It's not as if China has embraced the idea of lower academic standards. Unfortunately, what we hope for is not always what we get. The current atmosphere of EFL teaching in China, as has been noted many times in this forum over the past few years, has become polluted to the point that measures will and are being taken to, at the very least, bring said pollution to a more acceptable level. But having said that, I'm reminded that excellence can be, and often is, a very relative term. How do we index excellence? I'm sure that this question and similar ones are now being mulled over to a great extent by educators all over China and especially so by the Ministry of Education.

Meanwhile, as answers are sought, I suspect that we will soon begin to see some fundamental changes that will probably begin with the hiring process itself and that will make it more difficult for non degree holders to be offered positions as EFL instructors. But this is a monumental problem, a problem made more complicated by the rapidly growing numbers of private schools - many of which masquerade themselves as academic institutions, when in fact they are strictly business oriented and have no actual standards. In addition, many of the FT's now in China are those that were originally hired by these private schools and then, recognizing that public institutions, generally more trustworthy, have such a high demand for Western teachers that they can move easily from the private to the public sector where standards are increasingly being lowered also.

Many college administrators at highly reputable universities now find themselves in the position of having to do damage control as their students increasingly raise this question of excellence. Moreover, they have the PSB breathing down their necks because the PSB itself is getting pressure from above to make such colleges more accountable for their hiring practices. Yes, many of these colleges are currently able to use guanxi (the situation of special relationships) to keep the PSB at bay; however, the quickly increasing erosion of excellence in the EFL classroom will ultimately render such relationships ineffective.

Students are becoming more and more sophisticated. They are asking more questions about the qualifications of their teachers. Their level of frustration is growing. The interaction that the internet now provides is becoming the means by which they share that frustration. As they continue to share their frustration with each other, the administrative power of damage control will also be rendered ineffective.

Yesterday, one of my students came to my office for a chat. This young man, though a first year student, is quite capable of expressing himself in English. The purpose of his visit was to discuss his and his classmate's disappointment with the quality of English education at our college. He and other students had already spoken to the administration only to walk away even more frustrated. Most of his comments and awarenesses were right on the money. Interestingly enough, he cited one of his senior school English teachers, a Chinese woman, as being the one responsible for his high level of communicative competence. And, though he discussed the incompetence of some of our "teachers," he also complained about most of the text books. (Materials selection is not actually a part of the discussion in this thread, but it is worthy of a thread in itself because it bears on the whole question of excellence; in addition, said materials are often chosen by administrators who have no prior experience in second language acquisition, and it is those same administrators who, simply because of the need to "sell" their schools must hire any white face that happens their way.)

Finally, that most of the above student's conversation with me centered around this question of excellence, supports my belief that there is a sea change coming. Yes, students are becoming more and more sophisticated and are silently (for the time being) rebelling at the notion of paying higher costs for tuition due to foreign teachers being on the staff - foreign teachers that all too often, unfortunately, do not meet the standards one would expect at an academic institution. As my student rightfully asked, "How long should I accept being spoken to about cheap beer and Chinese girls? How long should I accept being lectured too and not be given the opportunity to practice my English? I learned so much more in senior school with my Chinese teacher. She had us always doing something interesting. We did lots of role plays and group work. Here is so different. How did these teachers get hired for this job? Why did they come here?" My own frustration is growing as I find it more and more difficult to answer these questions. Those of us who love this country, those of us who love this culture and most of all love these students support the coming changes and will embrace them with open arms.

Note: Of the twenty FT's now employed by my college, only three have relative prior experience and qualifications. Most have agendas for being in China that have more to do with them securing work visas than wanting to be teachers. More than one has been reprimanded for inappropriate contact with their female students. More than one comes to work with alcohol on their breath. Several have been reprimanded for showing inappropriate films in their class. Others have been warned about not showing films with Chinese subtitles. Writing teachers often lecture and never offer up written models of their own. They have also been known to give oral examinations instead of written exams. Others, when asked to write an appropriate achievement based exam, copy exams from the internet rather than base the exam on what has been achieved in the classroom. I've evaluated teachers in their classrooms who can't spell but write their misspellings on the blackboard and, moreover, misrepresent the language in multiple ways, yet they are still there. Some teachers use the classroom time to practice their Chinese. Teachers are continually late for classes and often don't show up at all and then forget to attend their make up classes - classes for which the students have specifically sacrificed their free time to attend. Teachers come to class grubbily dressed, unshaven and unprepared. Authentic materials, other than totally inappropriate films, are rarely used to supplement lessons. Teachers speak too slowly or too quickly. There's no coordination between the Chinese staff and the foreign staff. Meetings are non-existent. Teachers make no effort to improve their craft. There is no awareness of acquisition vs. learning. Some teachers spend entire class periods teaching vocabulary. Their handwriting and even printing is atrocious. The list goes on. The frustration grows. Yet students are paying extremely high tuition costs for the privilege of being "taught" by foreign teachers. Successful marketing - unsuccessful results. Why am I still there after two years? Good question, but I won't continue after this term. In fact, I've chosen not to continue teaching in China, though I will stay here and work on other endeavors. When changes are finally instituted, I may return to the classroom; however, at this point I almost feel guilty by association.

Pardon the lack of brevity; unfortunately, sometimes I get too wound up and can't stop ticking away.