台灣佛教團體之海外華語文教育推廣現況及影響因素研究—以美國加州慈濟人文學校為例

Abstract

慈濟基金會為一台灣知名宗教團體，1966年成立於台灣花蓮，1995年創立全美第一所慈濟人文學校，至2009年12月止，全球42所慈濟人文學校中，美國加州地區即占7所，含洛杉磯慈濟人文學校、聖迪瑪斯慈濟人文學校、爾灣慈濟人文學校、舊金山慈濟人文學校、庫菩提諾慈濟人文學校、聖荷西慈濟人文學校及聖馬刁慈濟人文學校，學校數量至今仍持續增加中。

本文將以這七所慈濟人文學校做為主要研究對象，彙集實地田野調查經驗、第一手文獻及各類影音資料等，從學校成立歷史緣起、組織架構、行政經營方式、教學內容、師資培訓及其如何將宗教特色活動融入華語文教育等多重角度進行特色分析，並提出其面臨的經營困境，如經費赤字、人員資源不穩定等，最後提出可能適用的具體建議和未來發展方向，包含學校運作制度化、華語課程主流化及數位化、人文課程教案化等，期盼能有益於宗教團體於華語文教育相關歷史紀錄及海外華語文教育研究。Tzu Chi Foundation, founded in 1966 in Hualien, Taiwan, is a distinguished Taiwanese religious group. In 1995, the first Tzu Chi Academy in the U.S.A was established. Until December, 2009, there have been 42 Tzu Chi Academies worldwide, seven of which are located in California; Tzu Chi Academy, Los Angeles, Tzu Chi Academy, San Dimas, Tzu Chi Academy, Irvine, Tzu Chi Academy, San Francisco, Tzu Chi Academy, Cupertino, Tzu Chi Academy, San Jose, and Tzu Chi Academy, San Mateo, and the number is still increasing.

In the dissertation, targeting on the seven Tzu Chi Academies, the multi-faceted discussion and analyses are based on the information gathering from field investigation, firsthand literature review as well as audio and video materials, and covering the issues such as origins of school establishment, the organization, the administration, teaching contents, teacher training and the strategies to blend religious activities into Mandarin education. In addition, the academies’ difficulties like deficient funds and unstable resources of personnel, supposedly applicable suggestions and future possibilities including institutionalized operation, popularized and digitized Mandarin courses, and standardized humanity curricula are also addressed in the dissertation, in the hope of being beneficial to a record in this sphere and the research in overseas Mandarin education.