Purpose

To enable students who receive training to be Chinese language teachers to apply what they learn in their teaching professions through reflection.

Design/methodology/approach

This action study employed the cycle of “planning, acting, observing, and reflecting” to solve the problems identified in classrooms. A course was designed and implemented over an 18-week period of teacher training on the basis of the reflective model of teacher education (Wallace, 1991). The participants were 9 students from the graduate program of teaching Chinese as a second language, who were enrolled in the Chinese language curriculum design research course led by the investigator. The students being taught by the participants were 23 foreign students from a university in northern Taiwan. This study was a qualitative study with a supplementary quantitative research process. The participants were required to verify theoretical knowledge with experiential knowledge, develop their knowledge through practical actions, and compare this practical knowledge with the knowledge earned from observations. Thus, the participants earned professional knowledge on Chinese language teaching through the repeated cycle of “practicing and reflecting.”

Findings/results

In this study, a reflection-based Chinese language teaching practical course was established, and the participants acquired their professional teaching knowledge and skills after participating in the course. The qualitative data revealed that the participants learned proactively, acquired knowledge, applied what they learned, and understood themselves through reflections, achieving the goals of the A +ASK course. The quantitative data indicated that these participants scored an average of 4.90 on their course satisfaction in the questionnaire centering on learning outcomes. This score was the highest out of all the three courses opened by the investigator. The average satisfaction score was also higher than any of the other courses in the department, in the college, in the university, and in the graduate program. Accordingly, the participants were extremely satisfied with the course.

Originality/value

There are two aspects of the meanings and values of this study. Not only do the results of this study provide a basis for course model development, but they also enable students trained to be teachers to incorporate theoretical learnings in teaching practices. The results of this study provide a key reference for designing Chinese language teaching practical courses.

Suggestions/implications

Horizontal and vertical connections of Chinese language teacher training courses should be reinforced. Specifically, professors within and outside universities should be invited to coparticipate in improving the design and implementation of Chinese language teaching practical courses. Research results should be reflected and reproduced in the classroom environment. The results of this study are expected to improve teaching practice, facilitate the implementation of education theories, and stimulate the dialogue and resonance between researchers and instructors.