The Little Red Book: Teaching Esl in China

By Frank Black and Susan Black

Susan and Frank Black provide you with their discovery about teaching English as a second language in China - mainly that communism is alive and well structured in the classroom and that's a good thing.

Classroom structure is something that anyone planning to teach in China, and everyone who is already doing it, should know about. Even the best designed lesson plan will not play if your students are not recognized for who they are: duty-driven, study-driven citizens of their Motherland.

Another critical fact revealed is contained in the chapter: 'Who's Who in the Chinese Classroom?'. You will learn the truth about the classroom Monitor and about his or her duty to serve you, the Foreign Expert. There are many students ready to assist you in the classroom and this book reveals who they are and how they can be of help to you. The chapter on 'Teaching Group Work in China' lays out a first-of-its-kind real-life lesson plan for both skeptics and adventurous types.

All the characters in this book are real, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is not coincidental. You will meet 'Midnight Runners' who sneak off into the night and Chinese English teachers who wish they could. You'll meet students who have a profound feeling of duty to their teachers and other students who don't. You will discover what some students believe about learning English as a second language and how their motives can help you facilitate a great class. The Little Red Book Teaching ESL in China is your official guide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: May 15, 2009
• ISBN: 9781426980442

Frank Black

Susan, born in Sudbury, Ontario, and Frank, born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, met and married in Port McNeill, a small town on North Vancouver Island. Susan, the computer software trainer, and Frank, the town gardener for Port McNeill, spent their first year on Frank's twelve metre sailboat. New dreams drove them to get TESOL certified through Global TESOL College. To kick off teaching English as a second other language, they held classes at the local North Island College with a variety of students from all parts of the world. They chose China as their first overseas destination. Both coming from varied backgrounds, adding one more adventure was an easy accomplishment. Frank, a sketch artist, carver, amateur actor, and musician, used these talents to teach in China. Susan, has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Information Systems and a Certificate in Adult Continuing Education. Her writing experience provided her the confidence to partner with her husband to develop this book. Susan and Frank Black live in Campbell River, British Columbia.

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© Copyright 2008 Susan Black and Frank Black.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Illustrated and Cover Design / Artwork by: Frank Black

Edited by: Elaine Spencer and Lori King

Computer Graphics by: Ashley B. Porter

Note for Librarians: A cataloguing record for this book is available from Library and Archives Canada at www.collectionscanada.ca/amicus/index-e.html

ISBN: 978-1-4251-5915-3

ISBN13: 978-1-4269-8044-2 (ebook)

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Contents

Introduction

I    Who ‘sWho in the    Classroom?

II    An Intimate    Look, at Chinese    Students

III    What Chinese    Students ‘Believe    About Learning    English

IV    The International    Cooperative Class

V   For your Information

VI    Confessions from China

VII    Touching Group    Work in China: A    Real-Life Lesson    Plan

Bibliography

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Susan, born in Sudbury, Ontario, and Frank, born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, met and married fifty years later in Port McNeill, a small town on North Vancouver Island. Susan, the computer software trainer, and Frank, the town gardener for Port McNeill, spent their first year together on Frank’s twelve metre sailboat.

New life and new dreams drove them to get TESOL certified through Global TESOL College. To kick off teaching English as a second other language, they held classes at the local North Island College instructing students from all parts of the world. They chose China as an overseas destination. Why China? It was the chance to introduce the Bahai Faith as pioneers and they’d never been there. Both having come from varied backgrounds and having had many career changes, adding one more seemed an easy decision.

Frank, an experienced Bahai travel teacher, free-hand sketch artist, carver, and amateur actor, added music to his many interests and uses these talents to teach in China.

Susan, a graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, holds a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Certificate in Adult Continuing Education. Her long history of teaching provides her the confidence to partner with her husband to develop this book. Frank and Susan Black live and teach in China.

The Little Red

Book

TEACHING ESL IN CHINA

Susan Black and Frank Black

We wish to dedicate this book to our parents, Armand and Cecile Regimbal, and Andrew and Francis Black, the people who helped us get on the road of life.

And

To our many dear Chinese friends who always gave of their time to assist us in our learning experience in China.

Introduction

In every classroom in every senior middle school in China there is a leader known as the Teacher. There is also a Monitor, several Group Leaders, Subject Study Leaders including an English Study Leader, a Student on Duty, a Classroom Observer and, if you’re lucky, a Computer Study Leader. The classroom in China is firmly structured and follows the communist philosophy of duty.

This book reveals the structure of the senior middle school classroom in China and also the traits of students in those classrooms. You will gain credible insight into the duties and responsibilities of the students including what students believe about learning a foreign language and how TESOL teachers fit into the top-heavy bureaucratic school system in China. TESOL standsfor Teaching English as a Second Other Language. It can also stand for treating every student out of love. The students are your primary target market and knowing who they are will provide you the confidence to deal with every scenario tossed your way.

The Little Red Book Teaching ESL in China also lays out an exclusive lesson plan on teaching group work to students in China; a phenomenon that has been thoroughly researched but never enacted says Mr. Chen, a professor at the School of Foreign Studies, South China Normal University in Beijing. The Little Red Book presents a story titled Communism in the Classroom, but the book is not about communism, it’s about how the communist system dictates the structure in the Chinese classroom. It has to do with the specific duties of students and the student culture in a typical Chinese senior middle school and how knowing the classroom culture and the roles of the students can help you become a true foreign expert. The structured philosophy of Chairman Mao Tse Tung, the former leader of the People’s Republic of China, is alive in the Chinese classroom and that structure and philosophy affects your job as a teacher in China. The Little Red Book introduces you to the students whose duty it is to observe and report on the conduct of other students and you, their teacher. You’ll also meet a selection of English teachers, including a native speaker who makes a midnight run, and a Chinese English teacher who wishes she could.

Image390.JPG

Fishing in Yichang

I

Who ‘sWho in the

Classroom?

From the Son of Heaven down the mass of the

people, all must consider

the cultivation of the person the root

of everything besides.

-Confucius

Image407.JPG

Figure 1 Structure of the classroom in China

THE TEACHER ACCORDING TO CONFUCIUS

The Teacher in China is still a respected individual held over from the ancient Confucius philosophy days. In the history of Chinese education, Confucius was the exemplary model of all teachers, symbolizing his dictum, educate all without discrimination, and teach according to the abilities of one’s students. Using the six arts of rites, music, archery, chariot driving, learning (including reading and writing), and mathematics, Confucius had more than three thousand disciples during his lifetime. In practice of his philosophy, the Sage never refused a student because of his class or character, requiring only that his pupils possess a sincere desire to learn.

During the crisis of the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius sought to end the chaos of the times. Believing this disorder to be a reflection of declining morals in society, he carefully toured the various warring Chinese states to advise rulers and officials on the merits of ethical rule. In his later years, Confucius reorganized the ancient Chinese texts, thus laying a solid foundation for China’s enduring civilization. In 1939 the Ministry of Education marked that Confucius’ birthday would be celebrated on August 28, and designated it as Teachers’ Day as well as a national holiday to remember Confucius’ enormous contribution to Chinese culture and society. The date was changed to September 28 in 1952 in accordance with