A Study On The Influence Of American Teaching Evaluation On Chinese Teachers' Teaching Behaviors

The theory and practice of immersion language teaching is originated in Canada,and since Chinese was identified as a critical language in 2005 in the United States,Chinese immersion program has been developed comprehensively.The number of Chinese learners in Utah accounts for one fifth of the total number in the United States.This program started in Utah in 2009 and at present there are 76 elementary and secondary schools carrying out the program,which has achieved great success and becomes a new and vital part of immersion language teaching.Lone Peak Elementary in Canyons School District is one of the first schools in Utah to carry out Chinese immersion program.The author once served as a guest teacher and head teacher of the third grade Chinese class in the school for one academic year.The teaching evaluation system of the school district caused the author's deep reflection on the adjustment of teaching behavior.Based on the teaching practice,taking teachers of Chinese immersion program in the United States as the research subjects,this paper studies the influence of Chinese immersion teaching evaluation on teachers' teaching behavior by questionnaire survey and interview,analyzes the teachers' understanding of American teaching evaluation and self-evaluation,and how teachers adjust their teaching behavior to meet the American teaching standard,that is,the school district's evaluation criteria for Chinese teachers.This paper finds out and analyzes the problem that the international Chinese teachers can not fully meet the American teaching evaluation standards.Through interviews,it finds the similarities and differences of teaching behavior adjustment between novice teachers and skilled teachers.Finally,it puts forward suggestions for Chinese teachers in the TCFL program in the United States,so that they can understand the teaching evaluation in advance,predict teaching behavior in order to shorten the period of adaptation,take the initiative to prepare in advance so as to reach the standard of Chinese immersion teaching in the United States as soon as possible.According to the survey,93% of the teachers think that teaching evaluation has a positive effect on teachers' teaching behavior.However,the results of the current self-evaluation of international Chinese teachers show that: some novice teachers deviate from the federal common core,class expectations are not clear enough,some cannot give specific,comprehensive and positive teaching feedback,some cannot create a rigorous classroom environment,and their cross-cultural ability needs to be improved as well;some do not pay attention to the professional development.In view of the above survey and more teaching evaluation criteria,interviews with five Chinese teachers in Lone Peak Elementary reveals the similarities and differences in the adjustment of teaching behavior between novice teachers and proficient teachers,that is,novice teachers are more likely to feel upset and frustrated with teaching than proficient teachers,and tend to attribute to external causes,such as students' motivation or parents' attitude,thus their changes of teaching behavior lag behind.Finally,the author puts forward some suggestion for international Chinese teachers: to provide scaffolding teaching;to attach importance to classroom management,to optimize classroom discourse,to improve cross-cultural communication competence,to strengthen evidence-based research,etc.,in order to help them understand teaching evaluation in advance,predict teaching behavior,shorten the period of adaptation to unfamiliar teaching evaluation system when teaching in the United States,and meet the immersion teaching standard as soon as possible.