Teaching oral English to Chinese students in Nanchang, Jiangxi is a strange beast to tame. I am left with a nebulous perplexity at the perception of foreign teachers by Chinese students, who at best have suggested that foreign teachers - can help them with the pronunciation of English words / not least provide them with a definition of a difficult word on demand, as carrying a dictionary around is inconvenient -
well, they are heavy, aren’t they! Other than that, there seems little use for foreign teachers in the eyes of students, except if one has particularly striking looks or if one were in need of a vast amount of friends coupled with an ability to smile incessantly. Are foreign teachers here to entertain and satisfy the curiosity of students or to assist in their education?
A student of mine, who is famed for uttering less than three English words per lesson, though can find the time to perfect a pissy look on his face, asked if he could ask me a question today. He actually made an effort to walk across the classroom to ask me, which is unprecedented - and his usual pissy look had tuned into a benign grin. Like most Chinese students his question tuned into a small speech badly expressed - another more capable student joined in. He told me that he had heard a westerner say that Chinese people were Violent and Impolite and should Tibet be independent? Was this an attempt to practice oral English, or something more nefarious? Was there a plot at hand or was it innocently asked? The topic for that day was ‘stage fright’ and ‘shy students’, which make a tenuous connection to his topics of curiosity. My colleagues have also been approached with the Tibet topic.
I am told that even Chinese teachers have become exasperated with students these days, because they have almost non-existent knowledge per se due to their unwillingness to read and take an interest in world affairs. World affairs! - is it too much to expect Chinese English students to have an awareness of what western / British people generally eat, or to understand the process of making toast from bread and that milk can be added to breakfast cereals - toasters can be bought in Wal-mart and rice crispies can be bought on the corner of most streets in Nanchang? It is not unusual for students to shout out “burgers” if asked what do British people have for their breakfast. Though in their defence, KFC / McDonald’s / Haagen Dazs / steak restaurants are western foods in Nanchang and for a time the first KFC in Nanchang was the most profitable one on the planet. The stories in their books also speak of a Sunday joint of beef and buying gramophone records - gramophone records indeed! This is the year 2008 isn’t it - but still, there is the Internet and more modern books are available if sought out?
Perhaps debating a hot topic is the answer? 9 people a week are executed in China according to the latest figures - is capital punishment a just system of punishment?
“Yes. He’s a bad man Mr. John.” What if he comes from a broken home or has been a victim himself at some point?
He's a bad man Mr. John. How can the health care system in China be improved?
“The government should do something about it.” How can your university be improved?
“They should plant more trees.” Is China heading for an environmental disaster?
“Yes. The government should do something about it.” Are fast food outlets becoming a problem for the Chinese diet?
“Yes. The government should do something about it.” I have found debates seldom go anywhere in oral speaking lessons, as students are unable to think on their feet, see the world in strictly black and white terms and seldom have the confidence to take a chance or have a go or sustain an argument.
Newly arrived western teachers to Chinese classrooms can be confounded from the onset. Approximately 45 mostly shy students sat in rows with almost every seat taken though seldom do boys and girls sit together, a square room with poor acoustics, desks facing forward and immovable along with the chairs, with most students desperate to speak with the foreigner, in between slurping on a drink and fiddling with a mobile 'phone secretly. Students, not surprisingly, treat their desk as a protective fortress and are reluctant to move, and if asked to move, move at a pace that would put my granny to shame. The bodies of their classmates further protect the students huddled in the middle of the row of desks: pair work is difficult, and group work is practically impossible. - and the worse of all sins, except students wanting to be entertained, students whisper at a level that can be barely heard by the person sat next to them - and from this students are supposed to develop their speaking abilities? Though, should the day come when classrooms facilitate groups discussions with round, movable tables, students will still be reluctant to face the inevitable, defining, wholesome beautiful truth that they will have to talk to each other in English.
To end on a positive note: I like writing and speaking classes, but I would like to see more cooperation from foreign teachers, with the help of their respective departments, to unify their teaching methods, the exams and the standards they set for the students. The exam results should be moderated, which is what the Chinese teachers do. I fail to understand why the exam scores of foreign teachers are not in any sense moderated. I would like to see more cooperation between foreign teachers and the departments they work for.
Postscript
A student from one of my writing classes has just informed me that last term one of the inexperienced foreign teachers gave a percentage of his students an oral exam in his room at approximately midnight, which raises other issues and shows a distinct lack of experience and judgement. Some students had to wait from 2.00pm for this to happen. Students were not very happy with that arrangement, as one would expect. This type of error could have easily been avoided with a bit of thought and cooperation amongst foreign teachers - instead of some of them charging off and doing their own thing.
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