An Investigation On The Current In-Service Training Situation And Needs Of Secondary School Local Chinese Teachers In Cameroon

The localization process of Chinese language teachers in Cameroon began in 2009.That year,in cooperation with the Confucius Institute of University of Yaoundé II and the Higher Teachers College of the University of Maroua,the Chinese Language Teachers’ Major was opened,aiming at training local Cameroonian Chinese teachers.14 students were enrolled in the programme,becoming the first batch of local Chinese language teachers in Cameroon.They graduated in 2012,and in the same year,Chinese was officially incorporated into Cameroon national education system.With the development of Chinese language teaching in Cameroon,the demand for qualified local teachers is constantly increasing.As a future Cameroonian local Chinese teacher,the author through this study,aims at understanding the current situation of in-service training of local Chinese teachers in Cameroon secondary schools and their training needs,as well as gaining insight into the specificities and deficiencies of this training system.92 secondary school Chinese teachers from nine out of the ten regions of Cameroon were investigated through online questionnaires and interviews.The main core of the study revolves around three points: the current situation of in-service training for local Chinese teachers in Cameroonian secondary schools,teachers’ training needs and strategies to improve training programmes to meet those needs.The study showed that the Ministry of Secondary Education and the Confucius Institute in Cameroon have taken some measures to strengthen Cameroonian secondary schools’ local Chinese teachers in-service training and have achieved some results.However,there are still areas for improvement and issues that need to be addressed.With regard to the current status of training,most of the local Chinese teachers in Cameroonian secondary schools have participated in different training programmes and have had a positive impact on their Chinese language teaching.In addition to the training courses organized by the Ministry of Secondary Education or the Confucius Institute,some schools have put in place a peer-to-peer training system.With regard to training needs,many teachers would like to have more training opportunities,as well as more in-depth training in Chinese culture,Chinese language knowledge and teaching methods.Teachers would also like training methods to be varied and to include other methods such as class simulations and workshops that focus on interaction and practice.The study also found that funding for teacher training was low,and that training was not systematic,lacked practicality,lacked follow-up assessment and evaluation system and also lacked teacher to teacher interaction.The study also suggests some targeted strategies to improve the efficiency of in-service training such as: establishing a multi-point in service training model,provide teachers with material and financial resources to participate in training,diversify training methods to improve the practicality of the training,establish a training follow-up and assessment system,building up a peer-to-peer support system for teacher training etc.