Getting "certified" to teach Chinese as a second language in the U.S.

[Pengyou]

I just spent a few minutes with Google trying to research this issue and found a number of posts with info that was not always the same. Can someone here give me the "Readers Digest" version? In particular, I am trying to get answers to the following questions:

1. Do I have to take the HSK before I can be admitted to this program?

2. I noticed that these programs include Chinese studies. If I already have a certain proficiency in Chinese (demonstrated probably by taking the HSK) can I just take the teaching methods classes?

3. Is there a history of education associations in the U.S., England, etc recognizing this certification?

I am a licensed teacher in the U.S. so I know that that legality is already taken care of.

[roddy]

What certification? Which programs?

[Meng Lelan]

Certification to teach Chinese is determined by the state for which you are applying. Each state is different. Some states require the HSK some don't (like Texas, I did not take the HSK but had to take the ACTFL exams). Since you already have a teaching certificate, you can in most states take a test (HSK or ACTFL or something else that state requires) to show you are Chinese proficient, you might not even have to take any other classes. As for education associations recognizing the certification, well, in the US, not really, because the states are the entities actually certifying you. However, we in the US do have the CLTA (national and also some states have their own chapter, like the CLTA-TX for Texas). If you are planning to teach immersion public schools, they may want some additional certificates so check with the schools in which you are interested.

[kdavid]

What about for a native speaker?

My wife may be interested in this once we move back home...

[imron]

There is a test she can do in China that qualifies her to teach Chinese to foreigners (based on Chinese standards). I'm not sure how useful that will be in the US, but it's probably a start.

[hibicc]

This might interest you :

China Workshop Program for Foreign Chinese Language Teachers

Hanban specifically sets up the China Workshop Program for Foreign Chinese Language Teachers for the enhancement of communication and cooperation in the area of Chinese language teaching at home and abroad. The workshop lasts from one to four weeks. Foreign teachers who are under 60 years old and work at public schools abroad or Chinese applicants who have permanent residence certificates granted by their host countries can apply for this program. Hanban will pay the cost during the participants’ stay in China, and the participant should pay for air tickets, visa application fees and so on. The courses in the workshop, based on the needs of Chinese language teachers at various levels in different countries, focus mainly on a series of Chinese language knowledge and education courses, theory and methodology of teaching Chinese, application of modern educational technology in Chinese language teaching, cultural practices, and exchange and seminars between Chinese language teachers in China and other countries.

Beijing International Chinese College is the organizer of this program and has organized it nine times. BICC have trained over 200 participants from Canada, U.S.A., Malaysia, Spain, Russia, and South Korea. BICC will be organizing the China Workshop Program for Foreign Chinese Language Teachers in 2013. BICC plan to train 50 participants and the program will last from July 14^th to August 10^th. During the four-week training course, we will help participants understand the present situation of international Chinese teaching, become familiar with the standard of international Chinese teachers, and improve their ability and level of teaching Chinese as a second language.

BICC welcome you to recommend Chinese teachers from your country to join in this program!

To apply email at : xiaoying1007@hotmail.com

[Meng Lelan]

kdavid: Native speakers in the US still have to take the tests, I actually knew someone here from Nanjing who was in the process of getting her teacher's certificate from Texas, and she was asking me a lot of questions about the very same tests I had taken to show fluency in Chinese, then a few months later she took the same tests and came back to me complaining how the written exams were exactly that - that she had to handwrite and not use any computers.

As for the test that imron posted, I don't know about non-US countries, but the states in the US don't use that test at all to award your teaching certificate in Chinese.

Let me emphasize that each state has its own requirements and will require their own state tests, ACTFL, or HSK to determine Chinese proficiency. That said, the requirements to teach in public schools are vastly different from teaching in colleges and universities. I am trying to get a job teaching Chinese in a community college and I don't need a state teaching certificate for that, but I have to have a master's degree that includes 18 graduate hours of Chinese language.

[Pengyou]

Thanks!