The Training Mode of Local Chinese Language Teachers in Thailand: An Exploratory Analysis

: The provision of Chinese language teaching in Thailand has rapidly increased over the period. After analyzing a survey of 60 local Chinese teachers based in Thailand, we find that teachers are primarily focused on improving their teaching methodology and classroom management skills, and their own general awareness of Chinese history and culture. In seeking to meet their training needs and enable them to resolve difficulties they encounter when teaching Chinese as a world language in Thailand, we establish a new and progressive QCLIF training mode and apply it to training practice. QCLIF is an abbreviation taken from the first letters of ‘question-oriented’; ‘case-study-based’; ‘learning and teaching’; ‘input and Output’; and ‘flipped classroom’. The QCLIF training mode is taken from the standards and requirements of world language education in various countries


Introduction
The ongoing development of cooperation between the Chinese and Thai governments in Chinese language education is premised on the insight that it enables economic and cultural exchange between the two countries, and this is one of the main reasons why it continues to attract attention and show sustained development. Chinese has become one of the most popular world languages in Thailand, and the number of Chinese learners in Thailand increases every year.
Courses are now offered in many areas of the country at various levels.
At the end of March 2019, more than 134 institutions of higher education and 2000 schools in Thailand offered professional development opportunities or credit for Chinese language and culture courses. Local Chinese language teachers make an important contribution to Chinese language teaching.
While the Chinese language is developing rapidly, the demand for Chinese language learning is also becoming more diversified and individualized, and this puts more demands on the teaching of local Chinese teachers. Different problems are also evidenced in basic knowledge of Chinese, communication skills, classroom teaching management, cultural learning and teaching methods, and these need to be urgently addressed. Li Dongwei observes that 'local Chinese teachers' refers to teachers who have received a considerable degree of Chinese language and culture education and who are qualified to teach Chinese language and culture in their home countries [7]. He/She suggests that the vigorous training of local Chinese teachers should theoretically be part of an important strategy that seeks to resolve the current shortage of Chinese language teachers. Li Baogui and Chen Rufang and Dai Li identify the following weaknesses among local Chinese language teachers in Thai middle schools: first, their basic subject knowledge of the Chinese language is not solid, for example, they do not have sufficient knowledge of cultural vocabulary, such as the use of idioms in Chinese, the structure and meaning of fixed expressions; second, their understanding of Chinese culture is quite limited and they also lack study experience in China and have weak cultural exchange and inter-cultural communication skills; third, most teachers have not systematically engaged Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and related theoretical courses, and their speaking and listening capacity needs to be improved; fourth, the Chinese language teaching methodology lacks a theoretical basic; fifth, there are also a lack of effective teaching strategies that can be applied to theory in a way that improves teaching practice well [6,3]. Wang Mei draws on a survey to assert there are too few local teachers and also claims there is an urgent need to increase the number of local teachers and improve their teaching standards [17]. Chen Xi argues that Chinese language teaching and cultural teaching are not perfectly integrated, and there is too much emphasis on disseminating excellent traditional culture in teaching, a lack of dissemination and teaching of modern culture and insufficient effort to achieve cultural renewal [1].
Zhang Yao suggests that the variety and confusing structure of Chinese teaching materials make it difficult for teachers to insert a clear and feasible line of thought in the materials when they formulate teaching plans. Furthermore, some teaching classrooms are entirely focused on language, which severs the relationship between language and culture [24]. Zhao Yanhua and Han Ming use a survey to analyse the current status of the training of local Chinese teachers in Thailand, and identify frequently encountered problems, which include the relevance of training content, the updating of training delivery methods and the fact that training is not scientifically evaluated. In response, they propose a timely and effective evaluation mechanism [23].
Teacher training focused on local Chinese teachers should look to continually support the professional development of teachers and resolve the aforementioned problems. In order to meet teacher training needs, and improve the effectiveness and pertinence of training, we used diversity research methods to conduct the research analysis, including questionnaire method, literature method, interview method, case study method and other methods. The survey method is mainly based on the situation of Chinese language teaching in Thailand, with 60 primary and secondary school teachers in Thailand as survey subjects, and includes questionnaire design, data statistics and comparative analysis. The literature method mainly collects information about Chinese language teaching in Thailand through literature search and Internet search to understand the Chinese curriculum, selection of Chinese teaching materials, problems in Chinese language teaching, etc. The interview method conducts personal interviews with teachers and volunteers who have conducted Chinese language teaching in Thailand in order to improve the content of the study, so as to further understand the current status of local Chinese language teaching in Thailand, factors affecting Chinese language teaching and measures against Chinese language teaching. The case study method is based on my four-year undergraduate Chinese teaching experience in Thailand, which is a combination of theory and practical experience through classroom observation and recording, and teaching reflection and feedback. In drawing on this study's data and conclusions, and in referring to Action Learning, Chain Reaction, Continuous Teacher Development, Participatory Learning, Professional Reconstruction and TPACK (teachers' professional development) Theory, we draw on IT to establish the QCLIF. This is my own innovation that is intended to contribute a new model of short-term training that benefits teachers who teach Chinese as a world language. It is based on the specific training needs of local Chinese teachers in Thailand. It begins by emphasizing and then proposes different training objectives and contents that correspond to the different stages of local Chinese teacher training. It then establishes a closed-loop link and iterative optimization model of training decisions. This enables analysis to be recorded during training, and results to be evaluated after it finished. Data collection and the statistical analysis of training information makes it possible to obtain the auxiliary decision and value judgment of training results that are obtained from the application of the local teacher training model in Thailand. It has been successfully applied in a 2-week (100 hours) training program that was implemented in Thailand.

Previous Research: A Review
In the last five years, limited research has been conducted into the training of local Chinese teachers, and the research that exists has tended to focus on theories of teachers' professional development, factors that affect teacher development or English teacher training.
Theories of Teacher Development: Wang Yi-Qiong demonstrates how to construct the development model of College English teachers in a TPACK framework (Technological Knowledge, TK; Content Knowledge CK; Pedagogical Knowledge, PK), and improve TPACK abilities [18]. This makes a small contribution to college English teaching ( Figure 1); Wichadee, Saovapa distribute a questionnaire to collect data from 217 full-time English language university teachers and find the overall mean score of Thai university teachers' professional development to be moderate, and also identifies that academic title, degree, gender, academic title and job responsibility are not related to professional development. It also finds that interaction with colleagues was the activity they used to develop themselves most. Students' background knowledge was the main obstacle to them implementing their knowledge [19]. Cochran-Smith, Feiman-Nemser, and McIntyre propose 3 patterns of teacher development (knowledge for, in and of practice). They note that each one coexists and suggest that, in different situations, teachers should be actively encouraged to use corresponding models to improve training efficiency [12]. Woolley and Ginny focus on the technology that the International School of Bangkok applies to its teacher training [20]. They note how this produces a reduced reliance on workshops and enables an increased connection with learning and the training of new leaders.
Local Teachers Conditions and Teaching Challenges: Li Baogui and Chen Rufang observe that local Chinese teachers in universities and colleges in northeast Thailand experience different problems with regard to basic knowledge and skills that relate to a number of areas (including Chinese, Chinese communication skills, Chinese culture and intercultural communication, classroom teaching organization and management) [6]. The main measures to solve the problem include China and Thailand working together to improve the treatment of local teachers and strengthen the ability of Chinese teachers to provide diversified training that improves the teaching level. Volunteers and public teachers should also be given a more important role, as this will help to address a shortage of local teachers. Nang Yu Thandar Lwin and Liu Jingjing refer to the training of indigenous teachers in Shan State of Northern Myanmar and identify a lack of practical content and interaction [14].
This paper explores the training model from the perspective of teacher requirements to meet the diverse needs of local Chinese teachers.
Teacher Training Modules: Chen Yanyi and Zhang Shifang outline a new short-term teacher training program that is established by in-service local teachers, and which focuses on follow-up and immersion training [2]. Deng Shulan explores the innovative model of Belgium teacher training in China by referring to the modularity and practicality of training content; personalized and staged guidance for training targets; the differentiation and challenges of training practice; the indexation and comprehensiveness of training performance evaluation; and the tracking and analysis of post-return education [4]. Xu Xiaoyi and Li Baogui discuss a new model for the training of local Chinese language teachers that will assist the training of local Chinese language teachers by establishing an international education major. They also propose a path for improving the quality of the training offered to local Chinese teachers: this will increase the professionalization of teaching staff and will ensure a more diverse intake. It will also help to promote strict and regular quality supervision, contribute to the modernization and flexibility of teaching technology and enhance the precision and meticulousness of service management [21].
In Summary, as Chinese learning rapidly develops and the demands of Chinese learners in Thailand diversifies, increasing numbers of local teachers have shown an interest in attending short-term or online training courses that improve their skills and knowledge and enhance their ability to teach Chinese as a world language. Future research needs to urgently engage with the question of which training mode is most effective.

Introducing the Investigation
In recent years, increasing numbers of local teachers in Thailand have participated in Chinese language training. In order to obtain an overall knowledge of actual teacher demand for relevant training and improve the relevance and effectiveness of training, we surveyed local Chinese language teachers who are participating in training courses.
The investigation was conducted through online questionnaires, which were distributed to 60 local Chinese teachers in Thailand. The four-part questionnaire provided insight into teacher information, teaching information, problems in teaching Chinese as foreign language and training needs. The detailed question of this final category follows (teachers were reminded not to write fewer than three items for each question).
(1) Phonetics Teaching: Which problems would you like to solve and what are, in your view, the most important problems at this point in time? (2) Chinese Character Teaching: "___________________" (3) Chinese Teaching Method: "_____________________" (4) Teaching Organization and Class Management: "__________________________________________" The detailed question for teaching needs related to teaching Chinese as foreign language follows (again, teachers were reminded not to include fewer than 3 items for each question): (1) With regard to the training, what are your largest needs or which problems would you most like to resolve? (2) What aspect of contemporary China and Chinese culture would you most like to know more about? (3) Where in Beijing do you go to gain a cultural experience?

Investigation Analysis
The results follow: Respondents expressed an interest in training that would produce improvements in teaching methodology (48 percent), knowledge of modern China and Chinese culture (24 percent) and classroom management, applied educational technology and textbook teaching (8 percent) (see Figure 1).
Language teaching: When teaching Chinese characters, local teachers encounter problems that include Chinese character memorization, a lack of (Chinese character) textbooks and writing ( Figure 2). When teaching phonetics, they encounter problems that include correct pronunciation and intonation teaching (Figure 3). Teaching methodology, meanwhile, presents problems that include ability variations in a single class, developing classroom teaching methods that are not monotonous and boring, stimulating student interest in learning and the teaching methodology applied to comprehensive courses.
Classroom management, meanwhile, presents problems that include creating an interactive atmosphere in class, individual students arbitrarily talking in class and students looking at their mobile phone when teaching is ongoing. In the area of educational technology, teachers are also confronted by the problem of how to apply teaching assistant software to teaching, and they indicate a desire to overcome it.   Culture teaching: Chinese history and philosophy, traditional Chinese culture and the current educational situation are the main subjects that teachers wish to engage in training events. Only a small number of teachers instead select Chinese arts (including traditional dance), architecture, cuisine, economic development and music ( Figure 4); the Imperial and Summer Palaces and museums are among the most popular sites for research and study in Beijing ( Figure 5).

Basic Theory
The training is an important part of teachers' development. Their professional development (such as Action Learning, Chain Reaction, Participatory Learning Approach (PLA), Professional Learning Community and (TPACK) can be incorporated into the training of local Chinese teachers in Thailand.
Chain Reaction Theory. It has 3 categories: Category 1 anticipates that programs will change teacher behaviors, and it also anticipates that these behavioral changes will produce student learning; although Categories 2 and 3 expect their programs to change teacher knowledge, they tend to be (relatively) less prescriptive about teaching practices. Category 2 programs provide teachers with knowledge about how students learn and also contribute curriculum materials and ideas about new practices that will better promote student learning. Category 3 focuses more narrowly on teacher knowledge, and specifically examines how students learn particular subject ideas. These 3 categories of program content therefore extend from the more prescriptive to the more discretionary; and from those that focus more on behavior to those that are more interested in ideas. The teacher training was short-term, and we will therefore focus on Category 2 to a greater extent.  Participatory Learning Approach (PLA). PLA engages students as active participants in the full life-cycle of homework, projects and examination. It establishes that students should design questions or projects, execute them and then assess and grade the solutions put forward by their peers. PLA is designed to work for a wide range of students, including those in junior high, graduate and professional schools, and it can also be applied for training and adult learning purposes. QCLIF has drawn on PLA to expand participation to class observation, investigation, micro teaching, teaching practices and workshops, and this helps teachers to put themselves in the roles of the teacher and student in all training procedures. A number of major objectives have been achieved: participants have learnt teaching skills and experiences from each other; they have developed a collaborative approach to training assignments and projects; they have also learnt to model teaching performance, with a specific emphasis on active participation and sharing.
The Theory of Professional Learning Community (PLC). The term 'learning community' has become common and has been used to mean any number of things, including extending classroom practice into the community; bringing community personnel into the school to enhance the curriculum and learning tasks for students; it has also been used to simultaneously engage administrators, students and teachers, in learning. PLC is a group of educators that meets regularly and which collaboratively shares expertise and work with the aim of improving teaching skills and student academic performance. PLC emphasizes five attributes, including organizational arrangements; supportive and shared leadership; collective creativity; shared values and vision; supportive conditions; and shared personal practice. In applying PLC to QCLIF, we try to: (1) improve the skills and knowledge of teachers through collaborative study, the exchange of expertise, professional dialogue and workshops; (2) improve teachers' aspirations and achievement and contribute to teacher development, with particular emphasis on strengthening leadership and teaching. The QCLIF concept is summarized by the following triad: group-community-learning through sharing. TPACK Theory. The TPACK framework that focuses on technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical knowledge (PK) and content knowledge (CK). It offers a productive approach to many of the dilemmas that teachers encounter when implementing educational technology in their classrooms. Content Knowledge (CK) describes teachers' knowledge of the subject matter; Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) describes teachers' knowledge of the practices, processes, and methods that relate to teaching and learning; Technological Knowledge (TK) describes teachers' knowledge of, and ability to use, various technologies, technological tools, and associated resources; Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) describes teachers' understanding of how technology and content can both influence and push against each other; and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) describes teachers' understanding of how particular technologies can change teaching and learning experiences by introducing new pedagogical affordances and constraints.
The TPACK framework distinguishes between these three types of knowledge and this enables it to establish that content (what is being taught) and pedagogy (how the teacher imparts this content) must form the foundation of any effective edtech integration. This is important because the technology being implemented must communicate the content and support that the pedagogy requires in order to enhance students' learning experience. QCLIF has, on the basis of TPACK, combined the flipped-classroom mode with traditional training in classrooms, and it has transformed the mode of passive training (knowledge transmission from teachers to students) into active training that is demand-oriented and question-based.

Basic Composition of QCLIF
QCLIF is an abbreviation taken from the first letters of 'question-oriented'; 'case-study-based'; 'learning and teaching'; 'input and Output'; and 'flipped classroom'. The QCLIF training mode is taken from the standards and requirements of world language education in various countries, and the actual demands of local world language teachers. It adopts flipped classrooms to deepen the understanding that teachers have of target languages and related cultures. It also improves the creativity, occupational quality and overall professional knowledge of Chinese language teachers. New teachers also gain experience and develop through multi-dimensional training that enhances knowledge and develops teaching methodologies related to culture, intercultural communication and target languages. Training also helps to establish an on-line country-specific workshop for Chinese language teachers that provides sustainable support to their vocational development. The training had six parts: 1) the teaching of Chinese Phonetics; 2) the teaching of Chinese Characters; 3) the teaching of modern China and Chinese culture in language education; 4) the teaching methodologies that can be applied to students from different levels; 5) class leadership; and 6) improving students' intercultural communication.

The Learner-Centered Mode
The QCLIF mode, which is based on the actual demand of teachers participating in training, is designed and implemented with the aim of improving the comprehensiveness, practicality, relevance and timeliness of training. It is learner-centered. This feature is embodied in the following aspects: (1) the QCLIF is a three-dimensional and comprehensive training mode that is combined with unified training, and which takes ethnicity into account. It achieves a general training standard but is also culturally sensitive and adjusted to individual/diverse backgrounds. (2) Experts, scholars, teachers and trainers with relevant teaching experience in specific countries or related fields are hired to implement training. (3) In the training process, the flipped-classroom mode channels the enthusiasm of teachers to benefit from learning and teaching, and transforms traditional passive training (knowledge transmission from teachers to students) into active training that is demand-oriented and question-based.

Improving Practicality, Relevance and Timeliness
(1) Practicality focuses on integrating teaching observations, 'outputs' and practices in each module and linking the training. This improves students' ability to quickly internalize "knowledge owned by others", convert it into their "own knowledge" and then maintain it to a sufficient quality.
(2) Relevance involves the design of an overall framework and content of training courses on the basis of a demand survey, in addition to the adjustment of course content in accordance student feedback received in the training. (3) Timeliness refers to the maximized training time and instant training effects. Training time was maximized by intensive training, which included 8-hour day courses, which were followed by reflection and group study time. The likelihood that the benefits of training would be shared was maximized by continual interaction, communication, presentations and the sharing of information. The teacher was both an expert and a student, and they were given an opportunity to share anything in the eight hours, and this helped to establish a learning community that brought these teachers together.

The "Question Oriented" and "Development by Learning from Each Other" Models
The QCLIF Training focused on improving the ability to teach Chinese language. It was based on the mode of "question orientation" and the benefits obtained from learning and teaching. A survey focused on actual teacher demand identifies that the Chinese language teaching ability module mainly seeks to solve difficulties in areas that include classroom management, linguistic aspects of teaching and teaching methodology. It helps teachers to grasp the key methods, points and strategies of the teaching of Chinese linguistics in areas that include Chinese characters, phonetics and vocabulary. It also includes language skill methods and strategies that improve listening, reading, speaking and writing. This module combines benefits from learning and teaching with question orientation, and applies the following five steps sequentially: 1) teaching demonstration; 2) problem diagnosis; 3) thematic discussion; 4) lectures; 5) teachers' workshop that enables mutual sharing and the showcasing of good teaching methodology. Teachers initially give teaching demonstrations as they do every day, and the teaching strengths and weaknesses of each teacher are then identified and fed back to experts attending thematic lectures or discussions. In interactive discussions and lectures, the experts lecture on different topics by drawing on feedback related to different problems. They also speak to teachers about the latest research results, teaching cases and teaching methodologies that relate to the given topics. This helps teachers to understand and apply new educational concepts and teaching modes from across the world. In the teachers' workshop for mutual sharing, each teacher shares his/her own cases and experience of classroom management, linguistic elements and teaching methodology. This enables each teacher to benefit from learning and teaching, and to internalize all kinds of knowledge and experience into his/her own teaching. The showcasing of good teaching methodology also each teacher to identify improvements in his/her own teaching ability.

Flipped Classroom Integrated with on and Off-line
Information Technology Flipped classroom training integrates both on and off-line information technology. First, sustainable teaching support can be provided to teachers by re-planning and expanding the training time and space (including pre-training and post-training activities). Second, the training curriculum's content and system can be enriched, and the professional knowledge system and attainment of participating teachers can be improved on the basis of existing high-quality online courses and resources. Third, modern information technology is incorporated into training to help teachers understand how to use modern information technology to explore teaching resources, and improve their ability to apply this technology in a way that assists Chinese language teaching. Fourth, the activeness and enthusiasm of participating teachers is stimulated to the greatest extent, and online teaching workshops and thematic learning teams are adjusted in accordance with actual demand -this improves teachers' capabilities and ensures a sufficient level of exchange between them. Fifth, online learning and mutual sharing ensures difficulties are acknowledged and reflected on and targeted and question-oriented offline training is implemented in a way that helps teachers to overcome obstacles in Chinese language teaching. Sixth, once the entire teaching process is summarized and reflected on, 'achievement bags' are created for online sharing. The specific steps follow:  This 'micro-teaching' and 'diagnostic training' module  includes  diagnostic  lectures,  ingroup discussions, micro-teaching, mutual evaluation, on and offline teaching observation, reflective and circulative experience and self-evaluation. In addition to multi-level and multi-national on-line demonstrations and relevant lectures focused on Chinese language teaching, teachers are grouped to participate in site observation of different levels and types of Chinese language classes; they engage in discussion and share their teaching experience with excellent teachers and students. In micro-teaching, teachers break down into groups and participate in teaching practices in micro-classrooms, and teaching performance is evaluated on an individual (self) and group (mutual) basis. Diagnostic lectures conducted in accordance with teaching practices and individual (self) and group (mutual) evaluation are summarized by experts in attendance, who provide comments and targeted guidance that enables teachers to improve themselves. In linking together different reflections, teachers collectively summarize and exchange on relevant issues before creating final teaching achievement bags.

Researching and Studying Chinese Culture Through 'Task-Based Training' and 'Cultural Experience'
Local teacher requirements that relate to knowledge of modern China and Chinese culture are taken into account, and 'task-based cultural' and 'cultural experience' training are conducted. These consist of cultural carnivals that celebrate Chinese and foreign cultures. Task-based cultural training enhances teachers' understanding of the "cultural triangle" of Chinese cultural concepts, conventions and products, and improves their ability to teach culture and communicate across cultures. They also prepare and collect first-hand corpus resources of 'Chinese cultural teaching' for teaching purposes. The cultural experience courses seek to improve teachers' cultural literacy. Some teaching aids that have Chinese characteristics are also made to enhance teachers' operational ability and presentational skills, and they will help to further enliven and diversify classroom teaching. The carnivals can share good training results among teachers, and can also improve their ability to plan and organize cultural activities.

Conclusion
This paper has identified the present training needs of local Chinese teachers in Thailand, and has focused on constructing a new QCLIF training mode. It has found that these teachers would prefer training provision that is focused on improving teaching methodology, knowledge of modern China/Chinese culture, classroom management, applied educational technology and textbook teaching; In referring to the QCLIF, the paper outlined theories of teacher development, including Action Learning, Chain Reaction, the Participatory Learning Approach (PLA), Professional Learning Community (PLC) and TPACK. It explained how each theory can be incorporated into the QCLIF, model and also demonstrated how they can be applied to the QCLIF. The paper also introduced the basic mode, content and patterns that are associated with the QCLIF. All training practices prove that the QCLIF mode, when based on the actual demand of local Chinese language teachers in Thailand, can effectively improve teachers' teaching ability and related professional qualities. In addition, the online workshop that brings together local Chinese language teachers from different schools and regions in Thailand further promotes sharing and exchange between teachers, and plays an active role in the benefits obtained from learning, sustainable support and teaching. It has also recorded a 90 percent satisfaction level. It is also noted that short-term intensive training cannot resolve all teacher problems and meet all needs. Efforts should therefore be made to promote professional cultivation among teachers, as this will contribute to the improved implementation of teaching activities.