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Teaching Chinese children is one of the most enjoyable teaching tasks. I have taught or trained people for most of my working life - people of all ages and from many different backgrounds ¨C but teaching Chinese children in primary school is very special. They are so interested in you, they want to be your friend and they maintain that friendship as they progress through their grades. But what is the role of a foreign English teacher in a Shanghai primary school? I think there are three important objectives that a foreign English teacher should try to achieve. Firstly, they must provide a role model for children to copy to improve pronunciation; secondly, they must develop confidence when using English; and thirdly, provide an environment to use English away from the English classroom. Let us look at the first of these ¨C to provide a role model for students to copy. The system in Shanghai encourages a view that pronunciation is all about making the right sounds. However, the truth is that native English speakers vary greatly in the actual sounds made. The emphasis should be more on language rhythm. This is the area which increases clarity and understanding in verbal communication. Language rhythm is a combination of syllable stress, key word emphasis and the correct use of the pause. Language rhythm is to the English language what tone is to the Chinese language, and it is the major difference between European languages and Asian languages. It is important that the foreign teacher develops these skills in their students. Unfortunately most Chinese English teachers have poorly developed skills in this area with the consequence that the problem is perpetuated. The second objective is the development of confidence. Practice and confidence go hand in hand. The more you practice, the more confident you become; the more confident you become, the more you want to practice. Primary school children usually have a natural confidence that the foreign teacher can take advantage of. Class size is often a problem. A class of 30 children with the class duration of 35 minutes represents a limited opportunity to develop confidence very quickly, but significant progress can be seen over time if the teacher is aware of the objective and uses the necessary techniques in the classroom on a regular basis. Chinese students usually don¡¯t have enough opportunity to practice and develop confidence, and this is an area where the foreign teacher can make a real contribution. The third objective is to provide an opportunity for students to use their English skills away from the English classroom. The best way to develop language skills is to have the chance to use the language in your day to day life, or when involved in other activities. Schools can best do this by scheduling the foreign teacher to teach other subjects besides English. Art, Music and P.E. are very suitable for this purpose. Students enjoy these subjects and there is less pressure on them to learn a specific curriculum. While it is still necessary for the students to learn some new vocabulary relevant to the subject, the emphasis is to communicate with the language that they already know. What can the school and the teachers do to create a good environment to ensure that these objectives are met to a satisfactory level. I believe that the single most important factor is the level of collaboration between the foreign teacher and the Chinese teacher. It is necessary at several levels. First, the foreign teacher needs to regularly discuss the Chinese teacher¡¯s curriculum and understand the Chinese teacher¡¯s objective for each semester. Equally, the Chinese teacher needs to be fully aware of the foreign teacher¡¯s plans and objectives. If there is a high level of cooperation between the teachers, the foreign teacher can focus oral work on the language structures and vocabulary familiar to the class, and the Chinese teacher can reinforce and explain the structures taught by the foreign teacher. The ideal situation is where the Chinese teacher attends and assists in all the foreign teachers¡¯ classes. It is also important that the teacher keeps parents informed of the program objectives. Parents need to understand why the foreign teacher is usually using a different approach to the Chinese teacher. Discipline can be a problem when no Chinese teacher is present. All children have very high energy and enthusiasm levels, and the foreign teacher has to focus this energy to the tasks involved. It only takes a couple of students to disrupt the class for all the other students. Generally this is only a problem in grade 1 as they are still learning concepts of school discipline. Nevertheless, regardless of the grade, best results are achieved when a Chinese teacher attends the class. Prepare a balanced teaching plan for each class. Each class needs a balance between structured activities which reinforce and provide practice for each student to use and learn correct structures (e.g. repetition and substitution) and activities which ¡®entertain¡¯ and provide a more relaxing opportunity to use language already learnt. Finally, it is always better to demonstrate language that the students can copy than to explain language. An explanation will often confuse young students whereas a demonstration provides them with something they can copy, and eventually learn and understand. This approach is similar to the old adage ¨C ¡®one picture is worth a thousand words¡¯. |
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