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THE
CHINESE LEARNER
20 December,
2004
Most of this meeting was looking
at the general characteristics of the Chinese when learning a foreign
language. Inevitably, we have also covered contrasting characteristics of
Western learners. It was not our intention to say one is better than the
other, but rather to find a way to bring the foreign teachers' style and the
Chinese learners' style together in a harmonious and effective way.
TESTS AND EVALUATION
Curiously, the first topic we
hit upon was attitudes to tests and cheating!
It seems that Chinese students,
as in many countries, are given many tests and exams at school. These tests
frequently have a negative backwash effect and cause students to focus on
exclusively passing the exam, doing whatever necessary to do so.... namely
cheating! The circle continues as teachers than focus more on how to get
students to pass the exam and somewhere the "language learning"
gets left behind.
In private teaching, we can ask
ourselves the question, "who is the test for? The teacher or the
student?"
Some teachers emphasize the
difference between a test and an assessment. An assessment can be used more
as a learning tool, from which the students can benefit. For example, whilst
doing the assessment, students stop at intervals and discuss with others and
the teacher what they have done. However, they are not allowed to change
anything, as the teacher also wants to know where the students are in their
learning. (So pens are kept at a distance during discussion phases!)
Other teachers present tests in
the form of games or quizzes. This can reduce student stress and anxiety that
often have a very negative effect on their performance.
Tests may be very good and
provide a motivating factor, especially for children. One may argue however,
that this is just conditioning from the school environment. Could this be
changed?
We have come across teachers who
asked their students to mark their own exams of continual assessment work by
themselves. They rate their own performance and, after the initial euphoria
of giving themselves A+, start to give marks that really reflect where they
are. Also, they may not have to reveal their grade to other members of the
class, so comparisons and peer expectations no longer play a part.
Unfortunately, this is unlikely
to prevail in state schools, because it doesn't tell the teacher where the
kids are in relation to the teacher's criteria and in relation to the other
kids in the class.
So, Chinese learners are
accustomed to "doing" tests (often multiple choice by the way!) and
indeed at school have huge pressure from family and school to pass and do
well.
LEARNING STYLES
One of the most common methods
of learning in China is memorization. This is usually done by reciting
phrases or passages after the teacher, then setting about learning them by
heart. This begins at a young age when Chinese children are taught Chinese
idioms or proverbs that contain important cultural, philosophical or ethical
ideas. Some Chinese people feel that, although these are learnt by heart by
Chinese people, this is no guarantee that they will understand them or apply
them in later life.
The consequences for learning
language like this are visible in schools around the country. They know many
words, but don't know how to use them, nor have any practice at using them,
hence little fluency.
One problem with memorization is
that it's difficult to access the information readily. If you learnt the
Lord's Prayer or a poem by heart as a child, you'll be familiar with the feeling
that in order to access a phrase in the middle, you have to begin it from the
beginning! Or how about, which comes first "J" or "H"?
How did you get the answer?
Whilst memorization is an
important part of language learning, (e.g. remembering new words), it needs
the support of practice; hence our desire to get students doing communicative
tasks. Whilst we are trying to implement a communicative approach to our
teaching though, we can still look for ways to turn this incredibly well
developed skill many Chinese people have, into a benefit.
Some teachers advocate a door
wedge approach, whereby you start teaching a group at the thick edge. Here
you do exactly what they are used to and feel comfortable with. Then slowly
you introduce communicative tasks, knocking out some of the more traditional
tasks. At the end of the course, at the thin edge of the wedge, you are using
a nearly all-communicative method of teaching. The beauty is the students
have hardly noticed the shift!
PICTURE STUDY
In a recent survey, some
researches took 3 lots of photos of students at rest. One lot in a Chinese
University campus, one in a British one and another in a Norwegian one.
The results were very revealing
about attitudes to studying. In the Chinese photos you can see individual
students, squatting equidistant from each other, holding some notes or a
book, reading to themselves.
In the British ones, students
were huddled in groups, similarly holding notes, but chatting to each other.
In the Norwegian ones, the
pictures were similar to the British ones. However, the photographers said
that, while in Britain the students would chat in the same groups, in Norway
there was much more movement of students from one group to another.
Furthermore they asked Chinese
learners studying in England what they objected to in English students. In
general, they said they didn't like the fact that they didn't respect the
teacher. They would ask the teacher questions. They would say they didn't
understand and ask the teacher to repeat, and they would freely interrupt the
teacher.
Interestingly, the British
counterparts said of the Chinese that they wouldn't collaborate much on
tasks. They always wanted to do the task, first alone and then speak to
others.
CHANGES
However, back in China, things
seem to be slowly changing in Beijing's middle schools. Students now ask more
questions of their teachers. Some teachers are required to teach some English
classes completely in English, including instructions and explanations. And in
some areas English teachers now have to have the Trinity Spoken English Level
8 or 9 (of a total of 12)
So it seems clear that the
Western teacher, with his/her communicative approach is going to hit
obstacles with Chinese learners. Many Chinese learners are eager to learn the
Western way, but such things as habit, culture (e.g. respect for the teacher)
are often not easily left behind.
To make the changes we want,
rather than throw out the old way, we may just want to try seeing traditional
things with a new, modern pair of eyes and building on what's already there.
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