Flossie, here is an example of what 'losing face' means to the Chinese.

Our immediate boss, a Chinese-English teacher, continues to write English tests for our students. It's the usual multiple-choice type of test.

While I was teaching my Grade 11's I saw one of these tests.

'We.............a party next Saturday'

a) are having
b) will be having
c) are going to have
d) will have

Choose the best answer.

Now, since this is a statement, as opposed to a reply to a question, such as 'What are you going to do next Saturday?', there is no 'best' answer, and nothing to 'guide/steer' the student towards what could be considered as being the 'best answer'. Therefore a/b/c/d are all correct!

This has been an ongoing issue for me because I regularly see questions that have more than one correct answer. Yet if the student doesn't tick the answer that the teacher WANTS them to tick, they are marked as being WRONG!

Not only does this confuse the kids, but it could also mean possible failure in a final exam, instead of a pass.

I have pointed these problems out to our boss on more than one occasion, and I have regularly told him that I am happy to check the questions BEFORE he has the test papers printed.

Do you think he has ever asked me? No!

Why? Because he feels he will 'lose face' by essentially admitting that his English is not 'good enough' to be able to write test papers without help from a FT.

I have told him on many occasions that he should offer 3 'wrong' answers and only one 'correct' answer. However, this weekly saga continues.