Caring
- 2016-03-14
You've made a good point. Chinese kids that learn English have been using some truly questionable materials, and they are tested somewhat strangely too. The kids that come to me with letters from their teachers telling me how great they are aren't great at all. On the other hand, the kids that come to me with warnings from their teachers how bad in English they are aren't so inadequate at all too. It does seem that the testing is a suspect, and as you have suggested the ambiguity may turn some kids off. Further, it appears that the root memorization, which they use to learn Chinese, does not work with English at all. Most kids are low on active vocabulary which impairs their writing and speaking visibly. All in all, the Beijing press material may be as lame as it is as are the people who have to work with it. No wonder there's a reverse on teaching English in Chinese public schools where History and Chinese are to replace the soon optional subject.
Chinese kids learning English have the right to expect their English text books and their teachers to be RIGHT (as in CORRECT) - but what happens when they are essentially wrong and the student gets the blame for being ‘wrong’?
Case in point......Insert the missing word into the following sentence......(Grade 7 by the way)
‘My boss said that he.............like my work’ (and the answer has to be in the negative)
No other information is given (ie,time-frame) - simply choose a negative form of the verb to 'do' and write it in the blank space
The ‘answer’ is the word ‘didn’t’ and woe betide any student who wrote the word ‘doesn’t’
A Chinese-English teacher argued with me that ‘black was white’ and that the answer was quite obviously ‘didn’t’ (due to the past-tense offering of 'said') and that the word ‘doesn’t’ was not an option. A big red X would appear against any answer of ‘doesn’t’ - and that big red X could mean the difference between a student passing or failing an exam.
Enter the correct form of the verb to ‘leave’ in the following sentence.....
‘Why you................?’
Go on, try it!.............you can’t, can you? (because the word ‘are’ is missing)
Answer YES or NO to the following question.....
‘You don’t often disagree with your brother, do you?’
Why are you asking me to agree or disagree (with a simple YES or NO answer) to a (statement/tag) question that contains the word ‘disagree’?...................AND in a sentence that contains a double negative (as in don’t and disagree)????
Can’t the idiots who write these text books offer better questions that don’t involve ambiguity? (It can't be difficult)
When I joined this ‘profession’ I was told (by a laowai) that the Chinese-English teachers ‘teach’ the kids English and then we come along to fix all the mistakes - ain’t THAT the truth?
Well done, New Concept English - you should be hung, drawn and quartered ! (after being flayed)