Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kyrei]

I have found my Chinese exchange students, generally, suck. Surprisingly bad they are. I have no idea of the state of English education in Shanghai or Beijing, but they are woefully unprepared for a university level course on academic writing and presentations. Does anyone else have this problem?

[pest2]

[Young FRANKenstein]

[Kyrei]

Wow... I mean, really wow. For the last three years, with only one or two exceptions, all of the Chinese students have been at the lower end of the curve in my class. As I said, I teach essay writing and presentation skills, and they are hopeless at putting together an essay, supporting a thesis, referencing and citing works, the whole shebang, and that is what I spend the semester teaching them. Essays have been almost invariably plagiarised, incomprehensible, or just plain wrong.

If this is not a standard reaction then I wonder where my school is getting these kids. The Korean students always fall along a standard curve...
suh-tuh-rain-gee.

[the_beaver]

Some good. Most below average. A rate of plagiarism that makes my Korean students look good by comparison.

[pest2]

[Young FRANKenstein]

[Pak Yu Man]

You are so wrong. When it comes to chinese students here in Korea...I'd take them any day over their Korean counterparts.

[stevemcgarrett]

You're comparing apples and oranges, or should I say dumplings and kimchi.

Very few of the most seriously academic minded Chinese students end up in Korea.

To even be able to afford coming here, the students' parents have to have very unusually high income, meaning that their children can afford to be less than fully motivated.

The English education afforded to Hong Kong Chinese is unrivaled in Korea. And the key public high schools in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing produce in their upper echelon of graduates students whose English is as good if not better than the best in Korea.

I know; I've taught both.

As for the quality of the English curriculum in college prep high schools, China wins hands down. Again, I know from firsthand experience in designing and implementing it.

I find Chinese student in the main far more responsive in class, although also much more likely to cheat, plagiarize, and chatter.

[Kyrei]

[rocklee]

I found my chinese students more engaging, but then its a mixed bag. I can't really say if one is better than the other (same goes for my Japanese students).

[Jeweltone]

I have an excellent group of Taiwanese students in my Freshmen ESL class. It could be maturity (most of them are older) or it could be their schools, but the Taiwanese student are some of the best in my class. Many of them have complained to me (in English) that they are struggling to learn Korean!