My sister taught English in China for one year several years back. All that was taught to these students was grammar, grammar, grammar. They never learned how to talk, listen, process, write or read.
She was very frustrated. She was brought in (to a university) for conversation classes. She couldn't believe how backwards the educational system was and how little she could do to help her students.
I tell my students that I want them to talk. That's one of the best way to learn, for the information to go into your brain, for you to process it, and then to say it in your own words. The catch is...they have to be talking about history...not their Saturday night escapades.
When I was growing up, in the baby-boom years, in NYC, we had 40 kids in a class, and we learned. It's a cultural thing. In those days students were expected to behave. The homogeneous groupings certainly helped. OK, the "slower" classes were smaller.
We weren't as tired. There were no family outings at night, and tv had nothing "for kids" after 9.
Some Chinese kids learn English phenomenally well despite the odds. However, as RWB pointed out, the typical Chinese student is NOT in an environment where s/he is really learning English to the point where s/he can actually, oh, speak it. Or read an authentic text. Or answer a foreigner's question with anything other than sheer terror or constricting timidity.
I have "guest-taught" (i.e. put on a talking monkey show) in classrooms that look exactly like the one above (only larger and dirtier), and I can assure you that despite their intelligence, curiosity, and drive, the vast majority of these kids are not going to become proficient English speakers.
For someone with much more experience than me in this area, try Er Ya: http://xiongmaoguan.spaces.live.com
I grew up in the suburbs, and while we didn't have 40 kids in a class, we didn't learn foreign languages well either. I studied Spanish for a few years, and all I learned was to ask "How are you?" and a song about the Puerto Rican flag.
To this day I wonder whether my Spanish teacher could speak Spanish. But I doubt it, and I don't much wonder about teachers who teach grammar without usage. I think grammar is important, but it's worthless if it isn't used. And if human language is not practical, I haven't got a clue what is.
I took English language classes, 3 hours per week, from 1st grade to "Tercer anio de bachillerato"(or 12th grade in High School) and yes, I couldn't speak English until I enrolled myself in "Clases de Conversacion" after I finished college. It took me one year to learn how to speak English. Why? Maybe because of the grammar I learned when I was a little girl, and the pressure I had to take "el TOEFL" in order to get in to CCNY(for my Masters).
In my country, all private schools have English language as part of their curriculum.
My home country is El Salvador, I teach Math B in some small high school in Brooklyn, and my students make fun of my accent. They say I sound funny when I pronounce "multiply" "focus" "schedule" and "attention".
I do believe you can learn a language that way.
Ah! I speak German also. Sometimes I get confused with the languages. I read this blog daily. I'm also product of the "Intergalactic Recruitment", as NYC Educator says it. (Sounds funny actually)
Feliz Anio Nuevo!
It's gratifying to see that it worked out for you. From what I've read, most teachers recruited from other countries turned tail and ran when they found out how much it cost to live here.
I also speak German, or did when I worked in Switzerland a few times, but now when I try to speak it it comes out half in Spanish.
Thanks very much for reading, and please feel free to comment anytime.
Y Feliz Ano Nuevo para ti tambien!
Our program back in the 80s and early 90s was about 45% Arab, 45% Japanese, and 10% everybody else. So you had a room that was half Arabs on one side of the room, and half Japanese on the other. Of course, the Arabs loved to talk in class, and the Japanese wouldn't talk if their lives depended on it, and the problem was how to get the Arabs to shut up once in a while and get the Japanese to speak, without discouraging the Arabs.
Sigh.
I understand the program is about 80% Korean now.
If you want kids who'll talk, teach Dominicans! Trust me, you'll think twice about the Chinese kids...
I've taught kids from everywhere, and I've had talkative and quiet kids from everywhere. There's nothing remarkable about noisy kids, and we ourselves produce as many as anyone. I don't attribute that to national origin, but a combination of personality and conditioning.
I have plenty of loud kids, and I find them far easier to deal with than those who are terminally quiet. There are definite consequences for disturbing my class, and the overwhelming majority of my kids know better. I personally find it far more challenging to draw out kids who are too quiet.
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