Job Discussion Forums

[Shandy]

Hi folks,

I have just got a job teaching literature at a Chinese University. I have not worked in China before and am a small bit intimidated by the prospect. I would welcome comments from those of you who have experience in the field. In particular, I would like to know if teaching literature at a Chinese University is similar to teaching literature at a British one. For example, is it a case of standing at the top of a lecture hall with a loudspeaker and dictating lecture notes or is it something altogether different? Is the literature syllabus offered at Chinese Universities as difficult as it is in British Universities? Any comments on the above questions or your general experience of teaching literature at a Chinese University is much appreciated.

thanks,

Shandy

[eddy-cool]

Your concerns are well justified: Prepare for a rough landing in a Chinese lecture hall!

You will hardly be 'dictating notes' to your students, analysing a text or setting it in correlation with historic events and social development in the country where it is set.

What exactly you will be doing will probably be left to your own decision but in any event you mustn't expect to be teaching to students with an avid interest in British novels. Literature is simply one of the several purely theoretical subjects normal university students have to take; none will likely read a whole book of fiction from page one to the last page. Most probably, your students will have to remember some names of classic English writers; Bernard Shaw and Joseph Conrad may be their only 20ieth century writer names - for reasons you can easily figure out. Remember, in China literature and the arts have to support the Party's interpretation of history; only 'realist' writers are welcome.

Charles Dickens, the Brontes and similar novelists are the usual standard fare in liteature classes. Heavy, over-salted and easy to digest but your students won't have to digest them.

[Shandy]

Hi eddy-cool,

thank you for this insight. Is it a case, then, that literature students have no end of semester literature exam? I'm not sure what you mean when you say literature is a purely theoretical subject. Given that I won't be teaching to students with an avid interest in British novels, will there be a 'babysitting' element in the lecture hall? In other words, will these literature students be mis-behaved in class? Finally, Will a year's experience teaching literature at a Chinese University enhance my chances of securing a job teaching literature at a British University?

I appreciate your time,

Shandy

[fitzgud]

If you start them of with The Beano, then, with a lot of effort (from you not them) by the end of the year they may have progressed to The Hotspur.

An alternative title of their choice would of course be Sleeping Beauty.

[arioch36]

Your experience could be different.

There is a Brit Lit test. Whether what you teach is related to that test, I don't know. The test is all dates, and periods, and who the major authors were of that period, and what their major works were. No real discussion of the actual literature, not time allotted for it.

Your experience could be different.

Misbehaving usually is sleeping and texting

[Beyond1984]

[Shandy]

thanks for all your insights and helpful advice. I get the impression that teaching literature at a Chinese University is quite like school teaching at home in Britain. I was hoping to get away from this type of teaching experience and now regret signing a contract to lecture at a Chinese University.

[randyj]

Likely the students will be third-year English majors. Classroom discipline will not be a problem, but these students are worrying about what jobs they can find after graduation. British literature does not relate directly, hence the word "theoretical". Probably most of them will give the subject short shrift.

During this past semester, one of my colleagues taught this subject to third-year English majors. She is a very experienced teacher, with several years in China. The students were unhappy with the class scheduling, to begin with, so things did not start well. My colleague is a pretty tough taskmaster. The result was a mini-rebellion within the class. It was a devastating experience for her, to the extent she declined to stay another year.

[lf_aristotle69]

Hi Shandy,

Welcome to China.

What type of program will you be working for?

I think the respondents so far here are assuming it's a regular Chinese university English major or elective course. Is that the case? Or, is it a part of an international partnership program with a British, or other foreign, educational institution? There are a few of those programs around.

I'm guessing you will have 'small' size classes of 20-40 students in a regular classroom, as opposed to mass lectures with 100-200+...

A lot of English major students are more focused on their International Trade, or other, minors these days. The resistance to intensive work/research/study and their resistance/difficulty in producing well reasoned written or verbal responses could be disheartening for you. But, you will have at least a few language