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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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 Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 1:52 pm Post subject: Students like the word BECAUSE too much |
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Just about every student I have had in my 7 years experience in this country has overused the word BECAUSE. I mean I have heard the word so many times and for no reason.
Thinking it might be either another language, or traditional teacher interference, I have been working with my students to rid of their habit. However, I feel like I've been climbing Mount Everest.
Have you been having the same issue with your students as I do?
Cheers and beers to BECAUSE  |
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fitzgud
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
Posts: 148
Location: Henan province
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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| No why. |
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mcl sonya
Joined: 12 Dec 2007
Posts: 179
Location: Qingdao
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:03 pm Post subject: |
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Not really..
though it kind of cracks me up when they occasionally use the Chinese filler word when speaking English.. "nigga... nigga..." |
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andrew_gz
Joined: 15 Feb 2005
Posts: 502
Location: Reborn in the PRC
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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Maybe is the most overused word.
And it's Mount Chomolungma or Qomolangma?  |
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Loop
Joined: 07 Sep 2005
Posts: 178
Location: NE China
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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EG, I haven�t noticed this overuse of because. However�
andrew_gz wrote:
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| Maybe is the most overused word. |
Agreed. I think it�s a way to avoid saying, �I don�t know,� which would make one lose face.
mcl sonya wrote:
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though it kind of cracks me up when they occasionally use the Chinese filler word when speaking English.. "nigga... nigga..."
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BTW, I would like to gently point out that it�s �N�ige, n�ige�� I guess it�s the equivalent to �Uh�� in English. |
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andrew_gz
Joined: 15 Feb 2005
Posts: 502
Location: Reborn in the PRC
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Loop wrote: |
| I think it�s a way to avoid saying, �I don�t know,� which would make one lose face. |
And to avoid taking an opinion, one side or the other, and to remain firmly planted on the fence. |
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johnchina
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Posts: 816
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:40 am Post subject: none |
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For me, it's not so much that they overuse the word 'because', but that they so often misuse it. From a recent class ...
Girl: "I don't play football because I'm a girl."
Me: "I'm sure it's not because you are a girl. Maybe you just prefer a different sport."
Girl: "Chinese girls don't play football."
Me: [walks to window and points outside at girls playing football] "They are girls and they are playing football."
It didn't end there. What was the girl's response? Rather than admitting her mistake, the girls looks me straight in the eye says, with a hint of frustration, "They are not playing football." |
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vikuk
Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 1842
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:20 am Post subject: |
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Overusing English words - what a luxury problem - most of the complaints here focus on the non-use of any English words 
I personally think a policy of letting the average student spout any old crap - thinking it's good English - can sometimes be an acceptable policy to follow - if for nothing else -
- to build student confidence with respect to actually taking part in oral English
- to not kill the spirit of interest, fun and inclusion
- to serve as an example to those other students who are just bench-warmers that speaking up in class isn't an act where you risk the "wrath" of the over-critical teacher.
Of course after a period of time the teacher has to correct the English, but, any intervention to stem/brake/revise classroom speech should be done with great caution/timing and a good modicum of pedagogical skill - otherwise students might start thinking -
"I can't speak good English so I'll keep my mouth closed"
over -
"this is fun, I'm going to have a go at getting a word in here"
The students I would possibly stop mid-speech (to correct) - are those we all have in our classrooms - those who constantly dominate the lesson, the non-stop verbalists who drone on an' on an' on while the others sit in the background, dumb-struck |
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11:59
Joined: 31 Aug 2006
Posts: 632
Location: Hong Kong: The 'Pearl of the Orient'
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:38 am Post subject: Re: none |
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| johnchina wrote: |
| It didn't end there. What was the girl's response? Rather than admitting her mistake, the girls looks me straight in the eye says, with a hint of frustration, "They are not playing football." |
John, those girls you spied through the window were not playing football. Rather, they were participating in kicking a football around. Kicking with Chinese characteristics, that is. |
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johnchina
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Posts: 816
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:49 am Post subject: none |
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vikuk - Fair enough point. (You had me laughing!)
However, you'd correct a student who pointed at a dog and said "It's a cat", wouldn't you? The way I teach (which may or may not be the current fashion) is to focus on grammar/vocab mistakes that have an impact on the meaning of sentences.
11:59 - Touche! I stand corrected!
I should have remembered that football is a dirty imperialist game, not to be confused with "Football with Chinese Characteristics" which is most favourable to the anti-fascist, anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist (oops, scratch that last one!) masses.
What are differences in rules again? I believe there are two. The players representing the glorious Chinese homeland each get a free penalty at an open goal and all the dirty imperialist players have to have balls and chains attached to their feet to represent the illegality of their imperialist pasts, right?
Last edited by johnchina on Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:53 am; edited 1 time in total |
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andrew_gz
Joined: 15 Feb 2005
Posts: 502
Location: Reborn in the PRC
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:49 am Post subject: Re: none |
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| 11:59 wrote: |
| johnchina wrote: |
| It didn't end there. What was the girl's response? Rather than admitting her mistake, the girls looks me straight in the eye says, with a hint of frustration, "They are not playing football." |
John, those girls you spied through the window were not playing football. Rather, they were participating in kicking a football around. Kicking with Chinese characteristics, that is. |
It obviously escaped your notice that China has a decent women's football team.
But of course that would run counter to your usual opinions on the subject. (China) |
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vikuk
Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 1842
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:27 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| However, you'd correct a student who pointed at a dog and said "It's a cat", wouldn't you? The way I teach (which may or may not be the current fashion) is to focus on grammar/vocab mistakes that have an impact on the meaning of sentence |
If it was such an elemental mistake as calling a dog a cat - then I don't think I'd have to correct the student - in my type of open classroom there would be plenty of scope for fellow students to do that job. After all isn't taking on the job of FT - something to do with establishing a learning environment that encourages that group called the students to take part in group discussion through the media of English. In this context, if my students didn't pipe up, then I'd start to be worried!!!!!
But then again I wouldn't be too worried over a student mixing dog and cat - since such simple concepts lie behind figuring out what's a cat and a dog (dont one them go bark, bark and other miao, miao), that I reckon it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to rectify that small language problem. Naw I think the problem of the silent student is a far more common symptom of the Chinese English classroom that misidentification of domestic animals.
Relating this to grammar learning and the need to build confidence - then the teachers tolerance to language such as -
Here girl. Girl hungry.
over
Here is a girl who is hungry.
must have something to do with the supposed language level of the students. Both sets of speech can be understood - and although we'd teach for use the use of the latter "good" English from advanced students, we'd be more than happy to get the first utterance from the perpetually stum student. |
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11:59
Joined: 31 Aug 2006
Posts: 632
Location: Hong Kong: The 'Pearl of the Orient'
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:10 am Post subject: Re: none |
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| andrew_gz wrote: |
| 11:59 wrote: |
| johnchina wrote: |
| It didn't end there. What was the girl's response? Rather than admitting her mistake, the girls looks me straight in the eye says, with a hint of frustration, "They are not playing football." |
John, those girls you spied through the window were not playing football. Rather, they were participating in kicking a football around. Kicking with Chinese characteristics, that is. |
It obviously escaped your notice that China has a decent women's football team. |
Well, I readily confess that woman's football in the Third World does represent a gap in my knowledge. As it happens, though, I was not commenting on the abilities/standard of the national squad, but rather the Orwellian attitude evinced by John's student. Nevertheless, for what it is worth, I certainly do not think China's female football team is much cop. I seem to recall they got thrashed by Germany back in 2004 (maybe 2005). I seem to remember that the score was 8-0 no less! Also, considering that China can select its athletes from a population of some 1.4 billion, I think the fact that they get thrashed, in hands-down fashion, by countries such as Germany, which only has a population of around 80-odd million (not to mention states such as Norway that only has around 5 million), is highly significant. Also, have the women in the 'female' team actually been examined by independent (non-Chinese) authorities? I mean, has it been proven that they are indeed female? |
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Girl Scout
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 525
Location: Inbetween worlds
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:27 am Post subject: |
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| I see a lot of overuse of the word because. However, it's the use of etc. and and so on that actually make me want to do something evil. |
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arioch36
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 3589
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 9:45 am Post subject: |
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i think we can squarely place the blame for the overuse of "so on" on the shoulders of CCTV9. I no longer get this channel, unless I want to pay extra, but I remember in their "documentaries" they would always give five boring examples (9or ten, i would lose count), and then end it with so on
I give my students the golden rule that they can only give two or three examples, and that folloing it with "and so on" means that what they said is really unimportant.
"because" is a pet peeve because I teach writing class. We may accept gramatically incorrect oral english, but "because" is a conjunction, the sentence needs the other half. I have so many students that now write as a complete sentence "because she is very beautiful" urgh!
I think MCL knows that it is neige neige neige. But to make it worse, they usually point out with their middle finger when saying this
Last edited by arioch36 on Sat Mar 08, 2008 3:38 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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