Can you answer any of the questions?
EFL/ESL Teaching in China: Questions – Questions – Questions
This article raises numerous fundamental issues which appear to have been overlooked by China in its exuberance to embrace EFL/ESL teaching as China rushes to join the new world order and partake of its share of the global economic pie. This article establishes a solid and fundamental legitimization for asking the politically incorrect, controversial and sensitive questions but leaves their final resolution to the language teachers, graduate students and linguists who have the inherent fundamental duty to seek the answers. (2007) Frontiers in Higher Education, Ch. 10, Nova Science Publishers.
We have to learn English for in the past 300 years, English countries (Great Britain, U.S.) are advanced, in science, technics, society, economy, and many other things. If we want to develop our country more effectively, we have to learn and study from the advanced countries. They use English, so we need to understand English so that we could learn from them. With the same goal, many other non-English countries’ people learn English as well. This leads to a result: English have became the most widely used language all around the world. So, nowadays, if we want to exchange our ideas with a foreigner, the best and first chose is to use English.
English has become the most widely used language in the current world.sO English must be your absolutely necessary passport if you want to enter the international business.Chinese goverment chooses English as its “second” foreign language and requests all Chinese Students to learn it.I think the essential problem of all of these problems in EFL teaching is that Chinese request all Chinese student to learn English well.We were teached English since we were pupils.But Most of us can not even have the chance to enter a college or university,let alone the chance to communicate with a foreigner or read English . China is a developing country and dose not have abundant education resource.The goverment can not expect all of Chinese students being good at English language.The goverment must focus its limited English education recource on outstanding people who may enter international business or go abroad for further education.
30 years ago, China opened its doors to the whole world, Western culture and ideas were introduced to China.As one of the most important tool of communication,English also set off wave after wave of learning English in china. the past two decades, English has not only been seen as a compulsory subje,but also became the most important course in many aspects,including the college entrance exams and university graduates. In order to enter to university,a large portion of students spend most of the time and Energy resources on studying English.It is the result that most do not learn mathematics, physics and chemistry good, Because time and effort was hold by english. Because of poor english,the number of outstanding students are not admitted to university.so many students do not like learning English. Countless students in China has become the victim of a foreign language.
After reading the article, I learn that many problems still exist in the process of learning English. Although we have studied English for over 10 years, the result is awful. At first, we learn English in order to communicate with more people, because English is spoken in world wide. But most still can not talk with others for we have no English learning environment, we do not use it at all in our daily life or some other reasons.
In order to teach us well, lots of foreign experts are employed by many schools. However, it still can not work well.
How can we deal with these problems? We should listen more, speak more and read more.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
TO BE FRANK, I AM ALSO TIRED FROM READING 10,250 POSTS
During this semester , we have made a lot of comments upon all kinds of problems of English education in China . To be honest , I am a little tired of that , just as we seems to keep discussing the same thing . Actually we didn’t get much achievement . Now before the semester ends , I make this comment as the last one .
When we learn an essay from Reading English , its topic is How to raise a polite kid . This article suggests that we should give some prompt and praise to the kids , rather than punishing them and scolding them . So I guess maybe we can use the same method in English learning.
We know when we learn English , we face a lot of pressure from the teachers and the society . People always tell us English is so important that everyone must learn it well . Otherwise you will be useless and you couldn’t find a good job . Why they never express a praise to us ? Even just a good word is fine . Influenced by the negative information , we feel exhausted and frustrated .
I know there are many problems in English education in China , just as the article said . Actually I acknowledge that I couldn’t find the answers . And it is the exact reason that I didn’t post anything for this topic before . However , right here , I just only want to formulate my perspective . So here is a suggestion for adults . When you ask kids to learn English , give proper prompt and praise to them . In that case , it may work well . People can develop their interest in English and learn English more effectively .
I only want to talk about Chinglish.Chinglish is not a bad thing! In point of fact, it is inevitable.If the variant of English is better for our communication, why can’t we use it? There are “Pidgin” English and “Singlish” that are used widely.Why we should take the critical view for the Chinglish.Regional Englishes abound worldwide.As more and more communication between the China and the English-Speaking countries,Chinglish would be gradually accepted.
To be honest I hate English. Event when I started to study English, I knew that I hated it. No mater how much time I spent on studying English, I was mean. Maybe I’m not a natural at language. But last time teacher said that you couldn’t study good at English unless you like to. It couldn’t be more right. I like watching English movies and listening English songs, but I hate remembering words and grammar. The homework and classes make me disgorging. Now I know it all will be gone when I find interest in English.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
READ MORE, LISTEN MORE, WRITE MORE AND SPEAK MORE ENGLISH.
EAT, SLEEP, DRINK AND DREAM ENGLISH.
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL SEMESTER?
So you know it is also about the problem in learning English in china, do you feel tired of it? I really feel exhausted and frustrated. No one give me an answer and I know that only I can give myself an answer about English learning. Although I have thought about how to learn English much time this semester, but I really don’t know how to do. I have a lot of things to do in my specialized course; I can’t spend enough time in thinking the method to learn English, so just give me the suggestion, I will appreciate of it.
I am very interested in the second question:how can EFL/ESL teaching in china be called a success? As a matter of fact, I think it is utilitarian to think about teaching as business. The aim for teaching should be help people to learn what they need and to pass knowledge from generation to generation. However, a lot of people just think it is a kind of business and a way of earning. English is useful and as a language, it should be a way to connect each other. We should learn it as a interest and learn when we need it. If there is something that can call EFL/ESL success, that should be everyone learn English when they want and they can learn it in a right way.
How can everyone learn it in a right way, this is hard for every English teacher. I have learn a lot about ways to learn it this term. I think the best way to learn it is to be a ABC.
Why should 1.3 billion Chinese learn English? A good question, my question, too.
Having learnt English for more than 10 years, though I have passed CET6, my English is still poor. In other words, it has little practical value. Not just me, many other students have the same feeling. So, what we learn English for? Why those who tired of English have to take it up for several years? Only one reason I can think of. When there are more people learn English, there will be more English talents. So, in order to cultivate talents as much as possible, as many people are required to learn English.
As China joined into WTO, more and more foreign cooperation enter China. English is necessary for us to find a better job and earn more money. But EFL/ESL teaching in China can’t be called a success. Because EFL/ESL teaching only asks us to memorize grammar and words, and does nothing good at our listening and speaking, which are much more important to us. In this hostile environment most of us can only acquire “mute English”, which is useless for us to enter foreign companies. In EFL/ESL teaching system, students’ only order of English learning is passing all kinds of English examinations, such as CET 4 and CET 6.
With the development of the economy and society, our China is opening to the world all the time,so we must learn English to communicate with foreigners.English is now the most used language in the world.To use it as a tool to make more advancement that is why should learn it. We learn English from grade school. But now seldom of us can speak fluent English.We have learnt English for many years. But the question is that why we should do that? we should see this phenomenon in different aspects because one phenomenon always have different causes.
Maybe it is the concept of the use of English. Most of us look English just as a test school set or the entrance exam must to be conquered. In fact, I think the most important role language plays is communication. So speak more and you can make that one day.
I cann’t agree with the it any more ,there are many questions indeed exist in our country.Why every Chinese should learn English?Nowadays from the primary should to the unversity every students are learning English,but actually ,English is not really needed in everyone career.What’s worse,we never creat an English speaking enviroment in our schools,and a lot of students who spend so much time and money to improve their English,but they can hardly communicate with a foreigner fluently.Yes ,this article actully stated the questions in our Englsih learning and teaching ,we should think about it carefully.
I think EFL/ESL Teaching in China will be continued although there still exist many problems or shorts. When we were in middle school we started to study English as a second language.Most of us felt English study was one of the hard thing that we learn our courses. China’s education focus on students’ high scores. As a result,students would neglect the practice of what they learned.Why we learn English? I think that there are two reasons.First,we want to go to college. Second,we can communicate with foreign people. Most of all we pay more attention on the first.
I think many people have known the importance of learning English well，but I still insist that we have spent too much time in learning English. Maybe the reason is that we haven’t found the correct methods to learn，what we could do is follow our teacher. However，lots of English teachers，including those foreign teachers，don’t help us to develop an interest in English，they just tell us that English is very important，or force us to learn it. Maybe they think if you spend enough time in reading，speaking，listening and writing English，and your English will be well. But if you have no interest in English，how can you learn it well？ You won’t want to spend time in English. And this is the problem I think we are facing.
Why should all Chinese learn English? Oh, I think the governors are donkeys. I don’t know why. I need to pass the examinations and got the diploma so I was pressed to learn English. The same experience as my classmates did. So you know how poor we are. But for me, I have to read and write scientific articles in English now, and sometimes communicate with my foreign friends. So I have to learn English for myself. To learn English better, we can understand the scientific papers better, and get more information in English and this language will be helpful for our research.
But English teaching in China is a biggest failure! Most of us cannot speak an English word. Yes, some of the reasons should owe to ourselves for that we were not holistic. But the teachers and the methods and also the education system must bear the main responsibility for the failure.
A wry story was shown in the article “Questions-Questions-Questions” that the foreign experts’ freak experiences. Absolutely teachers are merely training parrots! Unbelievable! When there is a foreigner come to the little town, all of the Chinese English teachers there are scared to see him and all gone away. Can you believe that?
Impossible is nothing in China.
English is a very important international language. If we want to get a good job, English is required. This is an answer that one of my Chinese English teachers told me why we must learn English. Maybe this is a good answer. I think lots of students believe it. But what we have learnt for so many years is just for passing the tests. We still can’t communicate with each other well in English. We already forget that English is a language and a language is for speaking out. So we may be on the wrong way and education system must be reformed. It’s very important to create an English Spoken environment if we really want to learn English well.
Why should 1.3 billion Chinese learn English?” I think it is a great question which reminds us that we should think about our aims and rights when we learning English. Born as a native Chinese and forced to speak English, it is uneven for us to make a decision. First, English is useful, but not omnipotent. Without the sharing of western value systems, we still need to communicate and express our own ideas in Chinese, especially when it comes to the traditional culture, so maybe there is no need to learn English every one. Second, we should acquire or use English instead of merely learning it. Most English learners are trying to pass the examination, which makes our English ability ill-functioned, such as the mute English. Third, we should learn foreign languages instead of English only. The whole education system is trying to make English-learning profit-oriented, which will ignore other advanced achievements and blind their eye to some important things when learning English. The last but not least, why should we be decided? Can we make our own choice? So, maybe we should treat the current English-learning trend critically.
Everyone is thinking about “Questions-questions-questions”. And I’m thinking about “Why”. Why we can’t do as we think of? English is a so useful tool for communication but the siduation give us choice. Autually, holistic English is a successful method to make our oral English better, however, we never have enough time to live in English spoken environment
. So we have choice to use Chinese or English, that make me lazy easily. In my opinion, I can express myself to others, that is enough. Even sometimes it is chilish.
We all know that the English is playing a more and more important role in our life.Whether you believe it or not,globalization is changing our lives.China has a long history of unexchange with foreign countries.”No exchanges,No progress”,this is indeed true,it leds to the development of economic and scientific in China laging behind other developed countries up to now.We can not commit the same mistake twice,so we have no chance but to exchange with the foreign,to learn from their advanced technology and ideas.The first thing we should do is to grasp their language of communication.While the English is the main way of communication,that’s the reason what we should do is to grasp it first.
I don’t think all the Chinese people have to learn English, it would be a big burden if you learn English that you never have to use it, and you can never learn it well under this circumstance. You can focus you time on the subjects which you really like. I don’t think EFL/ESL teaching in China is a case of the blind leading the blind. The teachers are just a guide who should introduce the methods and experience to learn a second language, it is the student who decides the way how he learn, and recognize which way most fitted himself.
I acknowledged that I have spent much time in studying English.Reading English day by day ,just to pass Cet 4 ,Cet 6 and BEC.In fact ,I don’t why I study English?For a good mark? For a good job?I usually think that if I haven’t spent so many time in studying English,I could do much more things,I could learn much more things.In fact,I think that English is just a kind of tool .We learn English for more things.
THE KINDERGARTEN EXPERIENCE is interesting but vivid mirrors the reality. The foreign expert is thoroughly disgusted that they have been used as a marketing tool, similar things are act every day in China, many academicians from Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences are invited professors of many universities. As a matter of fact, they sometimes do not go to the university a whole year. all of them do not feel shame of this, on the contrary, they feel aproud of this because they can earn money without do anything. To be frank, i also feel that the foreigners are also very happy to earn money without do anything ,oh, my god, i am wrong! Interesting!
I am so sorry to hear about that this situation is so awful , which is caused by so many reasons. We have learned English almost 20 years in the school but it is still poor that we cannot communicate fluently with each other. Why does this happen?
My classmates and I always sit around and talk about this topic. In the end, we find that all we have did in the passed years is wasting our time! We almost cannot speak a whole sentence correctly! The homework always is writing and writing but no speaking. Why? Because the English test is only tested in its writing. All we need to developed is not only writing but also speaking, listening and reading.
Why should 1.3 billion Chinese learn English?
It is said that the most comfortable life is that live in the houses build by a British, take the wage as an American, employ a Chinese chef and marry with Japanese girl.
The world is an earth village now as the economic globalization and the development of the technique of communication. Every country creates connections with other countries, so every people will contact a foreigner or a foreign product inevitably, so do China and Chinese.
English is the universal language of the world, we must enhance our English to communicate well with other countries.
English for me is a tool to communicate with westerners,an eye to see the world.We know most of the information on the internet is written in English.If I can’t know about English ,what it is a big pity for me!Still I don’t learn it very well considering I have learnt English over ten years.
What’s the reason?There is no environment?No people to talk?No chance to practice?Maybe all of these can be reasons although in fact they are not.Practise ,much more practise,maybe the only right way to the key.Nowadays ,English has been a barrier for me to go for higher level.So I have to spent more time on it.And I want to be more successful with better English.
Although not everybody in China need to master English, it is necessary for us to use it well. We should use English almost in every place because English is a international language in the world. What is use English well? I believe oral English and reading English are very important also writing English. But as Martin told us, English is a whole part not many separate parts. So I think talking to others by English is a good way and it is the most direct way to achieve the aim.
There are many people in China that have learned English for many years and cost much more money.Then what we got? I believed the English surely become a bridge that link China to the western country.May these pay is higher,but if we don’t want,we may pay more than that.So we need not complain that we spend much ,we complain we got less.
What a pity, we have learned English for more than ten years, but we can not communicate with foreigners in fluent English. We all know there is a big problem in teaching English. Chinese teachers teach English in a traditional way. They require us to remember several thousands word ,read English textbook every moring,and do as many as homework every day. Maybe they think this teaching way can improve our English. But if there is no environment of English, it is very difficult for us to improve oral English . Now you can see there many excellent students whose writing ,reading and listening of English is very good. But there are few students whose oral English is good. So in china it is very important to reform the education system and create a good English learning environment.
I found many articles are discussing the necessary of learning English to all people. There are many non-native English-speaking countries, and some of them is developing country, like Japan. In Japan, many elites’ English are poor. But this did not prevent Japan from becoming one of the advanced countries in world. Their experience is a good reference for us.
But at same time, as a general graduate, I do not have a good way to express my point of view to managers of education, and the men with stubborn are difficult to accept the views of non-mainstream.
I like English and am willing to spend a lot of time on it, not because it can give me a higher score or a better chance to gain a better salary, but I can get a chance to know another world, other culture, other people from other countries. Although it seems impossible, my dream is to travel around the world to learn different nature, different culture and different people. It is the very thing that inspires me to learn English. However, for most Chinese English is just a tool of communicate with the world and there is no necessary to make every Chinese to speak English. That may be the most important reason why after 30 years effort, Chinese people’s English is still poor.
English for me is a tool to communicate with westerners,an eye to see the world.We know most of the information on the internet is written in English.If I can’t know about English ,what it is a big pity for me!Still I don’t learn it very well considering I have learnt English over ten years.
What’s the reason?There is no environment?No people to talk?No chance to practice?Maybe all of these can be reasons although in fact they are not.Practise ,much more practise,maybe the only right way to the key.Nowadays ,English has been a barrier for me to go for higher level.So I have to spent more time on it.And I want to be more successful with better English.
The question returns to how to improve the students’ English rather than to saying our English is so sack one after another. In fact, we sometimes misunderstand the most important factors of learning foreign language. Pressure and pleasure are the two most important factor of study and working, also English learning. So just think about these 2P, maybe the solution can be found. Now, schools, teachers, parents, even the society and our country require the students learning English, it has not a personal thing but public, and it has not an interesting problem but living problem, so we all can feel the pressure that force us to learn English well. However, the question still exist, most of us spend much time on English learning to no avail. Maybe the problem and the solution should focus on pleasure during the English learning.
It is a problem for me to speak fluent English. I think I have spent a lot of time in learning English, but received no actual effect. To be honest, most of the times I learn English in order to deal with the test, rarely to use it for communication. This also leads to the outcome of mute English. Even in many cases, I do dare not speak English. And sometimes I am reluctant to speak English. Over time it makes me feel tired of studying English.