Teaching Chinese As A Second Language For Asian American Students With Autism

Autism is a medical term that the researcher haven't found the cause, nor found the cure. All the treatments to autism is still focused on the intervention methods.Through my teaching career in Chinese school, I have encountered a group of children with special need.. They are a group of autistic children, in addition, they are Chinese American who live in north California, USA.Their first language maybe Chinese because their parents speak Chinese at home, but most of the autistic children have learned to speak English at home because of their limited language abilities, so they can communicate with their peers and teachers at school. Even they all have same diagnoses, they showed very different characteristics, different abilities in learning. Their language mostly appeared severe deficits but improved throughout learning process. With this status, will they be able to learn their second language? How do they learn? How does a teacher design a suitable material and teaching method to fit their needs? This thesis is to research into the field of autism, to understand their similarities and differences, and to develop the intervention strategies. By weaving these thought into the teaching strategies, the materials can fit their personal needs. The special designed pedagogies can lead them into the palace of Chinese language and culture.In short, this thesis has been divided into three parts:The first part is to introduce the term autism and the different intervention methods.The second part is find out the possibilities that children with autism able and willing to learn the second language.The third part is to design a teaching materials, goals and objectives, teaching structures in cooperated with the ideas of AP strategies which is the philosophy of teaching Chinese as a second language in USA。...