Job Discussion Forums

[leeroy]

Hey there

My extended assignment will be the learner profile of a student (Asian).

I'm curious as to how teaching methodologies differ in terms of appropiacy and effectivemess worldwide. A common myth is that CLT is useless with Asian students. What are your experiences?

How do you think confucian culture affects your pedagogy?

Although I have Chinese students sometimes here in London, I'd be curious to hear what those out in the field think...

Cheers

[Roger]

CLT?

You learn a language independent of where you grow up. Culture eventually is acquired through your first language, and sometimes this culture may be an impediment to learning a second language. This is particularly true of Confucian culture. This is because it is heavily memory-based, not activating the brain but developing "knowledge' at the expense of practical abilities. Confucianism is strictly hierarchical. In a classroom setting, this means the teacher's role is to 'impart knowledge', and for students to 'absorb knowledge' like a sponge.
The result is linguistically challenged underachieving students that always need the guiding light of a 'teacher'. They are his flock.

In my experience with very young learners, I found that Chinese are in no way different from students elsewhere! They are eventually made different by their 'culture'. A culture that represses curiosity, responsability, imagination, analytical thinking, intellectual independence.

[randyj]

In my opinion, most East Asian students are visual learners. I mean, it helps them to see the material. I have no idea why this is so, but they do spend a lot of time at a young age learning their written languages.

As far as the Confucian tradition relates to education, it does not seem to be a great technique for learning to speak a foreign language. I think most schools, at least the better ones in China, realize this and are receptive to other approaches, like CLT.

[Roger]

That vision thing is true. You can actually watch it in any shop when shopkeepers tell their customers the amount of money they should pay, holding up the relevant number of fingers as if spoken CHinese would not be understood well enough.
In TV programmes, you can often read the dialogues in CHinese as it is spoken.
And Chinese teachers show their hands too to indicate how many objects the kids must name.
It is a mnemotic trick, but too much help is counterproductive. The mind relies on visuals too much and does not rely on its own comprehension.