Abstract:

Purpose:
Teachers’ competency and professional career paths have been a discussion topic in academia. Establishing the prerequisites for effective teachers’ performance must be connected to the idea of competency. The requirements for Chinese language teachers are gradually becoming strict with China’s economy developing rapidly. The teachers teaching Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL) are a new group that emerged due to increasing interest in learning the Chinese language and culture. This paper aims to develop the hierarchical teacher competency for pre-service TCFL teachers. Furthermore, this study aims to adopt the IRT approach from the Rasch measurement model to build a hierarchy of pre-service TCFL teachers considering the current selection standards for TCFL teachers and the teacher competency elements that TCFL teachers should possess.

Methodology:
This paper applies a quantitative research approach and adopts a cross-sectional survey design as the research design. The Rasch measurement model analyzed the item and person map, and the item logit analysis measures the hierarchy of pre-service TCFL teachers’ competency components using Winsteps software with version 3.70.0.

Research Objective:
To develop the hierarchical teacher competency for pre-service TCFL teachers.

Researcher Question:
What is the hierarchical teacher competency for pre-service TCFL teachers?

Findings:
Based on the psychometrical analysis measured by the Rasch measurement model, the researcher built a hierarchy of the items for testing the pre-service TCFL teachers’ competency and divided the items into three dimensions: the items for measuring knowledge, the items for measuring skills, and the items for psychological states and expectations. The item Wright maps were utilized to establish the hierarchy of item difficulties. Five thresholds were identified within the pedagogical knowledge domain: High, Moderate, Average, Elementary, and Preparatory. Regarding the teaching skills domain, five thresholds were established based on the item standard deviation values: High, Moderate, Average, Elementary, and Preparatory. Moreover, six thresholds were determined to assess the dimension of psychological states and expectations: Advanced, High, Moderate, Average, Elementary, and Preparatory.

Implications:
This paper addresses the topic of teachers’ competency and focuses explicitly on pre-service TCFL teachers. This research provides valuable insights for the assessment and development of competent pre-service TCFL teachers and the enhancement of pre-service TCFL teachers’ competency, contributing to the advancement of Chinese language education on a global scale. In summary, this paper has implications for improving pre-service TCFL teachers’ training programs, teacher selection, and evaluation processes. By applying the identified teacher competency hierarchy, stakeholders in the field can work towards enhancing the overall quality of TCFL instruction and promoting successful language learning outcomes.

Keywords:

Pre-service teachers, Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, Rasch measurement model, item hierarchy.