My old WITT colleague John tells us one of his IELTS students asked him how many English words he’d need to know to study the language in university. John, naturally, didn’t have the answer, as if there was one at all. Professional linguists could probably cite a ballpark figure, but what use would that be? Learning a foreign language is much more than memorizing a dictionary.
John’s story is all too familiar to anyone who has taught English in China. In Fuzhou, one of my more precocious students used to spend class looking up word after word in her electronic dictionary. Several others told me that my emphasis on fluency was not particularly helpful, and what they really wanted to learn was pure vocabulary.
As a result, quite a few Chinese friends of mine have developed an expansive vocabulary in English, yet struggle to communicate effectively in the language. Ironically, this makes my own acquisition of Mandarin easier, as often in conversation I’m able to rely on the internal dictionary of my partners to fill in gaps of my own vocabulary. Yet for those Chinese wishing to use English as a marketable skill, a lack of fluency is a significant flaw.
Why is English instruction in China tailored this way? Several possible explanations spring to mind. For one, the vast majority of English teachers in China have spent little to no time abroad honing their craft. The Chinese government recognizes this problem and has thus made a major push of bringing in native speakers (like yours truly) to help the nation’s youth learn the language properly. Yet I think it’s safe to assume that many, many Chinese people have never encountered a native English speaker in person.
Secondly, in Chinese classrooms there is very little interaction between the teachers and students. In most cases, teachers prepare a lecture based on a textbook and students quietly write notes, not unlike the structure in American universities. This method works well in certain subjects, but when applied in language classes the results are disastrous. How are Chinese students expected to learn how to speak English if they’re not wanted to speak at all?
Third, the Chinese education system places a strong emphasis on rote learning, and in language class this means memorizing words and grammatical concepts rather than interacting with the spoken language. My Chinese English teaching colleagues, for instance, understood English grammar far better than I and were shocked when I was unfamiliar with various arcane grammatical details. Yet even many of them had difficulties conducting a conversation in fluent English.
In spite of these hurdles, more than a few Chinese people I know managed to become very fluent English speakers without having lived abroad. A principle factor, interestingly enough, is the wide availability of pirated English-language DVDs. Others improved with the aid of a foreign boyfriend or girlfriend, and many in the larger cities benefited from integrating into the expat community. These people to me represent the best of Chinese ingenuity.
This problem, of course, exists elsewhere. Most adult Americans remember next to nothing from their high school language classes. At my own high school, a prestigious prep school located in the cosmopolitan Bay Area, very few of the foreign language instructors were native speakers. Compared to Chinese people, Americans have a far easier time traveling and living overseas, yet the vast majority of us remain happily monolingual.
Yet I still believe that the Chinese method of teaching English ought to be reconsidered, and if there is one good thing foreign teachers can do, it is to introduce a different emphasis to the students we teach.
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I think your third point comes closest to hitting the nail right on the head about this. Ironically, proficiency exams such as IELTS and TOEFL test breadth of lexical knowledge because without such knowledge, non-native speakers won’t be able to cope with synonyms and paraphrases; or produce them.
We’ve all been told that some dish is very delicious, but I’ve never heard anyone use “tasty/more-ish/scrumptious/scrummy etc.” But even if our students knew these words, they’d probably readily produce the one they know best – delicious. Either that or horribly misuse some other word.
I had a French flatmate once who also used a lot of set phrases (often bordering on franglais) for set occasions.
Posted 25 Nov 2007 at 11:42 am ¶Before excess blame is laid at the feet of IELTS/TOEFL, I don’t think they’re the cause of China’s vocabulary-mania, since only a handful of students will take those tests. Instead, the main reason university students across the board “marry their dictionaries” is to pass the mandatory CET-4 exam and its bigger brother, the CET-6 (which is only mandatory if you want to get a postgraduate degree).
Matt, what you said about the cultural insulation of Chinese English teachers and the emphasis on rote memorization rings true, but after teaching here for almost four years I think the focus on the CET tests is why Chinese English development seems so incomplete to those of us used to “whole-language” learning.
For those who don’t know, the CET-4 has three main components — reading comprehension, listening, and composition — and no speaking component. Speaking, if you want better certification, is optional, and most students won’t take that test.
Now, it doesn’t take a genius to see that in all the CET classes the students take at university and in training centers, and with all the CET books they study, the oral component of their English suffers greatly. Most student recitations one can hear at a Chinese university are students practicing CET vocabulary. I rarely hear them practicing set phrases in a way that builds language. Instead, it’s just … words, words, words.
Until the CET is reformed, vocabulary-centric English learning will be the rule in China.
Posted 26 Nov 2007 at 6:52 am ¶The truth is, most Chinese students are FORCED to learn English and they have no desire to get beyond passing the exams. When you have English as one of the subjects, and you have to pass the exams to advance, naturally you focus on things that carry you through the exams. Grammar. Volcab.
It’s not really about the so-called “Chinese method of teaching English”. Learning a language during class is one thing, practicing it is another. Just like those Americans who forgot most of Spanish that they learned in high school, most Chinese students have no way of practicing and using English outside the classroom.
“Compared to Chinese people, Americans have a far easier time traveling and living overseas”, that’s because you happen to speak English.
Posted 26 Nov 2007 at 7:55 am ¶Matthew, excellent point about the Chinese entry-level exams, and I think what I attributed to cultural factors may just be a rational response to incentives on the part of the students.
Pfeffer, I disagree that the reason Americans have a far easier time traveling and living overseas can be neatly attributed to our ability to speak English. I was referring to the bureaucratic obstacles the average Chinese citizen must overcome even to sniff at the opportunities most Americans take for granted. Put it this way: a European who speaks no English has an easier time living and working abroad than a Chinese person fluent in English.
Posted 27 Nov 2007 at 4:50 pm ¶Matt, that’s probably true, but what does it have to do with learning English?
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 3:43 am ¶Chinese people wishing to study abroad, work, or simply travel within an English-speaking country have greater difficulty doing so for institutional reasons, thus they’re denied the opportunity to practice what their English in an atmosphere of native speakers. This has a detrimental effect on their English especially in terms of speaking, listening, and modern idiomatic expressions. This is my hypothesis, at least.
Posted 28 Nov 2007 at 7:43 am ¶Matt, I am interested in knowing what “institutional reasons” you are referring to? Are you saying Chinese are systematically discriminated in English-speaking countries? Compared to other non-English speakers such as the Japanese, Koreans and Russians, are the Chinese in a disadvantageous situation?
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 4:06 am ¶No, it’s far simpler than that. I’m referring to things like the difficulty many Chinese citizens have in obtaining a passport from their danwei or private company and receiving permission to go overseas, even if it were financially feasible. Several people I’ve met in China had wanted to go abroad but the bureaucratic hassles (on both sides) were so great that they eventually gave up, frustrated. In Japan and Korea, citizens don’t face nearly as many institutional hurdles so can move about freely. This isn’t a cultural thing so much as a matter of bureaucracy.
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 9:14 am ¶True, but again, what does it have to do with learning English? Are you saying the Chinese speak worse English than the Koreans and the Japanese because it is harder for them to travel overseas?
Posted 30 Nov 2007 at 4:08 am ¶Yes- I think Chinese people speak worse English on average than Koreans and Japanese because of the difficulty they have in going overseas.
Posted 30 Nov 2007 at 12:02 pm ¶That’s an observation that I don’t agree with. I find East Asians (CJK) speak pretty much the same level of English in terms of influency.
Taiwanese speak no better English than the mainlanders.
Posted 01 Dec 2007 at 4:36 am ¶Post a Comment