Teaching English in the Land of the Dragon: A Radical Departure from Student-Centered Learning

Teaching English in the Land of the Dragon

A Radical Departure from Student-Centered Learning

  

When my Shifu, Chinese for ‘master’, asked me if I would be interested in conducting teacher training workshops in Keifang, a city in Central China’s Henan province and formal capital of the Song Dynasty, my answer was a resounding ‘yes’. I have been a lifelong student of Northern Shaolin Kung Fu, and this was a golden opportunity for me to teach the fundamentals of the English language to Chinese teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at a public school in Keifang. I equipped myself with professional books, teacher training videos, and a CD-ROM containing exercises in syntax, morphology, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics, but I was completely oblivious of the surprise that awaited me in the Land of the Dragon.

While I was cognizant of the role of rote memorization in Chinese classrooms, I did not expect it to be so pervasive in formal instruction. The first day I arrived at the school to begin a series of workshops on the formal categories of the English language, I was greeted by young students who sang a song in Chinese to welcome me to the educational institution. My knowledge of Mandarin is less than rudimentary, so the song seemed like Buddhist chanting to me. The principal of the school, Master Lau, and the vice principal, Master Wang, shook hands with me and took me to the classroom where I was to teach for three weeks. It was early January, and the weather was extremely cold. As I walked toward the classroom, I could hear children giggling behind me. They were curious to see me, a non-Chinese teacher, but communication was a major hurdle, as their oral proficiency in English was very weak, and I could not articulate my sense of appreciation in Mandarin.

I was then introduced to a group of Chinese teachers of English who were reluctant to communicate with me in English. There were two teachers, Hai Li and Li Pan, whose Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) were satisfactory, but their Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) was weak. During my stay in Keifang, these teachers became my official interpreter and helped me communicate with the English teacher, Master Lau, and Master Wang. There were sixteen (16) English teachers, but with the exception of Hai Li and Li Pan, they could not speak in English without thinking in Mandarin first and then translating their thoughts and ideas into broken pieces of English.

  

Having observed the teachers’ deficient English language proficiency, I was in a quandary as to how they taught EFL to the children. I asked the English teachers what the curricular objectives were for students enrolled in 2^nd grade to 9^th grade. Much to my surprise, I was informed that there were no curricular goals, and that the English teachers followed a textbook for each of the grade levels, which was published by the Chinese government and provided to the public school around the country for free. I asked for a copy of the English textbook for 9^th grade and thumbed through the pages to determine if the lessons were content-based. The book was replete with cloze tests, and students were instructed to complete fill in the blank exercises. Another exercise was to circle one of two verbs such as I did/I did not, I will/I will not, etc. There was no thematic approach to academic reading or writing, and the chapters were not based on academic disciplines. Clearly, the authors who wrote the textbooks were not well versed in educational research, and they did not know how to make the content interesting to students.

Research on second language acquisition indicates that cloze tests are ineffective in teaching reading and writing, and that language is acquired when students negotiate meaning with the instructor and each other. I teach remedial reading and writing at a community college, which is part of a rather large public university. The educational objectives of the college stipulate that students will communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening and speaking; use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in order to make informed decisions; reason quantitatively and mathematically as required in their fields of interest and in everyday life; use information management and technology skills effectively for academic research and lifelong learning; integrate knowledge and skills in their program of study; differentiate and make informed decisions about issues based on multiple value systems; work collaboratively in diverse groups directed at accomplishing learning objectives; use historical or social sciences perspectives to examine formation of ideas, human behavior, social institutions, or social processes; employ concepts and methods of the natural and physical sciences to make informed judgments; and apply aesthetic and intellectual criteria in the evaluation or creation of works in the humanities or the arts. I am aware that these educational goals are meant for college students, so a comparison between public school students in Keifang, China, and college students in New York is seriously flawed. However, these goals should be considered and incorporated into English language lesson plans early on. For example, 8^th grade students should be taught how to communicate effectively in English through reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Sadly, what I observed in the classroom was stimulus and response lessons taught by teacher-fronted classes.

I began the teacher training workshops with a focus on making communicative language teaching happen in the classroom. As a reference, I showed the English teachers PowerPoint slides and gave short tutorials on drawing tree diagrams, lexical and functional semantics, English language pronunciation, including segmental and suprasegmental phonology, how words are formed, and pragmatic competence in a second language. The teachers struggled grasping the modern structure of English in the first week, but I managed to pique their interest in learning about pedagogically sound best practices. We discussed the importance of speaking the language to communicate meaning, of encouraging students to not worry about making errors while speaking and writing, and of having meaningful interaction in the classroom. The teachers admitted that there was a glaring omission of spoken English in their lesson plans, and they attributed the lack of emphasis on oral proficiency to the obsession with teaching students to the test. I had brought a plethora of ancillary materials all pertinent to teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, and I shared the files with the teachers. One of the senior teachers, Master Gau, promised me that he would speak English to his students so that they could learn to communicate in the target language with relative ease and success.

One of the highlights of the trip to Keifang was a trip to a reputable school in Tong Xu County. I was invited by the principal, Ms. Lee, to give a lecture on second language acquisition. Master Lau and Master Wang drove me to the school, but we stopped at a Muslim restaurant to have breakfast, which consisted of my favorite sesame bread and beef soup. Hai Li and Li Pan accompanied me to the school where I was greeted by Ms. Lee who did not speak English at all. The lecture hall was filled with approximately 300 English teachers who had come to hear me. My presentation was entitled Second Language Acquisition and Implications for Teaching English, and I stressed the importance of providing language learners with massive amounts of input. I explained to the teachers that a great deal of spoken interaction between English language instructors and students was pivotal for the learners’ acquisition of English. I urged the teachers to replicate natural language acquisition in the classroom and avoid artificial and unnatural interaction. Finally, I recommended effective assignments and activities for learning reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. The lecture was followed by a brief Q & A session in which a few teachers asked me how they can get their students motivated to learn the English language.

The lecture was followed by a sumptuous meal hosted by Ms. Lee. She gave me a Jade Buddha as a token of appreciation and profusely thanked me for disseminating my knowledge to her English teachers. I was overwhelmed by her hospitality and thanked her for inviting me to her school for a lively discussion of innovative pedagogical techniques. I asked the English teachers to email me their queries about teaching and learning English and explained that it was the responsibility of each one of us to keep the dialogue going.

On the weekend, Master Lau and Master Wang took me to the Shaolin Monastery, also known as the Shaolin Temple, in Dengfeng County, Henan Province. Visiting the Temple reminded me of my Shifu who spent his early childhood and adolescence studying Northern Shaolin Kung Fu with the abbot. Entering the Mountain Gate, the main entrance to the Monastery, I felt my Shifu’s spirit even though he was thousands of miles away from me in the Big Apple teaching Shaolin martial arts to children, men, and women. Master Wang and Master Lau showed me the Heavenly Kings Palace Hall, the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, and the Dhyana Hall where Bodhidharma, popularly known as Ta Mu, led prayers and meditated with his Chinese disciples. We drove back to Keifang where I continued to teach English language lessons to the English teachers for one more week and began preparing myself mentally and emotionally to leave the beautiful country.

The three weeks I spent in Keifang, interacting with administrators, English language teachers, and meticulous students were formative, intellectually stimulating, and professionally gratifying. I cannot thank Master Lau and Master Wang for their kindness, hospitality, and generosity. They did not leave a single stone unturned making me feel at home and treated me with utmost respect. I flew back to New York, considering myself fortunate to have been teaching at an educational institution with complete access to state-of-the-art technology. Having spent three weeks teaching English at a public school in Keifang, I was filled with a sense of admiration for my colleagues teaching English with little or no technology at their disposal. They must be saluted for their dedication to their pupils and for their indomitable spirits to thrive under adverse circumstances.