Narrative of a Cross-Cultural Language Teaching Experience: Conflicts between Theory and Practice

Autor/in	Yang, Shih-hsien
Titel	Narrative of a Cross-Cultural Language Teaching Experience: Conflicts between Theory and Practice
Quelle	In: Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 24 (2008) 6, S.1564-1572 (9 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0742-051X
DOI	10.1016/j.tate.2007.12.003
Schlagwörter	Economic Progress; Journal Writing; Second Language Instruction; Theory Practice Relationship; Cultural Pluralism; Foreign Countries; Data Analysis; Mandarin Chinese; Teaching Experience; Native Speakers; Language Teachers; Doctoral Degrees; Observation; Student Motivation; Cognitive Style; China + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Economic growth; Wirtschaftswachstum; Zeitschriftenaufsatz; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Theorie-Praxis-Beziehung; Kulturpluralismus; Ausland; Auswertung; Muttersprachler; Language teacher; Sprachunterricht; Doctoral degree; Doktorgrad; Beobachtung; Schulische Motivation; Cognitive styles; Kognitiver Stil
Abstract	China's economic performance over the past few decades has put China in a position where it now accounts for one-third of global economic growth, twice as much as America. The large-scale growth of China's economy has attracted attention from businesses and investors worldwide [Morrison (2006). "China's economic conditions." Congressional Research Service: The Library of Congress]. With the continuing growth of China's economy, more and more people from all over the world are learning Chinese in order to conduct business and access China's huge markets. Correspondingly, an increase in the demand for Chinese speakers is being matched by an increase in available Chinese language teaching jobs globally. This has led many Chinese native speakers to consider teaching Chinese as a second language either in China or overseas. This study is a narrative inquiry into the transformation of thinking about language education, based on the author's experience of teaching Chinese while pursuing a doctorate program at a major university in the United States. The data used in this study are qualitative in nature, consisting of self-observations and journal writing. Narrative inquiry serves as a conceptual framework to this study and was adopted as a tool for data analysis. The analysis focused on how the author, as a teaching assistant from Taiwan, dealt with issues of teaching Chinese as a second language and how he drew on pedagogical theories and methodologies. The author's experience with students in the East Asian Language and Culture Department with their different assumptions and motivations highlighted the importance of teaching strategies and pedagogies in class. Elements like cultural diversity and learning styles are also discussed in this paper. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10