Comparison Between The Confucius Institute Of The University Of Canterbury And Alliance Francaise Christchurch

Since the establishment of the first Confucius Institute in Soul,the Confucius Institute has had a history of more than ten years.It is still expanding at a high speed.In 1883,the first Alliance Francaise(AF)was established in Paris,France.It has experienced more than 100 years of hardships and is currently one of the oldest and most well-known language and culture institutes in the world.China’s domestic scholars have done some researches related to AF.Their major intention is to draw on the development experience of AF and to reform the Confucius Institute which can help it suit in other countries better.Previous studies are more focus on macro level or analyze the strategies AF used in China based in which suggestions are generated for the development of Confucius Institute.From 2016 to 2017,I got the opportunity to work as a volunteering Chinese teacher for the Confucius Institute at the University of Canterbury(UC).UC locates in Christchurch,the second largest city of New Zealand,the biggest city on the south island,where AF opened their branch years ago.These two institutes face same audience.The comparison between them will help us better to know the real situation of Confucius Institute there.The historical background the funding go these two institutes,operation pattern,mode of transmission,and major challenges are the four major part of the comparison.Operation pattern is further divided into 5 sections,the relationship to home state’s departments,personnel arrangement,source of funds,corporations with local companies or agencies.Mode of transmission consists of two main segments,one is the language teaching,the other is culture event.After a comprehensive comparative study,it is found that the current AF has relatively well established operating systems,a very systematic teaching program,and are providing various cultural activities to the audience.However,it faces more and more severe external competition,especially from Confucius Institute.Confucius Institute’s problems are more from inside,the approaches to achieve to achieve its goal is not clear,the lack of a systematic teaching system,unstable teachers,the lack of interconnection between the Confucius Institutes,the content cultural activities cannot show the audience about the modern China,as well as old and inefficient promotion.The final part of this thesis is trying to propose suggestions for the above six major problems:1.determining strategy orientation through comprehensive self-analysis;2.building a solid personnel arrangement policy;3.establishing systematic teaching system;4.use multi-dimension method to nurturing more local Chinese teachers and guarantee the quality;5.creating coherent relations between Confucius Institute to manage general image of this brand;6.diversify the source of funds;7.using more promoting channels.