| Following the rapid development of China’s economy, the study of Chinese as a foreignlanguage has increased markedly around the world. In Thailand, Chinese is now the secondmost popular foreign language offered in schools and the importance now placed on Chineselanguage skills can been seen in all levels of Thai society. In response to a request byThailand’s Department of Education, the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as aForeign Language (NOCFL) has set up one Confucius Institute after another in Thailand,sending Chinese teacher-volunteers to provide training in Chinese language throughoutThailand’s primary and secondary school system.Since Thailand officially incorporated Chinese as a foreign language into its educationsystem’s curriculum, the number of Thai students studying Chinese has increased steadily.Beginning in May2012, the writer of this thesis spent ten months working as a Chineseteacher-volunteer at Thailand’s Huachiew Chalermprakiet University. During this period,the writer primarily taught comprehensive Chinese courses to elementary-level students andencountered various difficulties along the way. In writing this thesis, a large volume ofliterature was reviewed and consulted concerning the teaching and designing ofcomprehensive Chinese language curricula and classes, including both theoretical andpractical scholarly research. The research touched on all aspects of comprehensive Chineselanguage education, from its properties, principles, responsibilities, and objectives to teachingmethods and tactics for teaching key elements of an elementary-level comprehensive foreignlanguage course. In conducting investigation and analysis of comprehensive Chineselanguage education most researchers have limited their discussion to one of the areasmentioned above. Comprehensive foreign language courses are different than courses that focus on one of the four primary language skills--reading, writing, listening, and speaking--inthat comprehensive foreign language courses teach all four of these skills. Thus, it is thefoundational course in a foreign language curriculum, paving the way for further, moreadvanced study in each of the four skill areas. The teaching of a foreign language in acountry or region that does not provide for immersion in the language being taught presentsits own challenges. Currently, country-or region-specific research of comprehensiveforeign language curricula with an emphasis on experiential learning is rather limited.This essay aims to identify and suggest practical ways to address some of the moreprominent difficulties in teaching Chinese as a foreign language to Thai students. Thewriter has applied principles of educational theory to hands-on classroom activities, with theobjective of making the comprehensive Chinese language course more effective and tailoringit to the specific needs of the students to which it is being offered.This thesis is divided into six major parts:1) an introduction2) an overview of existing research on comprehensive Chinese language education forelementary students3) an overview of the current Chinese language education of Thailand’s HuachiewChalermprakiet University, including its curriculum design, its teachers and theirqualifications, and the teaching materials designated and provided by the university4) a summary of common problems present throughout comprehensive Chineselanguage curricula at Thai universities.(This section will draw heavily on the writer’spersonal experience teaching comprehensive Chinese language classes to Thai students.)5) a discussion of strategies to address these problems (It will offer insights andstrategies for those interested in the dynamics unique to teaching Thai students andeducational solutions tailored to the needs of Huachiew Chalermprakiet University.)6) a conclusion discussing how to use the strategies in the teaching described in thefifth section as well as the limitations of the overall thesis... |
PDF Full Text Request