Job Discussion Forums

[sheeba]

I'd be interested in peoples feelings on this subject . Not only EFL but ESL too ? I currently have not acquired a second language but am working on it !

[sheeba]

EFL in China that is !

[nolefan]

I think it does. The more you understand about your their language, the easier it is to understand some of the mistakes they make.

[Voldermort]

I second with Nolefan. Also learning the language will help you to communicate with your bosses, other than the FAO. If you can get on with the school headmaster and you run into problems with the FAO, usually the headmaster is more willing to help you.

[william wallace]

nil

[Roger]

I am the first to point out how useful for ourselves it is to be familiar with the way another language works, and to be able to communicate in that language.

Buty I do not agree in saying it "helps" in our work; it does prepare us for the more common errors in their English but to what purpose? Do we have to anticipate what a Chinese English speaker actually means when he is expressing himself in an ambiguous way in English?
Chinese larners already have their Chinese English teachers who are supposed to be bilingual; this fact is not used to the students' advantage, though: instead of preparing students to interact with a non-Chinese English speaker, they routinely think up their English through the medium of Chinese which they render into a broken English.

Knowing Chinese is an asset for yourself; it should not matter so much what first language your English students speak! If that were important, then we should all first have to be taught a dozen foreign tongues before we could handle any students.

[themanymoonsofjupiter]

i pretty much agree with roger---though i have used my passable knowledge of chinese to trip up students on listening/proofreading exercises and then point out the proper arrangement of words/proper vocab used. of course, i don't really need chinese knowledge to do that, just have to listen to them make the same mistakes day in day out, but it helps.

[sheeba]

I guess it makes sense that we should not have to anticipate ambiguous meaning in our students language . It's up to them to communicate with us -Right? I often cringe w'hen Chinese and also Westerners(for example my mum!) say to me 'How can you teach English to Chinese when you don't know their language ?'

I'm still below intermediate level in Chinese but I'm certainly getting there . As I pick the language up I notice that I can start to understand sentence structures used that are grammatically incorrect and also certain phrases that are used in Chinese and just translated into English by our learners . It helps to know why these are being used but even if I didn't know Chinese I would correct in the same way (If of course the target language was being used inappropriately)

I've recently started to read an interesting book on bare noun phrases in Chinese that offers a comparison of this part of language between English and Hanyu . It got me thinking about the comparisons of the languages . I think we should also consider that if we learn the differences in syntax then we can prepare appropriate exercises before lessons that will benefit a general problem area in the classroom . From what I can see this kind of research could go on for a lifetime .

What bothers me personally right now is that I have only been teaching for 4 semesters in China . The learning Chinese along with the teaching is all taking longer than I expected . I do not feel like I have really started teaching even after 2 years here . I think I will be an effective teacher after about 3 or 4 years or even longer . This poses a problem to me as I have decided to do a DELTA in Italy next year . So just as I begin to learn how to teach in China I'm off . I plan to come back anyway so it shouldn't be a waste of time here but I'm a bit worried about what I will forget and the thought of starting again in China slightly annoys me.

Anyway I've began to ramble somewhat .Happy Easter .Timeout !

[Malsol]

[mlomker]

[Yu]

personally, I find learning a foreign language helpful for teaching ESL/EFL. If you are referring to the idea of learning Chinese to teach Chinese students, then I dont think it is necessary. But learning a foreign language helps you to emphasize with your students because you can have some perspective on some of their frustrations. Knowing about the Chinese language and some common problems is helpful, but you can read books in English that do a contrastive analysis of the two languages. You can also read books that tell weaknesses of Chinese learners in learning English.
I think to teach English as a foreign language one of the basic requirements should be that the teachers have also studied and at least mastered an elementary level of a foreign language. (I would say this would be about 2 years of a foreign language in college).

[latefordinner]

Two distinct issues here. First is that, as Malsol correctly points out, we're being paid to teach the target language and to teach it in the target language, not to practice Chinese. Are we doing that job or not?
Second is the issue of self-development. I believe that a good teacher has sat in every seat in the classroom. We have to know how our lessons affect each and every student. Being a language learner yourself is a good way, perhaps the best, to gain and maintain that perspective. Do we have that perspective?

[stil]

I think both viewpoints are valid, however for me learning Chinese has helped. I do not use any Chinese in the classroom and my students have no idea that I can speak at all, but it does help me understand the mistakes and especially grammar mistakes they make and will make. I can look at my lesson plan and have a very good idea where their problems with it will be.

It also helps in a different way. I can communicate much easier now outside the school and this has relieved a lot of stress. So I don't carry it into the classroom and as I struggle with my language acquistion, it makes me more patient with my students.

I really don't recommend using it in the classroom though.

[vikdk]

[pandasteak]