English Education In China

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Aniu

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Dear all:
I registered to the forum several days ago, and find this Editing & Writing Topics are very useful because people can submit the whole article and receive advices from other people. Today I just try to submit my writing for practice, everyone are welcome to give advices. My English is poor. Below is my essay.
English Education In China​
If somebody asks the question: which course do the Chinese students spend the most time on? The answer is English. And even after you graduate and get a job, you will still need to spend certain time on English study. However, I have to say, the English education is not successful in China. So, what are the reasons?
First, I think we lack enough qualified English teachers. For examples, as other Chinese students in my age, I began to study English in my junior high school as an obligation when I was 12 year’s old. At that time, my English teacher was only 18, just graduated from senior high school. In rural area, most of the English teachers have never traveled abroad, or spoken to any foreign people in English. So they can only teach you how to recite the textbook, but can’t tell you how to read the original English newspaper, how to write in a properly and how to speak English in a practical way, all of which are very important for the kids who start to learn a new language.
Second, the evaluation system for English education in China is not effective. Almost all of the students are judged by the standardized exam. In this kind of test, for a certain question, students just need to pick one correct answer out of several given choices. The worse thing is that, some teachers even teach their students how to pick up the correct choice by without reading the question completely. By this way, it trend to train a lot students who can get a high score in the English test, but can not read, write and speak English correctly. For example, when came to US the first time, a housekeeper in our building asked me, “how are you doing?” I replied, “I am doing nothing.”
[FONT=&quot]Fortunately, the Education department is aware these kinds of defects. It is said that new policies have been released to increase the role of writing, reading, listening and oral English in both English study and exam. It also requires that the students are able to read English new paper, listening foreign radio and talk to forei[/FONT][FONT=&quot]gn people in a basic way. On the other hand, more qualified teachers are trained.
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Aniu

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Any suggestion and help? Please! Do not discourage a rookie's spirit.
 

Amigos4

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Aniu,

Welcome to the Forum!

It is difficult for us to correct an entire essay that is presented in the Forum. To be candid, most of the native speakers would rather attempt to respond to as many postings as time allows, rather than focusing on one very long posting.

With this in mind, I have selected a portion of your essay that I believe needs to be re-worked. Please edit it and re-submit it for the group to respond.

By this way, it trend to train a lot students who can get a high score in the English test, but can not read, write and speak English correctly. For example, when came to US the first time, a housekeeper in our building asked me, “how are you doing?” I replied, “I am doing nothing.”

Cheers,
Amigos4
 

Anglika

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It's also Christmas time and many of us have other (possibly more important) things on our minds!
 

Aniu

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Amigos4, thanks for your response and explanation of the forum culture!
Anglika, thank you too! Maybe I am too anxious, need a bit of patience. But if my previous poster (just a joke) does offend anybody, I want to express my apology here. Enjoy your holiday!
I rewrote a portion of my essay, and thanks in advance for any suggestions!
In this way, the students may become more competitive in taking English exam, instead of in reading, writing or speaking this language in the real world. For example, I even didn’t know how to response to a brief greeting when I came to US for the first time. “How are you doing?” a housekeeper spoke to me. “I am doing nothing.” I replied.

Aniu
 

Amigos4

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Amigos4, thanks for your response and explanation of the forum culture!
Anglika, thank you too! Maybe I am too anxious, need a bit of patience. But if my previous poster (just a joke) does offend anybody, I want to express my apology here. Enjoy your holiday!
I rewrote a portion of my essay, and thanks in advance for any suggestions!
In this way, the students may become more competitive in taking English exam, instead of in reading, writing or speaking this language in the real world. For example, I even didn’t know how to response to a brief greeting when I came to US for the first time. “How are you doing?” a housekeeper spoke to me. “I am doing nothing.” I replied.

Aniu

Hi, Aniu!

Your re-write is nicely done! I can tell that you put a lot of thought into the assignment that I gave you! :)

Please read the following paragraph and let me know if it captures the essence of your premise that English instruction in China is not focused on 'real world' experiences.

Second, the evaluation system for English education in China is not effective. Almost all of the students are judged by the standardized exam. For this kind of test, students just need to select one correct answer from several possible choices. The worst thing is that some teachers even teach their students how to pick the correct choice without having to read the question completely. In this way, the students may become more competitive in taking English exams but they are not learning how to read, write, or speak English in the world that exists beyond the classroom. For example, the first time I visited the United States I didn't know how to respond to a brief greeting from a housekeeper. "How are you doing?", she asked. "I am doing nothing", I replied.

Aniu, the paragraph above is still in rough format and in need of some minor editing. However, I think you can get the idea from what is written.

I hope this helps!

Good luck!

Cheers,
Amigos4
 

Aniu

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Amigos4,
Thanks for your help and encouragement! It helps a lot. Your revision did not abandon the essence of my premise. It also gives me the ideal for how to rewrite other part of my essay.

Best wishes,
Aniu
 
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Amigos4

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Amigos4,
Thanks for your help and encouragement! It helps a lot. Your revision did not abandon the essence of my premise. It also gives me the ideal for how to rewrite other part of my essay.

Best wishes,
Aniu

Aniu,

I am happy to help you.

A friendly suggestion: change 'ideal' to 'idea'. "It also gives me ideas for how to rewrite other part(s) of my essay.

I'd enjoy seeing some of your corrections!

Enjoy!

Cheers,
Amigos4
 

obow

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Aniu, I have made a new revision of your original post and I have kept those changes to the minimum, see what you think.
====================

If you ask the Chinese students which course they have spent the most time on during the college, the answer would be English. And even after they graduate and get a job, they will still spend the time on English study. However, I have to say, the English education is not successful in China. So, what are the reasons?

First, I think there is a lack of qualified English teachers in China. For example, like many other Chinese students in my age group, I began to study English when I was a 12 year-old kid, attending the junior high school where English is compulsory. At that time, my English teacher was only 18, just graduated from senior high school without any qualifications in teaching or English. In the rural area, most of the English teachers have never travelled abroad, nor spoken to any foreigners. So teachers can only tell you how to recite from the textbook, but can’t teach you how to read the English newspapers, how to write correctly and speak properly, all of which are very important for the kids when they first start to learn a new language.

Second, the evaluation system for English education in China is not effective. Students are judged by exams. And, for certain questions in any test, students just need to pick one answer from the given choices. And worse still, some teachers even teach their students how to pick up the correct choice without even reading or understanding the question. In a way, the system is turning out students who can get a high score in the test, but who can not read, write and speak. As a result, when I came to US the first time, a housekeeper in our building asked me, “how are you doing?” I replied, “I am doing nothing!”

Fortunately, the state Education Department is aware of those defects in the system. New policies have been introduced to increase the role of writing, reading, listening and speaking in both teaching and tests. Students are required to be able to read English newspapers, listen to foreign radios and have short conversations with foreign nationals. Meanwhile, more graduates are being trained to be qualified English teachers.
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Some explanations for my changes:

The 1st Paragraph:
Get “you” the reader involved with the simple imaginary task of asking the question, not The “somebody”. If "somebody" asked other people the question, then it is somebody's business to find out the answer.
As the answer to the reader's "question" could be “English” or any other subjects, so use “would be” instead of “is” because there is no definite answer.
Use “they” to refer to the students/graduates and state the fact of their prolonged learning process. If you put "you", the reader, in the shoes of Chinese students at this stage as "And even after you graduate and get a job, you will still need ......", which could put the reader into an uncomfortable sennario because most readers have no understanding of the education or employment systems in China.

The 2nd Paragraph:
Either you say “lack ...” or “don’t have enough ...” but not “lack enough ...” because “lack” means “don’t have enough”.It would be better if you say “I think there is a lack of qualified English teachers in China instead of “I think we lack ……”. Here you are carrying out the analysis to support your argument, ie., "English education is not successful in China", and you should stay impartial and view the issue from the distance, rationally with sounded reasoning.

You didn't make it clear whether English was a compulsory subject only in your junior school or in other schools as well.
Even your English teachers in China have never travelled abroad, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are not good teachers, so you use "never traveled abroad, or spoken to any foreign people in English" to support your argument, which I am afraid is flawed.
You could have also given us some proof why the English teaching in your school was inadequate, by simply providing additional information like my English teacher was only 18, just graduated from senior high school without any qualifications in teaching or English, and my school was supposedly to have the best qualified teaching staff in the whole county!”

The 3rd Paragraph
There are some grammar errors, spelling mistakes as well as missing words, and things are messy and not described clearly.
I did some general tidy-up and also made following changes:
In this kind of test, for a certain question ==> for certain questions in any test. I am sure there are many (not only "certain") questions in any of those tests, where you will get the multiple choices.
The worse thing is that ==> And worse still,
By this way, it trend to train a lot students who ... ==> In a way, the system is turning out students who ...
For example ==> As a result (of the education you went through, you made the howler in your first visit to the states)
when came to US ==> when I came to US

4th Paragraph
to read English new paper, listening foreign radio and talk to foreign people in a basic way ==> to read English newspapers, listen to foreign radios and have short conversations with foreign nationals.
So the above sentence appears more consistent. By the way, how do you talk to people "in a basic way"? And you don't have a "basic" conversation/talk with someone, you have a "short, brief, long, private, friendly, secret, intimate, emotional, confidential..., or whatsoever" ones.
"new paper" ==> "newspaper"
“On the other hand” is not appropriate here, in addition would be better.
You don’t say “more qualified teachers are trained”. If they are already the “qualified teachers”, why do you train them?
more qualified teachers are trained ==> more graduates are being trained to be qualified English teachers


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obow

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Aniu,

I am sorry that my last post is too long, and I posted my message without realizing that you have already made the update.

I have never been an English teacher and have no experience whatsoever of teaching any language, so obviously I am not the best person to advise you on how to write correctly in English.

Anyway, I had the pleasure of going through the Chinese education system, from the nursery to university, some 20 years ago, so I might be able to identify with and share some of those issues raised in your post though to be honest I have no answers nor solutions to the root cause of the deficient yet profligate nature of the foreign language teachings in China.
 
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