Investigation And Research On Chinese Character Teaching In Chief Sealth International High School In Seattle Public School District, USA

Chinese characters are the writing system of Chinese Language.For a long time,the reading and writing of Chinese characters have been two important tasks in Chinese character learning.The teaching of Chinese characters to foreign students in primary and secondary schools is a difficult but key point in the global teaching of Chinese,which directly affects the loss of senior learners.The author worked in Chief Sealth International High School,which is a public high school in Seattle,Washington,USA,in 2012,so she chose Chinese character teaching in this high school as her graduate thesis topic.The author hopes that through this study,those teachers who are preparing for overseas Chinese teaching can provide specific national Chinese characters teaching reference.The author also hopes this study can help enrich "country-specific"Chinese character teaching research,which would improve high school Chinese teaching.This study adopts the research methods of questionnaire investigations,interviews,and classroom observation.The author chose 1 local Chinese teacher and 49 Chinese learners in Chief Sealth International High School and conducted a comprehensive investigation to investigate both the teaching and learning situation of Chinese characters in this school.According to the survey results,respectively from the macro policy and environment,teachers and learners,the author undertakes an analysis on both the advantages and disadvantages of Chinese character teaching in Chief Sealth International High School,and draws the following conclusions:First,in terms of macro policies and environment,the Seattle public school district where Chief Sealth International High School is located has made some progress in Chinese teaching in recent years,but compared with other languages,it still has a certain gap in terms of student enrollment and teaching scale.School district administrators are not paying enough attention.In terms of macro policy formulation,there is a lack of unified Chinese language teaching syllabus connecting universities,middle schools and primary schools.Second,in terms of teacher training,there is a lack of suitable and practical Chinese character teaching textbooks.The existing Chinese character-teaching textbook does not meet the needs of teachers.The content of the textbook is not targeted,does not conform to the learning habits and characteristics of local students,and there is no cohesion and continuity throughout.Local teachers'Chinese character teaching level and ability are uneven,which has a direct impact on the effectiveness of the instruction.Finally,as far as learners are concerned,students'learning habits are undisciplined.Some students'learning motivation is weak,students'attention spans are short,and most students don't spend much time studying after class.Most students think it is difficult to learn Chinese characters.The actual effectiveness of teaching Chinese characters is not as satisfactory as hoped.In view of these problems,the author puts forward the following ways to optimize local teaching:first,carry out macro policy planning.Second,the classroom teaching of Chinese characters should be optimized.Third,introduce a program of the development and introduction of Chinese character teaching resources.Fourth,improve teacher training methods to equip teachers with the right tools to teach Chinese characters.Fifth,promoting Chinese character learning in the local high school.