Job Discussion Forums

[johnchina]

ruggedtoast - I think the main reason is that Chinese students have very little concept of 'context' (as you later pointed out).

By the way, I keep reading about these low-grade backpackers that are teaching in China, though I've yet to meet more than a handful.

bendan is spot on. They will be accepted by a university. Your university might appear over-subscribed, but remember that potential students tend to apply to more than one institution.

IELTS 6.5 to get on a BA/MA course? I know it's true. I also know it's insane. Any truth to the stuff I've heard about these students being put into separate classes from native English speakers? I hope it's true. I'd go nuts in a class full of 6.5s.

[Steppenwolf]

Well, I don't like this fad either, but who is to blame? Maybe it's not just students and other rebels: how about Big Biz? Yes, 'Biz' - since when is business "Biz'?

Look at their English: "I'm lovin it!" (gushes McDonald's).
Even brand-names use this pseudo-dialectal verbiage: Park'n Shop.

Or Nu Skin.

B2B, FU2, and I forget what else!

[7969]

in teaching written english to chinese students (which i'm doing now), one must overcome some obstacles.

they've had a lot of things drilled into them by their chinese teachers (whose english is by no means perfect) that are simply not used or done in written english. when a native speaker comes along to try and correct the mistakes in writing, they (some of the students) question those corrections. they point to their chinese texts (invariably written in chinglish) and say they've always been taught this way. some simply cant believe the chinese texts are wrong, or that the chinese teacher could have been wrong. others, can see the difference and correct the mistakes as pointed out.

of course, not all FTs here are experts in writing either, some of the writing i see by native speakers of english (not just in china but everywhere) is borderline atrocious as well.

a lot of oral english textbooks do show this kind of english as common spoken english:

did you- didya
want to - wanna
because thats the way we speak.....

i see it everyday. as pointed out already by TW, students simply need to know that spoken english and formal written english are two different things. however, the majority of FTs in china are not teaching writing, they're teaching oral english. chances are the poor writing skills are a result of misguided chinese teachers.

i dont know if there's any chinese equivalent of the chicago manual of style...... there should be. it improved my writing when i was a student.

7969

[andrew_gz]

I find this works for me.

I simply say, "It's your choice, you can believe your Chinese English teacher or you can believe your English teacher."

And then I smile.

I might add, "Any more questions?"

[johnchina]

I do the same as Andrew_gz.

Another thing Chinese students love doing is asking you the same question over and over until they get an answer they like. Now I just wait until they use the word 'can', as in 'If I'm asked to discuss both sides of an issue in an essay, can I write about just one side?' 'Yes, you can', I reply. I mean, you can, but it's not correct.

Face it. you're foreign and they only believe you when what you say tallies with what Chinese people tell them. They're not actually asking a question; they're merely seeking confirmation.