Is Bi-lingual Mandarin / English skills an advantage in Teaching in China ?

[LA Guy]

Hi all,

I just saw a English High School for Chinese students in southern China advertising for a bi-lingual Chinese / English teacher.

They mentioned that they are not having the best results with their English speaking staff.

I don't know the details of this ( please don't ask ).

My question is in the classroom or in conversation, how important or necessary is it to have "instant translation" to the local language to

help explain something ? For example, the Chinese teacher could write the Chinese equivalent right next to the English.

This is something the student would do anyway and would have to try and look it up in their dictionary later.

I believe that once a student "gets lost" in the discussion meaning then they will "tune out" and no further learning can be accomplished.

Bi-lingual teaching has been controversial in the US for Spanish speaking students who still fail to acheive as well as other students.

Some attribute this to the lack of complete English only language immersion.

I think that some schools might use "white face" teachers as a sign of prestige and legitimacy of their English program.

But, there must be a need for foreign born / trained Asian bi-lingual teachers that can facilitate learning above the grammar school levels.

I hope those with the teaching expertise can enlighten me ? hopefully a bi-lingual teacher will chime in ?

Thanks, LA Guy

[gato]

You want to be a teaching assistant in China? Is that the question?

[Kiz]

I don't know about teaching. But I was and still a student. In China "instant translation" is kind of a routine thing. Every English class, teachers do the same thing. Learning a foreign language is different from the native language. If the teacher don't give the Chinese version of the English he/she just said or wrote, then students may not find out if they are right or wrong(and you should know most Chinese student are too shy to inquire if they are right or not, or just don't care at all). If they are wrong, and the teacher didn't correct them in time, they may never find the right answers before exams. The most important thing is that Chinese students don't listen to English or speaks English all day. Unlike native language, they can correct themselves by notice the difference between they use it wrongly and others use it right. We learn native language by practice and daily use, which makes us good at it and know the variations and use it casually and flexibly.

And foreign born / trained bi-lingual teachers can surely teach better English. But almost all the Chinese schools focus on the performance of the students' exams.And it's all they concern of. So if you get into one of the school, your assignment might be teaching oral English, pronunciation, American slangs etc.

[Shelley]

Hi,

I have been learning chinese in the uk for the last 25 years or so and all my teachers have been bi-lingual. I find this very helpful in getting the correct translations but also for explainations about grammer, usage and meaning. The only problem with a bi-lingual teacher is the bad habit of slipping into english fo extended periods of time in the lesson. I feel my oral chinese suffered because of this. My reading and writing are good but coupled with the fact that as I am in the UK I don't have anybody to chat to, my oral chinese is lacking. If I had had to speak more chinese in class I think it would have helped. I don't know how well an only chinese speaking teacher would be at teaching only english speaking students, could be difficult. I think bi-lingual is best but needs to be disciplined about speaking more chinese in class and using english only to explain something new or complicated. I think this probably applies to any language teaching.

Shelley

[ginayang]

I don't think Bilingual teaching is necessary however I do see quite a few schools hire Chinese teacher assistant in case if foreign teacher has trouble communicating with students. I believe that students have a better understanding of English language nowadays compared with many years ago and especially in first tier cities, English is quite user friendly.

[wushijiao]

I think you'll find that many ESL/EFL teaching professionals advocate only using the target language, and that use of the students' own language is a crutch or an obstacle to better understanding. I think this point of view is correct in many, if not most, cases. If lessons are well prepared and well structured, you should be able to teach using only the target language. Indeed, one of the biggest reasons Chinese students can understand spoken English is because their English classes have been conducted in Chinese.

For foreigners teaching in China, I'd still say that it's beneficial to teach using English almost exclusively. There are a few risks in using Chinese in the classroom:

1) The students get used to it and use it as a crutch.

2) Your Chinese is not quite as accurate as you think, and you mistranslate words, or convey the wrong subtleties.

3) The teacher falls back on Chinese, without doing proper lesson planning to figure out how to convey words/concepts in English.

With that said, in my last year or so as a teacher, I'd often use a bit of Chinese every now and again. Sometimes when you want to tell students what a word means, and there's a clear one-to-one translation, and they don't seem to understand other explanations, then go ahead and use Chinese. You can also use it, sparingly, to make jokes or liven up the atmosphere.

[anonymoose]

I have taught science subjects in English in China. Foreign teachers have a Chinese teaching partner, though the foreign and Chinese teachers take classes separately. I guess the setup would depend on the specific teaching objectives. In my experience, the students were to take exams in English, and therefore, simply understanding the subject without an associated profiency in English is not enough.

I think being a bilingual teacher helps, not so much in that Chinese can be used in the classroom, but as a learner of Chinese as a second language, you can empathise much better with the problems faced by the students. I have heard other monolingual English teachers trying to explain things to students, and they often do so in such an unnecessarily complex manner that the student is totally lost by the end of the explanation.

In my opinion, if grasping the English is really crucial for the students, then it's not a good idea to translate everything for them, because then they will get used to just paying attention to the Chinese, and ignore the English. As a foreign teacher, one should speak slowly and clearly, repeat key points several times, and write down any vocabulary that the students might not be familiar with. Try to reuse the same words over and over again to make them stick better. Ask questions continuously to assess whether the students are still following or not. Give examples where possible as they will often help to reinforce and clarify aspects of the English as well as the subject matter. Review things covered previously, again to help make the English stick.

There are many ways of accomodating non-native English speaking students, but unfortunately, many foreign teachers have no concept of how to do this.

[Silent]

No teaching experience, but I'm an experienced student:)

I really don't believe in complete immersion from the beginning. As already pointed out before, especially grammar, is much easier learned when explained. When you start out learning a language your grasp of the language is too little to make this possible. Sure, you could pick up grammar in immersion, but it's less efficient than a proper explanation.

Complete immersion is imho however the best way to learn when a certain proficiency level has been reached. Preferably not just for an hour in class, better for extensive amounts of time and a wide variety of resources. I believe real proficiency is hard, if at all, achievable without living some time in a region where the language is natively spoken.

[LA Guy]

1. "I have taught science subjects in English in China. Foreign teachers have a Chinese teaching partner, though the foreign and Chinese teachers take classes separately. I guess the setup would depend on the specific teaching objectives. In my experience, the students were to take exams in English, and therefore, simply understanding the subject without an associated profiency in English is not enough."

This is a better situation for motivating students to learn. So, is it true that the students take the same class in English and Chinese. If would seem that the English class should be longer to allow for better explanations. I guess if the Chinese versio of the class is done first then the students already have learned the concepts in Chinese and then can more easily follow the same topic in English.

2. "I think being a bilingual teacher helps, not so much in that Chinese can be used in the classroom, but as a learner of Chinese as a second language, you can empathise much better with the problems faced by the students. I have heard other monolingual English teachers trying to explain things to students, and they often do so in such an unnecessarily complex manner that the student is totally lost by the end of the explanation."

Well, that position must be since you are much better at explaining the topic in English and the students have already taken the class in Chinese.

3a. "In my opinion, if grasping the English is really crucial for the students, then it's not a good idea to translate everything for them, because then they will get used to just paying attention to the Chinese, and ignore the English. "

Well, the key concepts must be understood by all

as the lesson is built on progressive understanding. So somehow the key concepts must be clear via examples, diagrams, synonyms etc.

3b. "As a foreign teacher, one should speak slowly and clearly, repeat key points several times, and write down any vocabulary that the students might not be familiar with. Try to reuse the same words over and over again to make them stick better. Ask questions continuously to assess whether the students are still following or not. Give examples where possible as they will often help to reinforce and clarify aspects of the English as well as the subject matter. Review things covered previously, again to help make the English stick."

These are excellent points that take a lot more skill and energy to teach beyond the standard lesson itself.

4. "There are many ways of accomodating non-native English speaking students, but unfortunately, many foreign teachers have no concept of how to do this."

I believe that you are correct here as it is even more difficult to teach in a situation where the students are not in their native tongue.

Thus, you are valuable teacher ! Congrats and thanks for your insight. Please feel free to expound more on what qualities are necessary.