englishgibson
- 2010-06-27
I hear you all guys. Nick's got 101 discussion topics to avoid criticizing local governments or using some "unnecessary" language. Now, I think that we should differenciate a criticizm from a constructive criticizm, and then we should look at the goals of our programs we facilitate. If it comes to some "oral English" at a language training center where students are only to practice what they've learnt and so improve for their own purposes such as their local office work where they need English to communicate with some prospective clients from abroad, or at the local unis where "oral English" programs serve as an attraction only. Really, if the local students have got their big goals to study in western higher education, how do we expect them to perform in their future unis group discussion? Topics such as Global Warming, Smoking, Business Ethics, Gap between Rich and Poor etc, could possibly put mainland students at risk of losing to the western more outgoing and talkative students. I've had a youngster who choked on an easy question; How would you reduce the gap between rich and poor in your country? Again, facts, students views and their local experiences should be used and encouraged to classrooms discussions and opening these youngsters minds/mouths will only increase their chances of success at their wester unis. Or, am I wrong? Should I just let them wait to learn it all abroad? Should I allow that "opportunity" for culture shock? Am I not moral? Am I just a big western mouth leading some propaganda on mainland? Am I really interfering in the locals' affairs or truthfully preparing them and possibly reducing their future culture shocks abroad. Am I not increasing their chances to graduate from their future unis abroad?
Cheers and beers to the holy cow that I am killing here :)
Nick Pellatt
- 2010-06-26
I would say both of these are a no-no really. Not just in China, but pretty much in any formal classroom setting regardless of nationality. Its a bit of a no-brainer to be fair.
In GACs, there are no assessments on the use of "f*ck" or "sh*t" words or on how well the student can criticize his/her local government, but shouldn't they know how to use such language when they are to study at a western uni?
I dont think there should be assessment of this nature either. Its kinda like saying should an American studying Putonghua be examined on how well he can shout down capitalism in L2 before studying in China?
However, that isnt to say you cant study or introduce informal language into the classroom, but you need strong and suitable contexts to do so. Informal language is best studied from looking at, or listening to genuine conversations. The comparison between the register of speech compared to perhaps academic or fictional English might be a useful tool for preparing students for real, native speaker speech too.
If you dont have access to genuine conversation, either recording or transcripted, maybe you could look at the informal language used in movies, TV, or music. Of course, being scripted, it isnt entirely natural, but could easily be used to identify informal language use. Maybe corpus study could be useful for that too? Concordance examples of 'like' being used as a verb or as a hesitator might prove interesting for some...although it could also be incredibly boring for some classes too! I guess ultimately, only you as the class teacher could really decide how useful such tools might be, and how important informal language, esp profanities, really is.
Generally .. I think most students I have met (in a training centre LOL) are exposed to enough examples of informal language through interaction with teachers in and out of class that specific lessons for such TL isnt worthwhile IMO. Five minutes here and there, or in an informal setting away from class is a better bet.
Language skills in being able to criticize, debate, argue, and offer opinion can be developed through 101 topics without having to introduce the issue of local politics, culture, government. I think its enough to know that some young people in some Western countries are openly critical of their society, you dont actually have to teach your students to do the same.
If you do want to raise political awareness ... I think you can do it without students really realising. Maybe you can have debate or discussion on something like Gibraltar, which I think the Spanish want back from the UK, but the Gibraltans dont agree...That could perhaps draw parallels with Tibet? Likewise, the Falkland Isles, which I think China dont recognise as being British, could draw discreet parallels with some countries not recognising Taiwan as Chinese? Im sure there are lots of examples like this which would be a far better bet than using Chinese political issues. Using Chinese examples is always going to sound like a teacher has an agenda to influence and persuade, which is always going to be a bad thing right?
Just my thoughts
Regards
NP
At my former school, I was charged I used bad words and I talked badly about the local government but I had no chance to reason. My students were supposedly 18 year old high school grads, although most were just 16-17 year high school dropouts. The youngsters were to prepare with me for abroad unis and non of the academic material guided me to teach the students any such content. However, I have done so and I have been doing so for ages. I mean I have been using my techniques adding and supplementing the materials as well as going beyond the topics in books, or discussed. Never before my last unfortunate gig I had such issues with either schools or students as I have been well liked by most of my students and managers really had to close their eyes whatever I did in classrooms.
The question is whether we should teach profanities or criticize local or any governments in classrooms. My answer has been we should if it comes to foundation courses to western unis where our students will meet other students either local or from many other countries that at times use words your students may have never heard or found in their dictionaries, and where the uni programs will call for classroom discussions on varieties of topics that may include governments and their actions. How do we expect our students to succeed in other cultures with so different languages when we do not prepare them for such language and approach to discussions? In my case, Chinese students cannot make a clear difference in between formal and informal language and they have a really hard time using either appropriately. My academic program of the uni foundation called GAC has had quite a lot of discussions and techniques for discussions to use as well as it has called to differenciate formal from informal language and students had to be assessed on those too. In GACs, there are no assessments on the use of "f*ck" or "sh*t" words or on how well the student can criticize his/her local government, but shouldn't they know how to use such language when they are to study at a western uni? They are going to have to compete with other students abroad and they're expecting to also find foreign friends as well, aren't they?
Out of all my previous students that I have had in the prep courses programs, some have come back and even visited me in classrooms with the ones going abroad and I've received quite a positive feedback from these Chinese western uni students and grads. One of their points is that our academic programs do not prepare them for the casual language they have to cope with on daily basis. One of my former students, a local from Nanning that's at a University in USA now, has told me that he laughs with his American classmates, but often he cannot understand what he laughs with them about. He's said that he just wants friends as life there's really tough. That's exactly what I have tried to prepare him for and he's well acknowledged that. But should we do that and/or should we be held accountable for it when such practices are used against us then? I'd well reason that it all is solely for the purpose of the prep for western unis, but i don't think that'd be enough for the local authorities, would it? I guess this kinda "complaint" against a foreign teacher is a PERFECT COMPLAINT on mainland, isn't it? Farcely enough, it came at me only after I resigned at the unfortunate place there.
Cheers and beers to all fts