Job Discussion Forums

[fluff]

Hey there,

I'm a newbie EFL teacher (TESOL cert. level2) who will be coming to China to look for work within the next month. My experience so far amounts to a few weeks volunteer work in India, with orphans in Cambodia and a month at a very rotten language school in Hong Kong. From previous posts I've learnt that Chinese students can be a pretty sleepy bunch; has anybody got any advice on how to liven them up, or know of any materials/course-books which are widely enjoyed? Is it quite common (as was my experiences in H.K) to be given classes without actually being told at what ability level they are? What would be the best way to assess them? At the other end of the spectrum there's kindergarten, are Chinese pre-schoolers ever rowdy and excitable (what with being kids and all I suspect that they might be) if so has anybody got any tricks on how to get a class of screaming 4 year olds to listen to you? One last thing, has anybody got a memory method for remembering Chinese names straight away? I'm bad enough with English ones. Maybe I'm being pessimistic by assuming that the school I will end up working for won't be supportive, I'm sure that many schools offer a varied and interesting curriculum and constructive advice just avoid such schools, but just in case I end up in one which does not, any teaching advice would be appreciated.

[Corzani Rex]

IMHO, initially you will be a novelty; whatever you do will keep the sleepers awake and aware. Over time, though, you will become just another piece of their world, and that's when you'll have to dig into your bag of tricks.

Incidentally, many Asian students (and teachers) find foreigner's teaching styles so radically different from what they're used to that they initially will wonder if you're competent!

If your style is theatrical and fun, with lots of movement and drama, then prepare yourself for two phases: The "wow, this new English teacher is really different and I'm actually enjoying class now" phase, followed by the "But are we really learning anything if we're enjoying ourselves?" phase.

As to the English competence level: you can easily assess your students' level on the first day by performing a by-the-book needs analysis. It can be formal (i.e., a paper you distribute and then collect) or it can be informal (on the blackboard). Write the NA with progressively harder sentences. Once the kids get stumped, you'll know exactly where they're at.

Hope this helps.

[woza17]

You have it in a nutshell. I coudn't agree more

[Roger]

Preschoolers are not normally a rowdy lot - they turn rowdy if they are not being taught by someone competent. The question is whether your kindergarten is competent in attributing to you a role in which you can satisfactorily perform. If the idea is that your charges only need to mimick those foreign noises you are producing then I am afraid you are going to be cooked. You will depend on an incompetent Chinese assistant who will render every single word you say in Chinese!
But if you know your turf, and furthermore, if that kindergarten is run by enlightened folks - which i have no particular reason to assume is the case - then you can do a useful job using your imagination and a little TPR. The kids at this age are wonderful - provided their parents don't interfere!

Assessment of English levels: at higher levels such as primary school or middle school you will have plenty of reasons to disagree with Chinese teachers' assessments of their students' English!
Yes, the students are a comatose lot except those who continually keep talking among themselves. And with up to 60 students to one classroom you will have plenty of disturbers to deal with.

[jeffinflorida]

I am teaching Business courses to 19, 20 year olds in a university. They are not very active and I have to call on them to make sure they understand what I am saying. I ask the other teachers and we all agree that their English skills are not advanced enough for most of these courses but WE TRY OUR BEST.

I have 30 students in each class and teach 24 periods a week ( 12 different classes). Learning their names is pretty much impossible even though each has an English name that they use.

Class participation is ZERO unless I call on someone. They would not say anything unless I assign reading homework or an assignment - and then it is groans of protest. The closest thing to input I had was when one girl said could I dismiss the class early that day so they didn't have to wait on line as long at the cafeteria...

[Corzani Rex]

I've noticed the zero participation thing, too. Even if I ask a simple, innocuous question ("Who listens to music?"), often times I get a blank stare.

I agree with Roger about the TPR, too; I use it with my classes and they're sullen 15 year olds. It gets everyone moving (albeit in the draconian space allowance of a typical Chinese classroom) and at least encourages the kids to show SOME kind of enthusiasm.

Still, you often feel like an underpaid, overworked trained dancing monkey -- gorilla in my case, but there you go.

[jeffinflorida]

The closest I got to real partcipation was when i gave them a quiz - which the topic was - what country am i from ? - i had them all yelling "USA, USA" with their fists in the air.

Good thing the "propaganda" department wasn't making rounds then.

[ShapeSphere]

[Roger]

[Corzani Rex]

I agree, Roger.

My classes are in a public school and yet I have great leeway with lesson content. As long as I can convincingly argue that my lesson is at least related to the topic du jour, then I'm golden.

Today with one of the classes I had several students come up to the board to write vocab. I broke the classes into teams and had each row call out words to their "captain". I then stalked around the room, randomly handing out chalk and sending kids up to 'tag' their captain and take over.

They weren't running around like maniacs, but it seemed to get the class energized.

(Doing vocab lists doesn't seem like a great technique, but in this case we were talking about constant digraphs so it seemed appropriate).

[fluff]

Cheers everyone. What's an IMHO?

[ShapeSphere]

In My Honest Opinion.

[Norman Bethune]