对外汉语 Masters Programs

[natra]

So, I am doing an MA in China right now in Chinese literature, and have begun to think that this might not be for me. Recently, I have been looking into doing a masters program in 对外汉语 education in China. I would like to pursue prospective jobs in the US after completing a 2-3 year degree in secondary schools, either public or private.

I am a non-native speaker, but have the HSK certification required for entrance into schools here.

Is there anyone here who has done this? What was your experience? What specific courses were offered for your degree? Are you still in the program? If not, what are you doing now?

[fanglu]

I'm not American and haven't done this, but I'd be checking the registration requirements for teachers wherever you are planning on teaching and their recognition of Chinese qualifications in particular. It would be annoying to get back and be told you need to do a diploma of education or something for a year before you can teach.

[valikor]

I can't really answer your specific questions, unfortunately, but due to the limited number of responses so far, I will say the one or two things that I know (which may or may not be helpful to you).

When I was in college, the school (which didn't exactly have a chinese department)hired people to teach who--in fact--had no real training in teaching Chinese. The only qualification they had was being Chinese.

Obviously you're in the opposite boat, but I imagine there would probably be opportunities (especially at private schools, which don't have to abide by state or federal regulations when hiring teachers). Chinese programs keep popping up, and you would be very qualfied, unless you ran into the problems fanglu mentioned (which would be a non-issue at a private school)

Personally I think non-native speakers often make better teachers, for the obvious reason that they at one point had to ask and answer the same questions that the students are asking. A friend of mine recently told me that a handful of his Chinese friends in Zhengzhou couldn't give him any decent explanation of when to use 吧， and said that my 20 second, cursory explanation was much more helpful than anything he'd heard. Some schools might just want a chinese person, but you can also try to work it the other way.

[natra]

Personally, I do not think that being a non-native speaker is a very large issue. Of course there will be people who say that Chinese can only be taught by a native Chinese speaker, or that English should only be taught by native English speakers. Why else would so many white Americans completely unqualified to teach, often times without even so much as a bachelors degree, be able to work in Mainland China? Most native speakers have a poor grasp on their own language, and the quality of instruction often turns out poor results.

I happen to be somewhat more optimistic when it comes to the matter. For instance, what kind of message does it send to your school's students if the only teachers hired are Chinese?

[Don_Horhe]

对外汉语 graduates are a dime a dozen in China, and most of the people I've spoken to about this say that it's usually not worth it, most of the programs trying to be both Chinese philology and linguistics and majestically failing at both. BUT, since you'll be teaching outside of China and are not Chinese yourself, I think that it will give you enough credentials to successfully pursue a teaching career. In addition, some of the things they teach in those programs are, to be honest, quite interesting and useful - I remember visiting a few classes of 对外汉语教学法, where the lecturer would repeatedly stress that quality, not quantity is important and, as has been already mentioned, "just because you're Chinese doesn't mean you can actually teach the language."

[Meng Lelan]

"just because you're Chinese doesn't mean you can actually teach the language."

It is extremely difficult for foreign language directors in the US to understand that. When they recruit Chinese language teachers, they believe that only Chinese natives know how to teach the language. For that reason the OP would do well to pursue the degree in China. That would help increase the chances of overcoming this widespread belief when interviewing for jobs outside China.