Becoming and Being a Chinese Language Teacher in American Schools

• In Event: 18.071 - Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: 18.071-6 - Chinese Teachers and North American Schools: Navigating Language, Culture, and Identity

Abstract

This study addresses how the educational background of international Chinese language teachers influences their pedagogical transition and teaching in American K-12 classrooms. It reports on a qualitative study that included 14 Chinese language teachers who had prior teaching experiences in China and now have been teaching in American K-12 schools. The study seeks to uncover the challenges they faced in transitioning to teach Chinese language to American students, with special attention given to their cross-cultural teaching orientation, pedagogy, and classroom management strategies. Data from in-depth interviews and classroom observations suggests that Chinese language teachers transformed themselves into active learners in the new environment and they see classroom management as the most challenging aspect of being a language teacher.

Authors

• Qiaomei(Maggie) Lu, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Yin Wu, University at Buffalo - SUNY