1. Introduction
In the essay, I set the English as a foreign language (EFL) context with a group of Chinese middle school students aged from fifteen to eighteen who mostly have an intermediate level of English proficiency.
The majority of these students maintain passive attitudes towards language education, reflecting an unwillingness of acquiring English knowledge. The reason why they study like 'puppets ' throughout the learning process is mainly the pressure from the Chinese society. In general, english is often assessed via a set of tests, particularly in middle schools (Li Xiaoju, 1984). In Chinese college entrance examination, English occupies a high proportion of overall scores which could determine whether you have the permission to entering premium high institutes (Anderson, 1993). Phillipson and Lam (2011) argue that due to Chinese culture which focuses on the social relations, Chinese students normally tend to produce high grades to satisfy parents ' expectation. Therefore, the motivation for learning English of these students mostly lies in the
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The first part is the theories of the CLT approach. They are the definitions made by various scholars as well as my personal views of the point. Next is the development for the CLT approach, which is constituted by the phenomenon along with the causes for such a situation. The third section introduces the expectations for what the CLT approach is expected by both teachers and students. Next comes the main aspects of the argument for the essay, they are the effects together with influence on the specific context caused by the application of the CLT approach. Finally come the probable solutions for lessening the influence caused by the limitations of the CLT approach, including improving accuracy teaching and qualifying teachers '
During the first day of ESL academy, I realized the inadequacy of my knowledge concerning the needs of ELL students and how woefully lacking my instruction had been for former students whose first language was not English. Partici...
Prior to immigrating to America, Nicole attended a public school in China where all of her teachers were Chinese natives. At Nicole’s school in China, however, English is a required course of study taught mostly by emphasizing English vocabulary, completing short one-page writing assignments, and practicing spelling. Learning English pronunciations and engaging in realistic English conversation wasn’t the goal for educators in China. The goal in China was to prepare students to pass their post-high school exam, which was their ticket into attending a university. The exam is highly demanding for Chinese students because it requires knowledge of English reading, comprehension, spelling and writing. For Nicole, the most stressful part of this exam was that students taking it
English as a communication tool holds prominent position in Chinese curriculum (Liu, 2012). Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) has seen its boost in China (Qiang & Wolff, 2007). Mastering English is an asset for students in job hunting and further education. As academic achievement is highly valued in Chinese culture, students are expected to achieve high marks in English tests (Liu, 2012). University students need to pass National English proficiency examinations, which are the part of the evaluation for obtaining degrees (Wolff, 2010). Students attend after-school English courses for enhancing their English because of the pressure (Liu, 2012). The majority of ELL students aim at improving the international English proficiency tests results, such as International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). ELL students are more motivated in the after-school English courses because of the high-target learning environment. However, the teacher-centred learning procedure neglects the long-term enhancement of students’ English level. The ignorance of the long-term development is due to less student involvement during the teaching procedure (Mo, 2012). Some Chinese ELL students choose to attend ESL courses abroad. The reasons are that they can have a better language environment (Wolff, 2010) and can engage more in the learning procedure (Smith & Hu, 2013). The aim of the study is to compare the teacher-centred teaching in China and student-centred teaching in Canada and to examine efficient teaching methods for Chinese speaking ELL
My mom would always say, “American born Chinese students have it easy in America.” One key difference between the American education system and Chinese education system is the way they are taught. Being raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I went to school to understand the idea of analyzing and understanding concepts. After reading Only Hope, I realized that their education is based on more memorizations. To Chinese students, understand the concept and apply it is not the most important, you must just memorize it for the exam. Many parents in China would say that going on vacation and relaxing is a waste of time because they need to focus on learning. In Greenspan’s article, it mentions that a student in China is the top of her class and is fluent in English, yet she cannot go on vacation because her mother wants her to spend time learning, many students in China
Monzó and Rueda (2009) conducted a study examining the concept of passing for English proficient in Latino immigrant children. They studied a group of Latino English language learners (ELLs) in and outside of school. They not only observed these students but also interviewed them as well. Within these interviews students opened up about their feelings about their first language, English, and their place in American society. Monzó and Rueda (2009) then found within their data the most common forms of passing for English proficient that these students used.
Of the several challenges that ELL students may face at school, one of the most important to remember is that these students not only have the pressure of learning at the same pace of their peers that have most likely spoken English their whole lives, but they have to do so while attempting to understand the English language. Graves' makes a paramount point on page 411 of his text where he states "it is not that English language learners come to school with a language deficit. They come with a lack of knowledge of the particular language that is used in the schools they will be attending-English."1 Therefore, it is easy to assume that even the most ready-to-learn student will have huge amounts of trouble trying to learn everything in a language that is foreign to them.
English Language Learners range from Newcomers learning survival English and developing foundational literacy skills to Long-Term English Learners who have had 6 years or more of their education in English yet continue have significant language gaps. These students may speak English with little or no accent and still lack the vocabulary, grammar and grade level literacy to be successful in school. English language learners may remain silent in the classroom as they adjust to a new school, environment, and culture unless he is a native language comrade to interact with. The English language learners are concerned about decoding verbal and non- verbal communication as well as understanding the social culture framework of the school. Most of the time English language learners are observing during instruction, trying to repeat words used by others, memorizing simple phrases and sentences, tired by midday or be frustrated attending long lectures unaccompanied by visual and gestures, relying on first language translation used peer translation or bilingual dictionary, as the students begin to learner they become more involved in the classroom, they can respond non-verbally to commands, statements, and questions in simple form. As their oral comprehension increases, they begin to use simple word and phrases and may use English spontaneously. They can understand short conversation on a simple topic when reading students can understand a narrative text and authentic materials, although they will be below
Johnson and Newport used 46 native Chinese or Korean second language learners of English who were students and faculty members at an American university. The subjects were presented together because of their native languages dissimilarity to English and lack of difference in the results of two groups. The subjects' ages differentiate between 3 and 39, when they first arrived in the US and they had lived in the target language culture for between the age of 3 and 26. According to their age of arrival in the US, t...
In today’s society, especially in the United States, most people are monolingual English speakers. As a result, these monolingual speakers are at a significant disadvantage compared to those who speak more than one language fluently. This disadvantage is crucial to realize since it is important to learn how individuals and the nation can be enhanced. Multilingual speakers have an advantage in global affairs that involve countries that speak different languages. Speaking multiple languages makes it easier to communicate with people when involved in foreign affairs. Those who speak multiple languages are also more aware of other cultures in society. Monolingual speakers are not as exposed to other cultures and have difficulty understanding or even recognizing them. Furthermore, being multilingual increases your
As a kid, be that as it may, Mr. Li said he was a shy person. Indeed, even in the wake of selecting at the mechanical building office at Lanzhou college, he thought that it was hard to pass his exams. It was in 1987, preceding a compulsory English exam, that he found that on the off chance that he yelled out his homework, he learned it more effortlessly. He came second in the yearly English exam. This is his identity as it made who he is, this may have motivated him to help the students in china and share his effective way to teach the English language. Li has helped many individual overcome the fear of pronouncing something wrong in English, shouting English helped people become better in the second language and have helped them be a step closer to better future and career. His language skills have also given him an identity that he is known by world wide, students believe he could help them teach English and that’s why students would pay so much just to attend his English class.
English was an subject that was a little difficult for me since I was a kid. Even though I was born and raised in the United States, I’ve spoken Chinese at home with barely any English before eighth grade. Therefore, my ability to practice my English to an certain extent was altered. Systematically, my chinese improved rapidly while my english crawled slowly upwards. Thus, my ability to speak and write was obstructed until I was enrolled in your class during tenth grade. Since my freshman English teacher only taught us how to write four paragraph essays, the high school standardized five paragraph essay was alien to me. However, throughout my sophomore year, you taught me vast amount on how to write an essay. Furthermore, through the books
The unprecedented global spread English has experienced in the last years has paved the way for changes in the sociolinguistic profile of the language. In addition to the fact that new varieties have emerged, the number of functional domains in which English plays a role has increased significantly (Sharma, 2008). Currently, English is not only a tool serving national purposes, but also a language institutionalised in several former British and American colonies, and a lingua franca used worldwide. This phenomenon has raised concern about the classification of World Englishes, as well as, about the need to adapt English Language Teaching (ELT) to the new reality. Assuming Kachru’s Concentric Circles Model, this paper will argue that pedagogies based on English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) would be more consistent with the functions of English in Expanding-circle countries than native-centered teaching methods. With this objective, this essay will first give an overview of Kachru’s model, secondly, it will consider the implications ELF methodologies have for classroom practices, and, finally, the advantages and drawbacks of such a pedagogy will be evaluated.
Between 69 and 90 percent of English learning students in middle school and high school are not achieving the academic proficiency to succeed in the english mainstream program. Two important reasons are (1) a lack of teacher preparation to use research-based strategies to teach academic language and curriculum content and (2) some programs offer English as a second language with a watered-down curriculum. Consequently, English language learners adopt only simplistic phrases and superficial concepts through mostly oral language as opposed to what they need to learn (Minaya). ESL students are students who move to the United States from a different country to have a better education. It is more than likely a huge, drastic change for them to go
English language has been rated as one of the most important international languages nowadays. It has been found at primary levels around the world. Teaching English as a foreign language is not an easy task and need a lot of hard work, especially for young learners. However, starting earlier is not the solution for producing better English speakers. EFL teachers of young learners have to follow some strategies and techniques to understand and teach young learners better. YL Students who aged 5-12 can not spend two or three hours sitting on chairs and listening to teachers lectures as adults do. They lose interest more quickly and less able to keep motivated on tasks for long time because these students have short attention spans and are easily distracted. YL Students will be usually learning very basic material but a skillful teacher has to design creative lessons that get students attention and participation during the class, such as moving around and speaking with one another. Interacting with each other improves their communication skills and even building confidence in using the language. In addition, young learners are generally very enthusiastic at this level about songs and games. In order to encourage everyone to participate, it is important to include your sessions with different types of songs and active games to make the lessons relaxed and fun. The teacher should be able to create different activities to encourage and activate students that everyone can enjoy learning in.
The spread of English where it used as a foreign and/or a second language may be compromised if it is replaced by another language such as Chinese or Spanish. For example, if China continues to gradually dominate the world economically, politically and technologically, its language could replace English as the major foreign language taught and learnt in various countries’ education systems because they b...