Job Discussion Forums

[Yu]

As foreign teachers, I think we encounter many challenges in the classroom that related to differences in classroom culture.

I am wondering if anybody has actually observed how Chinese teachers teach English? What kind of teaching methods do they use?

I have heard from my students that teachers often just read the textbook to the students. I am just trying to gather some impressions.

[TravellingAround]

A lot stand at the front and drone away in Chinese interspersed with bits of English every now and then. Rote-learning still dominates some lessons and it is a very teacher-centred approach with the teacher as the font of all wisdom.

That is a generalisation but holds true in the main. Some Chinese teachers however are more modern and utilise modern classroom methodolgy to inspire a more student-centred approach to class. It tends to be the older teachers who are the more rigid and set in their ways but that should really go without saying. So why I've said it anyway I don't know.

I've met and observed some excellent Chinese teachers but I do think, overall, that there seems to be less flexibility in teaching methods among the Chinese than amongst western teachers (I mean in western schools rather than just TEFL which is often not taken so seriously).

However until classroom sizes start to make their way down it remains a tough job. After all when 35 is considered a very small class in some places it isn't easy for any language teacher to keep away from just lecturing/constantly putting students into groups or pairs.

[no_exit]

Loads and loads of busywork. My primary students tell me that they're made to copy words off the board hundreds of times *during* English class. Middle and high school students are made to do pointless excercizes involving translating random phrases from Chinese into English and vice versa ("Eiffel Tower", "New York City", "camel rides", and "Mr. Smith is swimming in the swimming pool," were among several of the translation objectives in the 7th grade English book my brother-in-law's daughter uses), filling in the blanks with the right verb tense or article, listening excercizes where they have to listen to a recorded passage and fill in the words they heard (but without any real focus on any language point, again just completely random), and other "activities" which seem designed completely around either killing time or tricking the students.

The teachers also seem to grade extremely harshly. Full marks are deducted for spelling a word wrong by ONE letter (not on a spelling test, on one of these fill in the blank/translation activity thingies), forgetting to capitalize a proper noun, or missing a punctuation mark. My neice's homework, which I thought was fairly acceptable for a 13 year old English student, got so many marks taken off for petty errors that when all was said and done she only managed a grade of 40! It seems that a lot of these teachers do nothing to stimulate the kids interest in English and in some ways actively seek to kill it by promoting the attitude that English is HARD, VERY HARD, and should not be taken lightly.

You'll occasionally meet a teacher who is a bit more progressive, but they are few and far between, and not usually the types teaching at your average middle and primary schools that your average Chinese kid attends.

[Malsol]

How do Chinese teachers teach English???

They don't!!!

They teach Chinglish. They teach mostly in Chinese. Why? Because their English is so poor.

[kev7161]

I've related this story before, but . . .

Last year I went and watched a Chinese teacher with one of her 1st grade primary classes. The kids were loud and moving around and not "really' listening to the teacher. She just barreled her way through the lesson, rarely trying to establish some semblance of order. Her lesson seemed fine (fun, interesting, different activities) and some of the kids (about 32 in the class I think) were actually participating, but there was more goofing off than not.

As for me teaching English, we also have drills (spelling tests, grammar exercises, reading aloud, etc.) to go along with games and songs and what-not. I'm recently frustrated that what was taught a previous day (hell, a previous HOUR) ago is easily forgotten the next day! Do I agree with monotonous, droning recitation and lectures? No way! But I do understand WHY they teach that way. I imagine 80% of their/our students hate learning English for whatever personal reason and they (the students) resist every step of the way.

If Chinese schools could just get serious about this whole English thing and really try to integrate English in more aspects of the student's life (English menus in the canteen, FTs in the math class the last ten minutes teaching them math terms in English, teaching English songs in music class - - in my high school choir we learned latin songs, French songs, even Spanish songs. It was my choral teacher's job to teach us how to pronounce these strange words and explain to us what the song meant - - the list could go on and on), then English would take on a more important meaning in a student's life. If they actually wove the FT's and CT's English lessons together and had a more cooperative teaching plan, the kids (and teachers!) would probably get more out of it. *sigh!* I'll get off my soapbox now.

[Steppenwolf]

The surprising thing is there is in fact a curriculum and there are standardised exams; at primaryand middle school levels students have to cram for well-defined exams they are going to take under teachers they don't know to sensure fairness; thus you can infer that teachers are preoccupied with preparing students for them because if their charges fail at exams it will reflect poorlyon their teaching performance.

I recently sat in a college English class run by a Chinese economics teacher who had been overseas for years to hone her English.

We were three colleagues of hers and all equally mystifed at her English; when the word "intangibles" cropped up we heard "intangles", just for example. The students understood her better since they were not dependent on her mispronunciation - theycould read straight from the textbook.

When a student actually answered a question in English - surprise, surprise! - she used Chinglish that the teacher didn'tcorrect.

The class was called "intensive reading", and whatever "intensive" might suggest, it was only intensive in that the teacher spent inordinate amounts of time on individual phrases or words but not on overall recapitulations of paragraphs or passages. And yes, looking at Chinese equivalents also took place. Ironically, the text was about how modern professionals must now learn how to survive using imagination - presented in such a mundane, repetitive style sticking toevery single word that left no room for personal interpretations and the use of the student's own imagination!

[jeffinflorida]

One of my former students has a pretty girlfriend. He always likes to hang with me and I usually let him do so - only if his babe is with him...

i was chatting with her on MSN recently. She is hot ! her English is just so-so, not really good.

She is a recent graduate.

She now teaches English at a university in Fuzhou.

I laugh at this because she is not such a great English speaker and now she is teaching English at a University...

And they pay her 3000 rmb a month to teach 16 classes a week.

[Shan-Shan]

Chinese English "teachers" are paid to read from a textbook in front of clumps of students. For this, they are considered "teachers". Many of us here prepare lessons (that is, not just read from the text books) which encourage students to utilize what they have already learned while consciously, and actively, studying new tidbits of grammar/vocabulary. For this, many of us are considered "interlopers", "travellers" or "practice guides".

It's an absurb English education system, but one no Chinese English teacher would ever wish to change. Imagine if you were being paid not to do your job for years one end. Would you want your boss to knock on your office door while you were in the middle of a nice dream, or busying yourself chain smoking while ruminating on that dream you just had, only to be informed that you were now required to do something, as opposed to nothing, for your red Maos?

Even a lowly street sweeper has to put in an effort to stuff leaves down the city storm drains. Chinese English teachers only stand, recite someone else's words, and then walk away.

And people here say that "just because you can speak English doesn't mean that you can teach it". Allow China to prove you wrong.

[jammish]

Shan Shan, I have watched a few Chinese teachers' classes, both her in Dalian and at my previous school, and I have never seen them just reading from a textbook. The lessons weren't always great, but they did seem to try and make it more interesting than what people are saying on here.

[Shan-Shan]

True, sometimes Chinese English teachers write threads of unrelated vocabulary on the blackboard -- i.e. the "important" words. Students write big stars beside these words in their notebooks.

I'd be curious to read what you observed, Jammish.

[xinpu]

Top 4 things at the two crummy colleges I've been at.

1. No clear aims.
I don't really think they know what they are supposed to be teaching / students are supposed to be learning, or at least they can't communicate it to the students. Partly this is due to bad textbooks but it's also their fault too. I've never heard anyone say 'ok today we will leave the classroom being able to ask for directions in English...ok here we go.' Usually it's a bizarre ppt supported intro ( for the keener younger teachers) or straight into a chinese examination of the 'difficult words'

2. Focus on meaningless detail and no mention of the meaning.
The Chinese English teachers at my place are BIG fans of powerpoint (or ppt as they refer to it, I called it powerpoint and they stared dumbounded at me until I explained what I was referring to ..a bit like students when I told them what an adjective was.....anyway I digress). It's no bad thing and the students seem to like it.

However the current book we are using has fairly short reading passages (3-4 paragraphs with 4-5 sentences in each paragraph) but the ppt will extend to around 40-50 slides. The majority of the slides are dull as dishwater and are basicly a big list of 'important words' or 'difficult sentences' with chinese translations and chinglish examples.

3. Unclear and incoherent instructions
Sitting at the back of the class observing I often has no idea of what the teacher wants the students to do. Instead of simple instructions like 'open your books' 'do exercise three' or 'ask and answer questions in pairs' they opt for long winded babbles...students haven't a clue what they mean so the same instructions have to be repeated several times in Chinese. Also I've never seen a Chinese teacher give a model (with a pupil for example) as a means of instruction.

4. Ars*lick the students
Big time - although as the students very often detirmine their salary I can understand it.

Soemtimes I my own confidence as a teacher takes a knocj after a few bad lessons, however a quick look into the chinese english teachers class perks me right up. A bit of a sh*tty attitude but it's true.

[latefordinner]

Jammish, I would dearly love to agree with you. I have seen some excellent Chinese teachers of English, and much of what (I like to think) I now do well I owe to those who helped me when I came here, intent upon learning the teaching trade. I would dearly love to say that they taught me the unique values and subtleties of Chinese educational methodolgy. I'd love to report how they opened my eyes to something I couldn't find elsewhere. Sadly however, I must report that the best Chinese teachers I've seen and worked with have all been good (verrrry good) for the simple reason that they've stepped outside the box of current Chinese thinking. The best compliment I can lay at their feet is that they're just like foreign teachers. I want to give these good people credit, but this also speaks volumes to the vaccuum that is current Chinese pedagogy. I wish I could say more.

[Yu]

Actually, I am teaching at a teaching university. I teach English majors. About half are planning to go on to become teachers.
I dont feel many of them have the confidence to use English in order to become teachers.
I also dont think they are equipped with sufficient experience in teaching... in the form of a practice. They just have a a 6 week internship.
I am surprised by how shy they are to speak English.


Now as they are looking for jobs, a few have commented that they only have a chance to get a job at an elementary or primary school. That to work in a middle school they should have a graduate degree. I guess it is a sign that China is progressing.... but there is still a long way to go.

[erinyes]

I have watched Chinese teachers teach, and I have consulted with teachers here about their lessons. The teachers at my school are highly skilled and I have a great deal of respect for their teaching. But then again, this is a good school - so they get the best and people can't buy a job here.

Why do the text book readers still have a job at your school? Blame the principal who is getting their yearly bonus back from them each year.

A good Chinese teacher will do many things a good western teacher will do. Don't be so damming, there are some brilliant teachers in China.

[jammish]