Job Discussion Forums

[RPMcMurphy]

The need to learn English is, for many Chinese, unnecessary and annoying. You can't get through the Gao Kao without it, but how many high school graduates have you come across who can actually use the language? Then we have students passing CET4 who can't say much more than "hello??"

They don't want it, they don't need it yet, every year, Jumbo loads of unqualified native [English] speaking teachers [NESTs] are brought in. English majors are the only ones who require NESTs, and those should be appropriately qualified in TESOL; post-graduate qualified that is! And of course, unless they are paid Western salaries, they will be hard to find.

South Korea has already taken the lead here, with NESTs being phased out of schools in Seoul, the biggest market.

So, will the fever soon be over? Will Chinese education authorities wake up to the fact that most NESTs aren't needed, particularly when they generally don't know what they're doing? There's no evidence that NESTs produce graduates with a better standard of English than NNESTs, and the issue of accent is a red herring, especially as the majority of English interchanges that take place world-wide involve non-native English speakers talking to each other, where a bad imitation North American or British accent can only be a distraction!

[GeminiTiger]

[kev7161]

[dean_a_jones]

It is very much the common problem here, which applies on so many different levels--quantity over quality. I don't really understand why engineering students have to pass English to get a degree. Then again, it seems as pointless as MA students needing to pass that "Marxism" course to get their diploma in mathematics or whatever.

You make people endlessly jump though hoops to get what they want, you end up with a circus and a bunch of clowns.

[Shroob]

[GeminiTiger]

Just another brick in the wall of the eduMCation system here. The idea that an entire class of 40 students should spend the whole day in the same class learning the same subjects at the same level for k-12 AND university is possibly the most appalling feature of their system.

[choudoufu]

[kungfuman]

My class of 11 high school students all speak English. Their biggest problem is getting them to speak loud enough so I can hear them.

[MisterButtkins]

[Shroob]

[dean_a_jones]

In the UK I took three years of classes and only one (a philosophy course for a semester) was outside of my degree study (literature). That was in the first year (which ultimately doesn't actually count towards your final degree mark anyway) and I could have chosen another literature course in its place if I wanted to.

I think that is pretty normal for university in the UK (or at least was 10 years ago when I attended). We do our general studies before university. In the US, on the other hand, where a national curriculum doesn't exist, general studies are continued at university, at least for the first few years. I thought this was one of the reasons why university lasts longer in the US (I assume they also like that extra income).

[GeminiTiger]

American Universities generally use what is called the Liberal Art curriculum. In the states people who only study one subject are 'technical students' who get 2 or 3 year diplomas. I personally am very thankful for the liberal arts style as it gave me a lot of clues in different directions of thinking.

[fat_chris]

[youtalkingtome]

[MisterButtkins]