Hey,
I am Akem from Cameroon. I have read what you all have been writing. I personally do not think that all these gibberations make any sense or can change anything. It is world wide known that we Africans are looked down upon because the African continent has been branded the poorest continent and bla bla bla. What we all know is that, you find it difficult to differentiate between "SOME" and "ALL". All the accusations they are given against Cameroonian teachers in China are all bullshit. Every where, there are good teachers and there are bad teachers. Don't let one spoilt peanut to spoil the whole pot. Do they mean to say all the Americans or Uk teachers they employ don't have step backs in their lessons? Or they are as perfect as what?
I personally have descovered that, most teaching jobs in china goes with colour. Romanians, Ukraineans, Russians, Germans just to mention some are being prefered to teach students english just because they are whites and the Africans are sent away.
You are talking about Standard English? What's the meaning of that bla bla? There's nothing in this world like standard english, I wish you put that into your heads. I know the Chinese people prefer to study American English, the question here is; are they learning english to speak only to Americans? And do they speak American english after learning it for years? The Americans learnt English from the British, but could not speak exactly like the British due to cultural differences. That makes them to call it American English. Thesame refers to the Australians and other countries in the UK. Most African countries speak British English. That's where the problem arises. The Chinese learn American english, but still speak Chinese English. English is English, although some individuals speak with strong native accents.
In the final analysis, what I have to say is that, you all should quit adoring countries, or looking down on other countries. Some body runs away from a war front and comes to China and tells you that he is from America or bla bla and he's an english teacher, you sit back and adore him.
Open your eyes.
Akem