What's Relevant?

[Decurso]

Yesterday I had a meeting with the head of the English department at one of the middle schools I teach at.He complained I wasn't teaching anything relevant.Now excuse me...but I though foreign teachers were here to teach conversation,vocabulary and pronunciation.This what I teach...what else am I to do in a 40 minute class of 100 plus students.

It seems as though the English department is only interested in improving the schools scores on English exams.They could give a crap if these kids learn how to SPEAK English...so long as they can improve their test scores.I know a lot of people who've taken these tests and done well....but they can't speak English to save their lives.

And they wonder why the English level here is so awful...

[Newbs]

DC your first paragraph is clear, logically thought out and well presented. In other words it would be totally wasted on the average FAO or head of English. Sorry if that sounds a little cynical.

[Lotus Eater]

And they wonder why the English level here is so awful...

The trouble with that is that they DON"T wonder why the English is so awful. If the students pass the written tests their English is GOOD! See now??

[con's fly is open]

The horrifying dilemma. Odds are you'll have to divide up your teaching time between suping up their test scores and actually making them speak real English.

It's a shame: over the long haul, teaching them real English will pay off on the scores better than cramming them full of test crap. But they'll want instant results.

All you can do is compromise, IMHO: add in as little test-oriented horsepoo as you can to satisfy the powers-that-be, and work the kids' functional English as best you can. Actually spell out to your students the difference between these two: maybe they'll want you to focus on the good grades here and now, in which case you're giving them what you want, in which case you should sleep well at night. But maybe they'll pleasantly surprise you and want to actually communicate. Kids often have more character than their school officials, and more influence over their parents.

G'luck. Either way, you'll salvage your conscience, and you will and are doing them good.

[Mr Nobody]

Hey, I must be in heaven. My only job to make them speak better english (ok, and understand it, but here my only issue is increasing speed and a little vocab). I am so far given a free hand with my 'radical' ideas of education and so far, each class is far in front of the text, and they are learning - some are starting to think.

Yay.

And my ideas are pretty different. Haven't seen them written down yet, not even by me. I'll let you know if it works out. So far, so good, but some students are a bit bothered by such things as how I teach vocab - I don't. If they don't know a word to use, I want them to make a guess, try to describe it, and if absolutely necessary, look it look it up. Then they don't forget it, or at least, learn it in a few attemps. Memorizing lists sucks bigtime and wastes everybody's time.

I only care about communicating ideas. I want them to make mistakes. Correct them later.

I guess if I stuff up, I could be in trouble. Oh well. So far, so good.

[Wolf]

Yeah. I just tried to explain to my local Board of Education that learning a few vocabulary lists and rote phrases won't help the students put together their ideas in a real-time,c communicative enviornment where they rely on their English skills.

They were so happy with the vocab lists and rote phrases; the fact that most of my poor students could not function in English (just like the three generations of Japanese who have had mandatory EFL classes before them) did not phase them at all.

Those test scores, by the way, aren't worth a rodent's bottom in terms of getting employment with any company from most parts of the world in a job where you'll need English skills. Sure, there are far fewer such jobs than people seem to think; but there you go.

A friend of mine works for a company in Tokyo that, basically, does all their English language work for them. They submit their shockingly bad documents, and my friend's company fixes them. We're talking about world - wide household names. (Another down side being that my friend's company has the audacity to neither offer long term jobs nor a salary much higher than mine for work that they probably extort these Fortune 500s for.)

That's one of the things I've never gotten over either.

[con's fly is open]

Nobby, 'tis a rare school that will let you get away with that. Congrats.

Wolf, I swear there's a major buck to be made translating documents from Chinglish to real language. I hope to score such a gig one day.

[woza17]

Decurso my sympathies. What are you meant to be doing with a class of 100? Certainly not teaching oral English in the context of having a conversation. So forget that. I teach junior middle school, grade 2. I come up with listening exercises mainly, where they have to respond to the exercise whether it be written or verbal.
I have each class once a week and I don't feel relevant at all most of the time.

I teach children privately in small groups and this is really where the kids will learn how to communicate in English. One class that has had a private FT for nearly 2 years is just streets ahead of their peers.
The parents are smart and see the value of forking out the money

[Mr Nobody]

I just found out how come laowai don't manage to last more than one semester here. The students apparantly vote them out. They get picky and want new ones all the time.

The good news is that my 3 freshman classes (spontaneously, simultaneously and without prompting the day after I found that teachers get shown the door) told me that I am the most popular teacher. Go figure, I work them pretty hard and fast, and am quite strict.

I wonder what I am doing right? They said I was funny.....

[con's fly is open]

That was the recurrent theme of my assessments. Fewer TEFL certs, more whoopee cushions.

[Jollyjunklass]

What you are doing right is being strict, you have to be very strict with the kids here. If not you lose control and respect. They are immature, not like our University students. They are used to being spoon fed, and when given choices get lost. You have to teach them how to make choices.

I send kids home if there work is not complete, I tell them to come back when they have it in their hand. They look at me like I have lost my mind, leave the class and always seem to whip right back within 15 minutes. I also charge 1 yuan for every Chinese word I hear, and I enforce it. They are now ratting out on each other when someone whispers a Chinese word.

If they speak while someone else is reading I ask them to leave the class. I think like you Bond, if they have to think about the word it sinks in, dictionaries come later. Translators are not allowed when we are doing definitions, they are way to easy and they will forget the word the next minute. I make them use all words they look up in a sentence, to make sure they understood what they have just defined.

Strict is definitely the way to go.

[con's fly is open]

millana said:

I also charge 1 yuan for every Chinese word I hear, and I enforce it. They are now ratting out on each other when someone whispers a Chinese word.

You rock, sister.

[Decurso]

woza17 said:

Decurso my sympathies. What are you meant to be doing with a class of 100?

Why enhancing the schools reputation of course!Why else would a school pay good money for a foreign teacher?

Milana it sounds like you are doing everything right.Unfortunately I work in private school and do not have that kind of latitude.Discipline is left up to the Chinese Teachers...most of them suck at it.Probably because they are afraid the school will lose students if they are too strict.

[Mr Nobody]

the students in my school couldn't afford ti and if they could, I would at least double my income.