kiddie english competition
It snowed yesterday and after we, the residents of Lanzhou, had collectively ground it into a gray mush, it froze into a solid sheet of ice covering most streets and sidewalks around the city. Walking to class this morning through the single-digit cold was dangerous as I had to avoid the many chinese ladies, apparently unwilling to give up their heels, who went flying; shoes, vegetables, and papers every which way.
Last week I spent two afternoons judging an English competition. The ages of the students ranged from around 6 to 12 year olds. The first day, with the young ones, was pretty priceless. Tucked in, two to a seat, they filled the auditorium. They each recited a little story, sang a little song, and answered two of the pre-provided questions that I asked them. They were adorable, but it really provided a lot of insight into the background of my students. Something which, when we have the energy, we all fight, is the habit of our students to say Nice to meet you every time we see them. Nice to see you again seems a lost cause. Even my senior english majors will slip up in this little way if I catch them by surprise on the street. Doesn't seem like a big thing, I know, but when everyone you see always says nice to meet you, even those you see daily, it can suddenly seem like a looming grammatical point. ANYWAY, a provided "question" for me to ask these litt'luns was Nice to meet you. The answer we were looking for I presume being Thank you. Nice to meet you too. Other 'questions' in the same vein were Happy Teachers' Day. Real questions were more like holding up a few fingers and asking how many? Not how many fingers mind you. I got yelled out for that. They haven't learned the word fingers yet. And if it's not on their vocabulary lists, there's obviously no way the kids could understand, even with me wiggling my fingers and pointing at them. Well, talking about contextual learning had no place in the middle of the competition I guess.
With the older kids, the next day, I asked each of them 2-3 questions that I took from the story they recited. They probably hate me. There were few that they considered appropriately easy -- one student even said "that question is too difficult, please give me another." Someone coached her I suppose. But the thing was, they weren't hard at all... they just addressed the content of the stories, something only a few of the students were familiar with. It was frustrating for me because I think a ten year old telling a 1-2 minute story should also be required to know what they are talking about! It's a very different system over here. And yet I can't totally dismiss it because my students have enormous vocabularies and grammatical backgrounds in English, allowing me to have fun with the real communicative aspects of the language in my classes. And there is a significant difference in ability from year to year, so something is working.
Another thing which I found interesting is the degree of tracking -- each grade had around 7 classes, and the brightest/best students are in class 1, the next best in class 2, and so on. This is something that continues straight through to University. And the difference between classes is clear even among the 6 year olds, only increasing in effect among the older children. Really drove home the arguments for inclusion in classes. Students pegged to a lower numbered class in early childhood are likely to stay there right through to the level that I teach at, affecting their goals and achievements at every turn.
From a western point of view, this educational system seems stifling and almost backward at moments, apparently valuing the perkiness of an english "performance" over content, originality and communication. But it's really not that simple at all. Chinese students outperform American students in most (all?) academic areas, and by not-slim margins. They have a discipline, dedication, and respect for academics which is lacking in the states. Here it is inculcated at a very young age through constant competition, ranking, formalized testing. Three of the least inspiring methods of evaluation, and yet, successfull in many respects. Some sort of compromise between Eastern and Western education seems like an important concept, particularly as we at home seek pretty desperately to rehabilitate the American school system. And in that context, I think the wave of new charter schools in the states seems on the right track. They, like the chinese, have many extra hours built into the school day, teach discipline and scholastic 'attitude' as they teach regular subjects. But they also keep more western standards of fostering intellectual curiosity and multi-cultural conciousness, things I find lacking in many of my Chinese students, though only because they haven't been a part of their education.
Anyway, just a few thoughts as I keep puzzling things out over here.
Last week I spent two afternoons judging an English competition. The ages of the students ranged from around 6 to 12 year olds. The first day, with the young ones, was pretty priceless. Tucked in, two to a seat, they filled the auditorium. They each recited a little story, sang a little song, and answered two of the pre-provided questions that I asked them. They were adorable, but it really provided a lot of insight into the background of my students. Something which, when we have the energy, we all fight, is the habit of our students to say Nice to meet you every time we see them. Nice to see you again seems a lost cause. Even my senior english majors will slip up in this little way if I catch them by surprise on the street. Doesn't seem like a big thing, I know, but when everyone you see always says nice to meet you, even those you see daily, it can suddenly seem like a looming grammatical point. ANYWAY, a provided "question" for me to ask these litt'luns was Nice to meet you. The answer we were looking for I presume being Thank you. Nice to meet you too. Other 'questions' in the same vein were Happy Teachers' Day. Real questions were more like holding up a few fingers and asking how many? Not how many fingers mind you. I got yelled out for that. They haven't learned the word fingers yet. And if it's not on their vocabulary lists, there's obviously no way the kids could understand, even with me wiggling my fingers and pointing at them. Well, talking about contextual learning had no place in the middle of the competition I guess.
With the older kids, the next day, I asked each of them 2-3 questions that I took from the story they recited. They probably hate me. There were few that they considered appropriately easy -- one student even said "that question is too difficult, please give me another." Someone coached her I suppose. But the thing was, they weren't hard at all... they just addressed the content of the stories, something only a few of the students were familiar with. It was frustrating for me because I think a ten year old telling a 1-2 minute story should also be required to know what they are talking about! It's a very different system over here. And yet I can't totally dismiss it because my students have enormous vocabularies and grammatical backgrounds in English, allowing me to have fun with the real communicative aspects of the language in my classes. And there is a significant difference in ability from year to year, so something is working.
Another thing which I found interesting is the degree of tracking -- each grade had around 7 classes, and the brightest/best students are in class 1, the next best in class 2, and so on. This is something that continues straight through to University. And the difference between classes is clear even among the 6 year olds, only increasing in effect among the older children. Really drove home the arguments for inclusion in classes. Students pegged to a lower numbered class in early childhood are likely to stay there right through to the level that I teach at, affecting their goals and achievements at every turn.
From a western point of view, this educational system seems stifling and almost backward at moments, apparently valuing the perkiness of an english "performance" over content, originality and communication. But it's really not that simple at all. Chinese students outperform American students in most (all?) academic areas, and by not-slim margins. They have a discipline, dedication, and respect for academics which is lacking in the states. Here it is inculcated at a very young age through constant competition, ranking, formalized testing. Three of the least inspiring methods of evaluation, and yet, successfull in many respects. Some sort of compromise between Eastern and Western education seems like an important concept, particularly as we at home seek pretty desperately to rehabilitate the American school system. And in that context, I think the wave of new charter schools in the states seems on the right track. They, like the chinese, have many extra hours built into the school day, teach discipline and scholastic 'attitude' as they teach regular subjects. But they also keep more western standards of fostering intellectual curiosity and multi-cultural conciousness, things I find lacking in many of my Chinese students, though only because they haven't been a part of their education.
Anyway, just a few thoughts as I keep puzzling things out over here.
posted by Kristen at
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home