Teaching Experiences of Chinese Teachers Teaching Chinese Language in Thai Public Schools in Chonburi Province

Abstract

As China is one of the most influential countries in the world, learning Chinese is becoming more prominent. To fulfill the needs of Chinese language learning of the students, many schools in Chon Buri offer Chinese courses. Both public and private sector schools in Thailand may easily recruit Chinese teachers due to the availability of large number of Chinese graduates and the encouragement and support provided by the government to teach Chinese language in foreign countries. It was found that some Chinese teachers have living difficulties in Thailand, it is interesting for researchers to study teaching challenges, teaching benefits, and overcoming techniques Chinese teachers apply to deal with such teaching difficulties.

This study applies qualitative research approach as the research design, with phenomenology research strategy. The data collection method was the in-depth interviews in schools which the researcher is conducting in the study is public schools located in Chonburi with 10 Chinese teachers who come to Thailand to teach Chinese for more than 6 months.

        The results show that Chinese teachers have experienced five teaching challenges: 1) Language Differences, 2) Cultural difference, 3) Chinese Class, 4) Student characteristics. There are four benefits as a Chinese teacher who teaches Chinese to Thai students in public schools, 1) Improve teaching quality, 2) Learning different cultures, 3) Increase work experience, 4) Independence ability.  And how can Chinese teachers solve their teaching difficulties when teaching Thai students, 1) Teacher self-reflection, 2) Find the interest of Thai students, 3) Add fun activities in the classroom, 4) Use a system of point names or scoring, 5) Looking for help from a Thai assistant.