A Day in the Life of a Chinese Language Teacher Back to Top

Overview

More than 200 million children in China are studying English, compared to only 24,000 children in the United States who are studying Chinese. Chinese is the seventh most popular language taught in American schools. However, the government is increasing funding for foreign languages, especially languages that are in critical need for our government, such as Chinese. The duties of a Chinese teacher include creating lesson plans, planning activities, creating and grading tests or assignments, and engaging students. Chinese teachers must immerse the students in the foreign language by constantly speaking, writing, and reading Chinese and encouraging the students to do the same. The initial difficulty Chinese teachers face is teaching Chinese characters. Importantly, a Chinese teacher must be fluent in Chinese and English. A Chinese teacher must often teach the history and culture of the language, so knowledge and interest of these topics is important as well.

Elementary and Middle School

In 2008, the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) conducted a nationwide survey of elementary and secondary schools to collect data on foreign languages taught in the United States. According to the survey, the percentage of schools offering Chinese as a foreign language class continues to increase and reached just over 3% in 2008. Among elementary and middle schools, the most common foreign language program is the exploratory model, which provides introductory exposure to the language. Language focus programs are the second most common program for elementary schools, with programs that emphasize listening, speaking, reading, writing, and culture. The remainder of elementary school programs usually use the immersion model, which provides students with the opportunity to attain high levels of proficiency in the foreign language. When a student reaches middle school, he or she is usually given the chance to choose which language to study. Middle school courses often focus on building on the language programs used in elementary school to provide a basis for high school instruction.

High School

The survey also found that the percentage of secondary schools offering Chinese is also increasing, reaching 4% in 2008. The need for Chinese teachers is expected to grow more than any other foreign language. High School level classes typically instruct reading, writing, listening, speaking, and culture. A Chinese teacher can teach anywhere from level one to level five, or even an Advanced Placement (AP) course. High school foreign language classes move away from the simple translation of middle school and begin to instruct students on writing, reading, listening, and comprehending. At each level of Chinese, students will be more immersed into the language and are expected to retain information from previous levels.

Chinese teachers must earn a bachelor’s degree in Chinese and must be fluent in both English and Chinese. They must also obtain a teaching certificate in the state they wish to teach in. It is also highly recommended to obtain a foreign language certificate. Currently, only 31% of elementary level foreign language teachers have this certificate, so having one will certainly put you above the competition. The majority of high school foreign language teachers are certified to teach a foreign language. One quarter of elementary schools and nearly one third of secondary schools offering languages reported being affected by a shortage of qualified language teachers. The most affected schools were elementary schools in rural areas and high schools with a large percentage of students from a low-socioeconomic background. The need for qualified foreign language teachers is growing, and the average salary for the secondary level is slightly higher than that of the average teacher, $56,000.

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