“Why I am Back”: A Case Study of Charlie an African Chinese Language Teacher

Abstract

With the development of China-Africa relations, more and more Africans are becoming interested in China and prefer to stay in China rather than return to their homeland after graduation. Charlie is working in the Confucius Institute in Africa. The purpose of the study is to determine the reasons for Charlie’s choice of back to Ghana, Africa. Study data were collected through interview and documents. The study findings indicated Charlie’s choice is driven by (a) his dream, (b) his experience with Chinese, (c) his perception of the job. These findings show that his choice is driven by his needs, namely, the five genetically driven needs: survival, love and belonging, freedom, fun, and self-worth and power, where the focus rests upon the aspects, love and belonging and self-worth and power.