in TCSOL for school-age children in the US.
This research study was designed to investigate the applicability and effectiveness of some research-based practices in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) to TCSOL in general and at public school levels, particularly in the US, as well as the importance of TCSOL teacher preparation reform and the effectiveness professional development for in-service TCSOL teachers. The information was intended to add research data to TCSOL teacher preparation at universities, training provided by Hanban (Chinese Language Headquarter in Beijing, China), and professional development for in-service TCSOL teachers in the US public schools.
This research process and results demonstrate that some research-based practices in TESOL can and should be applied to TCSOL. There is a need for TCSOL teacher preparation at university level in classroom management for school age children research-based language teaching techniques and strategies. It is essential to provide professional development for in-service teachers to maintain and improve instructional quality. Furthermore, the content for TCSOL training provided by Hanban needs to be differentiated depending upon the background knowledge of the TCSOL teachers, where they are to teach, and who they are to teach, in addition to general guidelines and policies.
