Job Discussion Forums

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

My experience [another person's experience may be different] is that public universities that have actual English departments and actual programs attract good speakers and good Chinese teachers. At one school, there were two campuses, and the English majors with lesser speaking ability lived on the old campus and were taught by Chinese teachers for the most part. The other group of students lived on the new campus, had both foreign teachers and Chinese teachers. They were familiar with British and American literature.

I don't know about private universities.

If you want to teach good speakers, find out if the school that you are interested in has a foreign languages department, meaning, is more than just English offered. If there's a FL department, the students will probably be good English speakers.

Where you REALLY need to be careful is at vocational and two-year colleges. The college may say that it has an English program when in fact all it has is an English requirement in one or two classes. I've worked with incredibly good speakers at two year colleges as well as kids who demonstrated little facility in English.

You really have to do your homework on this one.

[eihpos]

Is it common for universities not to offer a contract renewal for no apparent reason? I Am wondering because former colleague was not given a new contract, even though he had been there for a few years. Maybe I don't know the full story but it seemed he was given no explanation.

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

[Curtinca]

A reason (common, but never stated directly) for the non-renewal of a contract is the FT's failure to understand that the Chinese do not recognize any entitlement to a personal life. There's no privacy in China. Go out for a tear and you may never hear about it, but the administration certainly knows, and will hold it against you, when the time comes.

[papuadn]