“How can rural Chinese students develop their listening and speaking skills with very limited opportunities to speak with actual native speakers in person?”
This question remains the billion person question! English language learners across Asia – in China, Thailand, and Vietnam – and the entire globe – confront this profound problem. As somebody who has only taught English for a limited time in a developing Asian country and has never had the pleasure of teaching English in China, I have to admit that I am not completely sure. I will, however, try to answer to the best of my ability.
Clearly, this challenging question illuminates both the deep desire of many Chinese to speak with native speakers – and often hope to sound like native speakers. At the same time, many experienced EFL teachers and linguists often emphasize that students need “realistic expectations” for themselves, and English language learners don’t need to sound like native speakers to speak with native speakers. The rarity of native speakers may also indicate some official ambivalence about closing societies opening up. The good news, of course, remains that advanced technology, provides dozens of options that simply didn’t exist 50 years ago for English language students.
As English teachers working in China are keenly aware, China remains a relatively closed society where officials maintain a strict censorship policy. Surveys often place China among the ten least internet friendly nations. In this context, it’s almost impossible to disassociate English from some broader cultural associations and ambitions. A few older Chinese officials may even still view the presence of native English speakers with some suspicion in more remote, backward rural areas.
Yet during both the successful Beijing Olympics and Shanghai World Expo, the national Chinese government strongly promoted the study of conversational English so more Chinese could help international tourists feel comfortable in China. The exponential growth of English, as the lingua franca of the business world, across the major cities of China has been amazing in the last decade. The Chinese government has clearly endorsed the widespread learning of English among children and adults in both urban and rural areas. The opportunity, however, to actually hold conversations in English often remains limited.
So what is to be done? We can’t let the ideal become the enemy of the good. English language learners have many choices today to hear excellent examples of English spoken. Students can listen to podcasts and available quality English language radio programs, speak English on Skype with English tutors, and watch hundreds of fine American, British, and Australian films. Many of my Chinese students tell me that they joined conversation programs like English Corner to practice simple conversation, and some language schools have afterschool English clubs. Bolder students might try forming friendships with native-English speakers on social media sites. Today a billion people who have never personally seen a native English speaker can still listen to the authentic voices of native-speakers in more ways than ever before… even if there’s not a single native speaker in town.
I also suggest EFL teachers create speaking opportunities both in class – in small groups or pairs – and consider adding speaking elements to homework assignments. Fluency, after all, requires practice and speaking English – even to a fellow Chinese, non-native speaker – will develop their evolving English speaking skills. Practice may not make perfect, but it will push students to make real progress.
Let’s help English students get into the habit of asking and answering questions – to the best of their ability – about topics they care about in English class everyday. How? Focus on student interests. I’ve had considerable success, for instance, using Being Yourself from Compelling Conversations with intermediate and advanced students because so many students find themselves fascinating.
Bottomline: adding short, meaningful conversation exercises to every English class should help EFL students gain the confidence and experience they need to hold real conversations. English students may not have a chance to speak with a native speaker today, but we can help make sure they can create a real conversation when they talk with native speakers tomorrow… or the year after tomorrow.
Yet I’m confronting this billion-person question from the perspective of an American college professor who has taught dozens of Chinese students at an elite university. What advice do other English teachers, especially teachers who have taught in rural, relatively isolated areas with few native speakers, have? Are there some low-tech solutions that I’ve overlooked? How would you answer this billion-person question?
Does teaching English open minds in closed societies? Are repressive governments “right” to fear the spread of English? Can the mania for learning English destabilize a rigidly controlled nation? In short, are dictators smart to jam the radio broadcasts of Voice of America, censor the Internet, and control textbooks in English programs? Will the worldwide fashion for learning English lead to a more open, tolerant, and democratic world?
Perhaps. Many young English teachers often just want to work abroad, make some money, and have a foreign adventure. Changing the world is far from their agenda. Most English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers do not intend to broaden minds, challenge cultural traditions, or go beyond providing technical assistance to English language learners. Nonetheless, EFL teachers often play a subtle and significant role in changing societies. English teachers often serve as role models for 21st century living. From gestures to dress, EFL teachers demonstrate another way of being in the world. Many English language learners find that way quite attractive.
Further, students believe that learning English opens new possibilities – from talking to tourists and better job opportunities to traveling abroad and even living abroad. Of course, learning any second language provides an opportunity to see the world in other sounds and words. English, however, plays a far more significant role in opening societies today than many other languages. Speaking English lets you drive in the fast lane – and on the global highway.
Does Business English teach celebrate and instill more material values? Can closed, slow societies meet these new expectations for quality products? Can closed societies remain closed if their citizens learn English, watch American movies, listen to British music, – and dream in English?
Teaching in Vietnam last summer crystallized these questions for me. When revising the high school English curriculum for an elite private high school, I was forced to confront the reality that a majority of 20th century English books in the California curriculum were simply unavailable. John Steinbeck? Banned. H.L. Mencken? Banned. Aldous Huxley? Banned. This list went far beyond the predictable (George Orwell, Alice Walker) to the very unlikely (pacifist, anti-Vietnam War activist Marge Percy). Of course, I’m not sure they are completely banned – but there books were unavailable and they appeared on a Wikipedia list of banned authors. (By the way, Vietnam, where the Communist Party still rules, recently banned Facebook for several weeks.) The politics of teaching English became rather complicated.
While almost all governments seek to modernize, many dictatorships understandably also fear the influx of educated Westerners teaching English. Government leaders want technical assistance – on their terms – to allow their nations to develop according to national values. That’s absolutely understandable from a nationalist perspective. Yet many citizens desire to live better, more modern, and cosmopolitan lives. Some global practices appear more attractive than traditional solutions. English, as both a symbol and tool of global aspirations, can look dangerous.
After all, learning English introduces a flood of new information, new insights, and new possibilities. Joseph Conrad, a great English novelist born in Poland, proclaimed, “English saved my life” because it freed him of narrow misperceptions. A century later, EFL teachers may easily find themselves being more than language technicians and opening minds – even in closed societies.
ESL teachers, especially working with oral skills and pronunciation, face a difficult task. Is there a single, correct form of English that should be taught? Should all English speakers sound like Americans or British? What if EFL students plan to study in Australia or Canada? The question is far more complicated than many English pronunciation instructors admit.
How do you say that again? Which is correct? What is a sound comparison?
English teachers and linguists might also find website www.soundcomparisions.com worth a visit. Focusing on the many different dialects of English across the world, it implicitly challenges the notion of a “correct” or “accurate” pronunciation of English. The sound files come from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, North Amerca, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, India, and Singapore. Some accents, for this American listener, require significant effort to understand. All dialects, however, successfully function within their local areas. People are able to communicate with their neighbors, co-workers, and customers. The language, in short, works.
Of course, context matters. If international students plan to study at an American university, it behooves them to listen to North American dialects – and make sure that their pronunciation is clear and comprehensible to American listeners. If they hope to attend a Scottish university, students might want to try out that accent as the target sound. Being audience focused, after all, is part of effective communication and good manners.
That is also why I focus less on “correct” pronunciation if I can understand the students and friends. I certainly note the gap between what I heard and standard American pronunciation when giving feedback, but I try to avoid using judgmental words like “wrong” if the word is comprehensible. This issue, as one would expect, often comes up with Indian speakers of English with their fast tempo and sometimes sing-song patterns. Perspectives differ, but I prefer to focus on comprehensibility.
Among international friends and if asked, I will also gladly observe the standard “American” pronunciation and repeat what I heard. Yet focusing, perhaps even obsessing, on “correct” pronunciation can often block English language learners from communicating ideas and being themselves in English. Let’s keep the focus on comprehensibility and ideas – and remember the wide, wonderful world of English accents!
What are your core beliefs? More importantly, what are your students’ core beliefs? How can you help English language learners improve their listening skills while exploring their own personal philosophy? Do you use radio podcasts in your English classrooms or ask students to write personal essays? If so, you might want to visit www.thisibelieve.org for excellent, fascinating authentic listening materials.
This I Believe, originally a radio program hosted by legendary American journalist Edward R. Murrow, has been resurrected by National Public Radio. Here is a sample podcast and personal essay by Jim Haynes that should appeal to ESL teachers, EFL tutors, and English students everywhere called “Inviting the World to Dinner”.
The “This I Believe” website includes a tremendous amount of free resources for teachers and students. Naturally, I also have a simple reproducible worksheet that allows students to find, summarize, and share their own favorite podcasts. Students can choose between thousands of essays and hundreds of podcasts on dozens of themes. In my oral skills class, students will present their own “This I Believe” presentation for the final assignment. Consider me curious about what they will choose to share.
English teachers can sign up for the free mailing list and download an exceptional discussion guide at the www.thisibelieve.org website. Check it out if you are looking for quality, reflective materials to enliven your ESL classes. Feel free, as usual, to use the worksheet below for your English classes. I’ve found this reflective exercise builds class rapport, develops speaking skills, and earns high marks from students.
—————————————————————————————————- This I Believe Homework Worksheet
Please select one radio segment, based on a personal essay, and read by writers. Find a story that resonates with you. Listen carefully. Take notes. Fill out the worksheet below. You will be asked to share your selection with classmates in both a small group and the entire class.
Student:
This I Believe Title:
Author/Reader:
Length:
Who is the author?
What’s the main idea?
Why did you choose this podcast?
Did you hear any new words or phrases?
1.
2.
3.
Who do you imagine is the audience for this podcast? Why?
What is your reaction? Why?
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You can also download a PDF of this worksheet from http://www.compellingconversations.com/worksheets/this-i-believe-homework-worksheet.pdf along with other free worksheets for advanced ESL and EFL speaking skills classes. Enjoy!
More Practical Job Interview Tips for ESL Students, Teachers from Q Blog
During these difficult economic times, English teachers should take every possible opportunity to focus on job interview skills. As blog readers know, I’m a big fan of both videotaping practice interviews and having ESL/EFL students conduct research for possible jobs with information interviews.
The Q group, an ambitious online educational company, has a variety of solid resources for ESL students. Here is an excellent, concise list of simple practical steps for English language learners to take when preparing for a job interview – and a few post-interview suggestions worth noting. The fine article comes from the Q Blog for English language learners. It’s a fine resource. Check it out.
We need, it seems to me, to motivate English students more out of choice than duty – and tailor our ESL and EFL material as much as possible to our individual students. The web allows teachers to individualize instruction to an astonishing degree, but teachers must be prepare flexible, student-centered materials and lead by example. We set the standards, and students will follow their interests as they develop their reading and speaking skills. What does that mean?
Here is an example of a worksheet that I’ve used with considerable success in intermediate and advanced ESL classes.
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Talking About Your Own Hometown!
Student Name:
Class:
Teacher:
School:
Date:
Please find an article about your hometown in English that you would like to share with your classmates. Read the article, clip the article, and be prepared to talk about the article.
Write down 5 new vocabulary words, idioms, or expressions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How would you rate the article 1-10? Why?
Why did you choose this article?
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English students search the web, select an article, fill out the form, and share their articles in small groups of 3-4. Then I ask for “brave volunteers” to give us a brief presentation to the class. Although only a few students may volunteer at first, soon everyone wants to share their article and hometown stories. This simple technique, putting more emphasis on student speaking than instructor talking, helps create a lively ESL classroom. (Obviously, the activity works better in a genuine international classroom with students from many countries like in many American summer language programs.)
Communicative activities remain under-appreciated in many English language classrooms, especially in Asia. But seeing is believing. I’ll soon be visiting Vietnam, observing several English classrooms, and looking for examples of effective speaking exercises. What will I find? I don’t know.
Vietnam, the country with the fasting growing economy in the world in 2008, has embarked on a huge social development campaign. The education ministry wants to dramatically improve their current English language education programs, urging the study of English to improve trade, and mandating the study of English for high school students. Therefore, Vietnam has attracted thousands of English teachers from the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom in recent years. “It’s a huge laboratory for teaching methods,” notes an English teacher who lives in Hanoi.
EFL teachers continue to bring communicative techniques and direct learning methods to more and more Vietnamese students. Yet another exceptional educator working in Vietnam has also warned me that preparing for standardized testing and drill-and-kill grammar exercises remain the rule in most English classrooms. Quality EFL and ESL materials – especially for student-centered, communicative classrooms – apparently remain relatively scarce. Naturally, I will learn more during my upcoming trip to Vietnam where I will observe teachers and lead a workshop on creating more student-centered conversation materials.
It’s also the type of activity that has made Compelling Conversations popular. So far, student word of mouth, popular CATESOL conference workshops, and satisfied English teachers have lead to Compelling Conversations being used in English language classrooms in over 40 countries. ESL author Hall Houston, in long English Teaching Professional review noted, “In sum, Compelling Conversations is a recommended resource for teachers who want to make their conversation classes more learner-centered…It reflects both authors’ considerable professional experience, and would be a notable addition to any English teacher’s bookshelf. ” Hall Houston, the book reviewer, is also the writer of The Creative Classroom: Teaching Languages Outside the Box.
We live in a wonderful time to teach English, and somehow I suspect that Compelling Conversations will soon find an audience in Vietnam.
