Several years ago Dr. Martin Wolff who has researched deeply the system of EFL teaching in China, wrote a paper that highlighted the hostile environment that students of English in China face as they attempt to learn English. It was an accurate portrait of the challenges and difficulties that build up to the point that students often feel that theyre actually being opposed in their efforts to learn English. In his paper Martin Wolff brought attention to the classrooms and corridors with notice-boards covered for the most part in posters and information sheets written in Chinese. He also wrote about the cold, soulless classrooms that often have no heating or AC. After teaching in China for five and a half years to all ages, I believe that the hostile conditions described by Wolff still exist in China. Furthermore, these hostile conditions dont just pertain to English students in China, but also to their teachers: both Chinese and foreign. China is a hostile place for English teachers to practice their craft in, and the more you care, the more hostile it gets.

When claiming that the environment is hostile, I dont mean that most leaders of schools deliberately try to make life hell for teachers and consciously put obstacles in the way. Some do (in fact many do in private schools because of their obsession with making a financial killing), but the hostile conditions in public schools often stem from a mixture of apathy, short-sightedness, a rigid adherence to traditional educational practices and a desire to just muddle through for a quiet life. The fact that many Chinese teachers are burdened with too much responsibility outside of class, contributes markedly to the hostile teaching environment. Now lets look at some specific causes of this condition that Ive personally experienced at different times at different colleges in China. These causes often prohibit the development of good, well structured and prepared lessons from foreign teachers (FTs). Some of such causes are, inadequate or inappropriate textbooks, a lack of meetings (or in some cases none at all) arranged between the foreign department leaders and the FTs, and the lack of easy access to the use of multi-media rooms. In one college that I worked at for two years, many teachers spent a year working there without ever meeting the dean. In fact many didnt even know if the dean was a man or a woman. The only reason I was able to get to meet her and know her was through my taking the initiative to find her office phone number, and ring her myself. There were never any meetings organized by the dean for the FTs.

A colleague of mine bemoaned the fact that on average the Chinese teachers at our college have a smaller class schedule than the FTs. This is true but I dont envy them, nor do I think that this works any advantage for their students. From what Ive observed, the majority of Chinese teachers that Ive met and worked with, care about their work and their students and want to teach as well as they can. The same goes for FTs, too. In the case of Chinese teachers, though, they are often prevented from teaching well, because of the extra burdens that are laid upon them. Ive spoken to many Chinese teachers of English at my college who tell me that that they are ordered to study for higher degrees that take up not only most of their spare time, but also the time that they would use for preparing good lessons for their students. These teachers tell me that they often have to stay up late at night researching, because they have a quota of papers that they must write that will be put in various education journals. Yes, schools in Western countries like the USA and Britain also have teachers doing the same, but unlike Chinese teachers they usually have a CHOICE of whether they study for a further degree or not. Also, back in Britain, when teachers study for higher degrees its usually with a view to better themselves in order to improve the content of their lessons. Articles that are written in British schools usually have some relevance, but here in China the Chinese teachers tell me that they often cant choose what MA or PHD to study, and the articles that they are instructed to write usually have no practical use for teaching, whatsoever.

The leadership at Chinese schools generally seem to be much more concerned with appearances. Have you seen those adverts for university positions in China? For the most part they just consist of a list of degrees and certificates that their professors and doctors et al, hold. Never mind the fact that many of their teachers are burning out and as a result the quality of their teaching is suffering because of these unnecessary burdens. All that matters is that the school can boast that it has all these well qualified teachers with degrees up to their elbows. This overworking of teachers also sometimes extends to those in management positions. At my college both the dean and vice-dean also take classes.

The issue of difficult access to media equipment, for many FTs, has just recently been brought home to me. During the last three years of my working in colleges, I have never had media equipment in my allotted classrooms. Previously I didnt have too many problems getting access to multi-media rooms at colleges on the occasions that I asked for them. What I did sometimes find difficult though was finding equipment that worked properly. Often the problem has been with sound. Sometimes the maximum volume is too low (with students impatiently telling me to increase the volume), or the speakers are crackly and stuttering, and on a couple of occasions Ive had my song or video interrupted with college tannoy announcements.

I recently asked for access to multi-media rooms for just one week for my five oral classes. I managed to acquire use of such rooms for three of my classes but for two days of the week it was impossible to get access on those days. This has resulted in a lot of headaches and me having to juggle the classes around so as to give them all an opportunity to have a multi-media class. I only ask for and do these activities about once a semester. On other occasions I might wheel a telly in on a trolley to show part of a movie or video. Do other Fts find it difficult to get access to media in their school? In my school it seems that 99% of the media rooms are used every week. It seems that all the Chinese teachers use media equipment for every single class. Why is this? Has that been the experience at your school? If a teacher wants to really make a difference here in China he often needs a good amount of patience and tenacity to see things through. The plus side is that working in China certainly helps to build those fine qualities. He also has to be willing to make himself a pest, by constantly badgering staff who are often up to their necks in work, or couldnt really be bothered in doing much more than going through the motions. The absence of pro-active thinking by school management which often occurs in Chinese schools often reflects on the teacher, however organized the teacher may be. I might say the following to my class:-Im sorry students I still dont know what room next week's final exam is in because the leaders havent told me yet, but I will e-mail the details to the class monitor as soon as I know. Blank looks follow from the students, some of whom seem to be looking at me as if Im an incompetent fool.

Another feature of the hostile environment is the fact that little attempt is generally made to create an English environment for students. EFL students obviously already have a huge disadvantage in acquiring English, over their ESL counterparts in countries such as the USA and Britain. This disadvantage however, is compounded by the practice of Chinese teachers for the most part using Chinese when teaching their students English. When I say that they use Chinese I dont mean that they use the occasional word or phrase when they think its really necessary. No, they actually conduct the whole class in Chinese. Day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year, Chinese students are not being taught to think in English, which is essential for second language acquisition, but are being taught to think in Chinese. This often results in scores of Chinese students who have studied English for eight or nine years still struggling to have the most basic conversation in English. On one occasion after I wrote a sentence on the board that had no difficult words for one of my college freshman classes to discuss, one student in my class told me that she couldnt understand the sentence without it being translated into Chinese.

This problem is mainly the fault of the system of EFL teaching in China and not really the fault of the students. With a much better system that was geared to helping students actually acquire English, most of the motivated students here would be quite capable of excelling in their learning. This is one of the main tragedies of the hostile EFL environment in China. This again creates a difficult environment for conscientious FT teachers to teach in as they try to help students ACQUIRE English. I forbid the use of Chinese in my college English-major classes. I find that allowing a little use of Chinese by the students is akin to an alcoholic being told its ok to have a little tipple of alcohol. So its all or nothing and this causes more discomfort for students who are so conditioned to constantly blathering away in Chinese during English classes.

Another problem is that students in China have generally been conditioned to believe that the purpose of education or studying is to just pass exams and obtain degrees that will set them up for a secure future. This problem is so well known, and has beeen discussed so much that I don't feel the need to elaborate on this point. It does however cause major problems and obstacles for both Chinese teachers and FTs when said try to help their students learn English as a language for communicative purposes.

Some on this board constantly criticize unqualified, lazy FTs who are only in China on a pleasure ride. Yes, there are MANY of this type in China, and they are doing very little to help their students. Still, most of the FTs that Ive worked with in public schools have been genuine, hard-working teachers who are concerned with doing their best for their students. Also, even if all the lazy, unqualified, unconcerned, pretend teachers were kicked out of China today, we would still have a hostile environment to teach English in. This is because all the problems I mentioned above have very little to do with the pretend, playboy teachers in China. Pretend teachers are merely one symptom of a poorly constructed and implemented system of EFL teaching in China which on the whole, is failing and cheating most of the young people in China who really want to learn English (there are many), and who are often paying an inordinate amount of money for the privilege.

This system is also failing all the genuine teachers whether Chinese or FTs, who really want to help young people in China to acquire English. This does not mean that there are no leaders or schools in China that are making an effort to do the right thing by their students. There are plenty trying. Most of those leaders and teachers who care, though, have their hands tied. Firstly, this is due to the fact that they are being stretched too thin with too many responsibilities that take away from their ability to prepare good curriculums and classes. Secondly, if they dont follow the guidelines handed down by the leaders of education ,then they could easily lose their job and any chance of future security. Also, I'm not claiming that a genuine FT cannot enjoy a good experience, teaching in China. As I said there are many schools, mostly public, with leaders who are trying their best under the circumstances. If a teacher puts his heart into his teaching in such a school he will find that the administration, foreign department leaders, and his students will on the whole appreciate his efforts and treat him with respect. The conditions nevertheless are not easy, and a great deal of patience and commitment is needed.

All of the above problems would still exist even if every FT in China was a genuine, qualified, fully motivated teacher, because the main causes are being caused by those in charge of the system of EFL education in China. Major changes at the top need to be made to eradicate an environment that is still hostile to both students and teachers of EFL in China.

I thought I would put this out there to encourage other FT's to share their experiences. It would be good to hear of some suggestions that would help bring about change in China. Also, how have other FT's coped with difficult teaching conditions like those mentioned above, here in China?