On The Status And Development Of Chinese Teacher Volunteers In Thailand

As the economic globalization deepens, China’s exchange with the foreign countries hasseen rapid growth. China is a mysterious eastern country, and she is developing in economywith an astonishing speed after entering the21st century. The rapid growth of economy andthe profound cultural heritage have promoted the study of China culture and language.Currently Chinese language has become one of the most popular languages in the world andthe foreign countries’ demand for Chinese teachers is surging.As a neighboring country to China, Thailand has quite a number of Chinese people.Besides, the close relationship between China and Thailand, the rapid growth of China’seconomy and the favorable policies issued by Thailand government all stimulate theenthusiasm of the Thai people to learn Chinese, making Thailand an important base topromote Chinese learning.Chinese teaching program is constituted of many indispensable factors such astheoretical achievement of this program, setting of teaching mode, writing and layout ofteaching materials, selection and training of Chinese teachers. Among those important factorsinfluencing the development of teaching Chinese overseas, outstanding teachers count themost. The development of Chinese teachers determines the development of Chinese languageteaching overseas. Volunteers are part and parcel of Chinese language teaching program,messengers of promoting Chinese language and culture. Therefore, the study of teachervolunteers is particularly important. Thailand has the most teacher volunteers selected andsent out by Hanban. According to Volunteer Center in Hanban, Hanban has sent out more than18,000volunteers by January,2013, and over8,000of them went to Thailand. Among the3,981volunteers sent out in2012, Thailand has over1,900of them, numbering first. For thisreason, the study of Chinese teacher volunteers matters much to the promotion of Chineselanguage.The author majors in MTCSOL and is attending the training for Chinese teachervolunteers to Thailand. Based on the above reasons, the author has the responsibility to present the current situation of those teacher volunteers who are going to Thailand soon. Thispaper combines several research methods such as questionnaire survey, panel discussion anddepth interview to present the latest and real situation of Chinese teacher volunteers toThailand. The basic situation and specific needs of volunteers, some problems and reasonablesolutions in the practice are discussed and studied in depth in this paper, effective solutionsare given. This paper will provide practical reference and application to the development offuture volunteer program.