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[Song&Dance]

THE PROBLEM

Speak with any Chinese university Foreign Language Department administrator and they will extol the virtues of creating an English speaking environment (ESE) for the English majors. But take a close look and you will quickly discover that there is no ESE on campus.

First and foremost, Chinese university administrators do not have a clear and proper understanding of what constitutes an ESE. When most of them undertook their university education 20+ years ago, 2nd language acquisition research was in its infancy and comprised no more than one chapter in their textbooks and no continuing education is provided. There is a complete lack of knowledge about immersion or comprehensible input in a friendly environment.

There are two required elements to a proper ESE. A proper ESE is one where the students are inundated with comprehensible English input and where it is easier to communicate in English rather than in the native Putonghua. An English speaking environment is defined as: "An environment where English is the dominant language." Or, "an environment where people are compelled to speak English�.

Far too many Chinese Foreign Language Department administrators are under the false impression that an ESE is simply where the students are given an opportunity for English output. As a result they decry the lack of an ESE and immediately turn to speak to an English major in Putonghua; or they place all English majors in the same dormitory with Chinese speaking staff; or, they hold weekly English corners; or, they hire foreign teachers to �chat� with the Chinese students. Even at a school that does all of these things simultaneously, no ESE is created.

The administrators do not require the English majors to speak to them in English nor do they respond to them in English. There is a very simple explanation for this. The administrators are either unable to speak in English or their English is so poor that they do not want to�lose face� with the students. The administrators do not contribute to the creation of an ESE and they rarely do anything to improve their own English capability.
The administrators set a very bad example for the students.

When the Party Secretary assigned to the Foreign Language Department cannot speak or understand any English, all department business must be conducted in Putonghua, including all staff meetings and written communications. This militates against creation of an ESE.

The joint venture universities set up by foreign universities, in partnership with Chinese universities, are not exempt from this criticism. The foreign university brings its foreign curriculum and administration that usually requires that all courses be conducted in English. However, according to Chinese law, these joint ventures are required to have Chinese deans. The Chinese deans rarely speak English and hire their own Chinese speaking staff. Students find it much easier to communicate with the Chinese speaking staff in Putonghua so they bypass the English speaking staff. Eventually this leads to the Chineesing of the entire joint venture program.

The Chinese administrators who profess the need for creation of an ESE are often the primary impediment to its creation.

Thirty-eight out of forty Chinese university English teachers, who are supposed to teach in English, are incapable due to their own poor English, so they teach English in Putonghua. They are, for the most part, ignorant of the need to teach in the target language and many have inquired, �What does �target� mean?�

English majors ask their Chinese English teachers questions in Chinese and are answered in Chinese, both in the classroom and outside the classroom. Telephone text messages between teachers and students are also conducted in Putonghua.

The classrooms are littered with Chinese proverbs and political propaganda, all in Putonghua. One oral English classroom had two Chinese signs directly above the blackboard in the front of the room. The Chinese signs translated to:

�Do not speak in this classroom� and �If you must speak, speak in Chinese.�

This was in an Oral English classroom where speaking English was the objective.

The Oral English classrooms have theater style row seating bolted to the concrete floor and students are thus compelled to speak to the back of the head of any other student they wish to engage in oral communication.

Modern five story libraries at universities with a 10% or higher English major population have absolutely no English books, or the English reading room is reserved for faculty only. There is no English speaking staff in the library.

The multi-media libraries offer English movies with Chinese subtitles.

The computer labs and sound labs are programmed in Chinese rather than English.

The lab support staffs and computer teachers do not speak English.

The campuses have no bi-lingual signage Even the sign welcoming the new freshmen English majors is all in Putonghua and the freshmen orientation is all in Putonghua.

There is no English speaking staff in the canteen, post office, logistics department, dormitories, or any other service office of which the students must avail themselves.

There is no extra-curricular access to English newspapers, TV or films.

In short, there isn�t even a token attempt to create a proper ESE within the pervasive native Chinese Putonghua environment.


EXCUSES

When foreign teachers complain about the lack of an ESE or make constructive suggestions for the creation of an ESE, they are net with a set of rehearsed excuses that include:

This is China.
It is my habit to speak in Chinese.
You will be gone in one year or less.
Laughter


SOLUTIONS

The first step to creating a proper ESE on Chinese university campuses is to provide continuing education in 2nd language acquisition to all Chinese Foreign Language Department administrators and staffs. Unless and until the administrators and staffs understand modern 2nd language acquisition theory, all other efforts at creating a proper ESE are futile.

Second, it is imperative that all Foreign Language Department administrators and staffs be required to participate in continuing English language education programs. It is both impractical and hypocritical for Chinese teachers to demand that their students improve their English while the teachers refuse to improve their own.

Third, there must be an incentive or punishment scheme so that administrators and staffs make an honest effort to understand 2nd language acquisition theory and to improve their English competency.

Fourth, schools must transform their Foreign Language Departments into little English enclaves, or at least bi-lingual ones.

Classrooms must be English friendly and configured to facilitate oral communication. All Chinese signage should be replaced with English signage and the desks should be configured to facilitate conversation. An example:


Before / After

Fifth, English competency must become an employment prerequisite for all English teachers.

Sixth, libraries must provide a diversified selection of English reading materials and English movies with English subtitles.

Without a fundamental attitude adjustment, the concept of creating an ESE is just an impossible dream.

[vikuk]

[Song&Dance]

Today my trainees offered their opinions on how to create an ESE on our campus.

It was their suggestion for a language patrol and punishment system.

Now it is their assignment to design the program and punishment system.

It really gets boring to hear so much nay saying.

Every campus is different. Every student body is different. Every administration has its own peculiarities.

A blanket no, "It can't be done," is just a euphemism for _______.

[Anda]

For the dumb ones like myself:

[edit] Native names
Standard Mandarin is officially known

in mainland China, Hong Kong [1] and Macau as Putonghua (traditional Chinese: 普通話; simplified Chinese: 普通话, literally "common speech")


I try to distance myself from trying to educate local English teachers where ever I work as it leads to a more peaceful coexistence as a rule.

Now the so called English Speaking Corner has to be with students who can speak reasonable English plus have imagination. I find the combination rare.



I use written stories that they read aloud after me or conversational scripts or DVDs that I use the pause button on to talk about the story. Giving students input so they have something to talk about has proven successful for me.

I currently have a student who I'm preparing for an Australian Uni. I use DVDs using the stop start method and get him to write a couple of pages on the story between lessons that I mark with him. He is very happy with the lessons


My part time boss wanted me to run an English Speaking Corner outside in a public square where local parents could observe with kids that couldn't in general put a paragraph together. Some couldn�t even stick a sentence together.

[therock]

[Song&Dance]

"My part time boss wanted me to run an English Speaking Corner outside in a public square where local parents could observe with kids that couldn't in general put a paragraph together. Some couldn�t even stick a sentence together"

Sounds like a marketing device. Ask for actor wages.

[eddy-cool]

Song $ Dance,
a good post (again) though I heartily disagree with your statement that the Chinese foreign language acquisition knowhow is arrested in the period 20 years back; that period was not as backward as you imagine. We haven't made that significant progress since; perhaps we have even regressed?

But your observations of university life are accurate, yet not confined to China. Don't learners of foreign languages anywhere in the world prefer the comfort zone of their mother tongue?

With this in mind, you can more easily understand what the real challenge is: It is not one of making rules and imposing bans - but one of enforcing them.

There should be a more sensitive reward-and-penalty system for students speaking/communicating in English; failure to make improvements should be penalised, successes rewarded.

I don't see anything like that happening: Chinglish is apparently widely welcomed even by FTs, happy or relieved in the belief their students are making at least some effort at speaking the foreign lingo. Improvements are not encouraged, quantitative learning is given preference.

China perhaps is a little special in that it is accepted wisdom here that Chinese need not be able to acquire native-like proficiency in English; in some elite schools, and especially in Hong Kong, English as the language of teaching is supposed to make students virtually bilingual. They often do have the relevant vocabulary to study school-relevant subjects - but they do not always acquire native-like proficiency (in a general way). At least the use of English in the classroom as the language of giving lectures gives students the exposure; trouble is that they do not use the language actively in order to ask the teacher questions or to speak in informal situations.

If I had to contrast Chinese behaviour with western behaviour in similar situations I would say you will find more dedicated, disciplined learners among westerners who make that extra effort in speaking the target language than you will find among Chinese. Better self-confidence? Or more amibitous? A westerner also submits more readily to the humiliation of being put a few ranks below the class' top student - it often encourages them to work harder. Not so the Chinese students...

[vikuk]

[Anda]

When we speak we often say something and then support what we have said to get a meaning across not to mention rounding off what we have said.


"Do you want to come to a party at my place tonight? I got a few friends coming that you know and you like Sue I reckon, and she'll be there, so how about turning up mate!"


It is hard to run an English corner with students that answer a question like: "What did you do on the weekend" With answers like: "I slept" "I watched TV" "Nothing" etc.

[Leon Purvis]

At middle schools AND in the university setting, I'll retell an O. Henry story, or perhaps one of Aesop's fables, or maybe something by Mark Twain. (DO NOT retell O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi"! I made that mistake once, and I had students and teachers crying. It was horrible !).

After the story, I use preplanned prompts to begin conversations. For the most part, it works. It is difficult for me to determine how well things are working in the middle schools because the school herds 200 kids into an amphitheater to hear me speak. Judging by their responses (laughter, hoots, etc.) I think that at least fifty percent or more get something out of the experience.

I think that English corners are best when they are planned by students who have very outgoing personalities whose interests span many areas. At one university, there were several engineering students in attendance whose English could be described as near-fluent. They attended the English Corners just to use the English that they had acquired through the years.

I can see how some FTs might not like English Corners because unless one has the experience to think on his feet for a foreign audience, a lot goes over the students' heads. I encourage attendees to write down questions and hand them to a moderator if they are uncomfortable speaking in front of a group. I'll read the question, then ask for the person who asked the question to identify him/herself. At that point, I carry on a conversation with that person, and allow others to participate. It works pretty well.

I always spike the written questions with self-composed silly ones just to keep the students engaged.

[Song&Dance]

Leon -

Great way to handle English Corner.

My point was that the mere existence of an English corner, a time set aside to speak English, there is no English speaking environment.

English corner is just one more way for the Chinese to sit back and say they have provided an English speaking environment.

I tell them that I will not do English corners. Everyone needs to be involved in creating an English speaking environment, not just the FT.

If they won't or can't help because their English is too poor, see above suggestions.

[loboman]

I looked at my contract. it say that i am supposed to attend English corner every friday night for an hour or two but don't get paid for it?

What kind of doody is this????

I think they have to pay me extra for an English corner or I just might have to tell them I am an observant Jew and don't work friday nights... and please pass the bacon.

[Song&Dance]

OK - let me spell it out -

TELL THEM TO TAKE THEIR ENGLISH CORNER AND STUFF IT WHERE THE SUN DOESN'T SHINE. TELL THEM IT IS A USELESS WASTE OF YOUR TIME AND ENERGY, UNLESS YOU ARE USING IT TO PICK-UP SOMEONE.

TELL THEM TO GET INVOLVED IN CREATING AN ENGLISH SPEAKING ENVIRONMENT.

If they ask you the basis for your position, remind them you are the foreign expert and their government has given you a certificate confirming this.

Downside, they tell you to hid the road. No great loss since China had 5,000 more EFL jobs last year than teachers to fill them.

Assert yourself, speak up, do not act the white monkey role they have mapped out for you.

[Anda]

I have found a few English corners that have worked but each time one of there own will be organizing it. In the city where I live there is an English corner every Sunday at a hotel where local adults meet and practice there English among themselves and of course foreigners are welcome. In Indonesia where I worked there was a good English corner but once again they mainly organized themselves. The bulk of English corners are rubbish however.

[SnoopBot]

To run a successful English corner you need less than 15 (max) students. the problem with most school English corners is the size of the student body which will fluctuate each class session.

Therefore, the English corner must be organized very well for a good success rate and meet it's goals and directives. However, if you DO run a successful English corner along with your primary job hours you will experience burnout at a very fast rate.

I organized a very successful English corner in 2005, as the corner became successful more students attended and this caused me to teach periods of 4-6 hours extra on both Sat and Sunday.

None of this was paid work, I ended up putting in almost 40-hour weeks and faced complete burnout after a few months. The burnout level was so high I ended up taking a Summer vacation back home to the USA.

When I returned the program which was now under Chinese teacher controlled was in shambles. Facing the prospect of more long hours doing free English corners, I decided not to get involved with it again.

I also faced a large amount of apathy from fellow FT's who didn't want or care to get involved with this program.

Remember, in China if you do too good of a job they will just demand more from you. The feudal system mentality will discourage anyone after a few months of being taken advantage of. (You will just burn out and health will suffer)

Also be careful if you have too many Chinese involved with these corners that you do not know well. I later found out my FREE English corner was being used by a couple of crooks that advertised the English corner and actually were charging students attendance fee's and pocketing the money at my expense.

I went from a good group of 10 students to a group of +100 in 2 months.
I calculated that possibly >50% were being charged to attend my English corner without my knowledge that a fee was being charged and pocketed.

The Chinese are experts at making a buck out of other peoples work. This is the mentality you will face before you even start your English corner.

Noble ideas trying to help your students progress in their English studies and having a "I CARE" attitude will sometimes lead to a negative experience for many FT's.

Too bad this is the way it works... It's not supposed to work this way in our Western Christian based society. This is how it works here in China based on a 5000-year history.