Ma, Why Can't My English Teacher Speak English?
Ian Groves
After concentrating its work predominantly in China's eastern provinces for many years now, Amity has recently shifted its emphasis to working more in China's remote and underdeveloped western regions. This year, Amity's Education Division has placed teachers in Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for the first time. Liu Ruhong, Director of Amity's Education Division, visited these new placements in October of 2001 along with Ian Groves from Amity's Hong Kong Office.
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Amity teacher in action |
How would you feel if you sent your kids to a school where the English teacher doesn't know how to speak English?
Unfortunately, this is a reality facing many parents and their children in China today. Many middle school teachers of English in China cannot themselves speak or understand the language very well. Stories abound of teachers with miserable pronunciation who can barely make themselves understood when called upon to communicate with visiting foreigners. Such teachers pass on their shortcomings and errors to their students who, in turn, do poorly in English language tests. Many otherwise bright students often do well enough in other subjects to earn a place at a good university where they might acquire skills which would be of benefit to their local communities in the future. However, poor English language scores often drag down their grade average and thus deny them their university place.
This is not necessarily the fault of the English teacher. Many middle school teachers of English were trained a long time ago and were drilled in grammar and translation techniques, not practical communication skills. Even recent graduates often have poor oral English ability due to lack of opportunities to use the language with native speakers during their training. Hence, errors in pronunciation and comprehension abound, become fixed, and are passed on to students in turn.
Since its Teachers Program started in 1985, Amity has traditionally placed most of its teachers in Teacher Training Colleges in order to help train future teachers of English, German and Japanese. However, when Amity decided to place long-term teachers in the poorer provinces of Shanxi and Inner Mongolia this year, it decided to take a different approach. Instead of training future teachers, Amity is offering in-service training programs to existing middle school teachers of English in these provinces. Amity is seeking to upgrade the oral English and teaching methodology skills of these teachers in the hope of raising the overall English teaching level in these areas.
As with all its projects, Amity is working closely with local partners to make its in-service training programs function well. Amity provides support in the form of supplying foreign teachers and also offering a small subsidy to students. Local education bureaus provide housing and teaching facilities for Amity's teachers and also undertake to recruit middle school teacher "students" for the program. The middle school teachers' expenses are covered by their home middle schools which will ultimately benefit when their teachers return with upgraded English language and teaching skills. The in-service training programs run for one term (half a year) and Amity stipulates that a minimum of 40 students must be enrolled each program for the project to be financially sustainable.
As with any new projects, these new in-service training programs have not been without their fair share of problems so far. Middle school teachers are a "rare commodity" in many areas of China and middle school heads are often loathe to let their precious teachers go, even for only one term and for the benefit of the school in the long run. Many middle schools are also very short of funds and cannot spare any money to pay for further training for their teachers. Furthermore, Amity is not really known in these new areas and middle school heads are unwilling to send their teachers to an organization they've never heard of for training which is of uncertain value.
As a result, local education bureaus have been struggling to recruit for Amity's new programs. In each of the areas where Amity is running its new in-service training programs it is estimated that there are somewhere between 2000 and 4000 middle school English teachers in need of further training. However, in Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia, only 32 students have enrolled for the first program. In Yuncheng in Shanxi province the programs have had to be shortened from one term to one month as middle school teachers cannot be released for any longer there. 23 teachers enrolled for the first month and 19 for the second month, well below Amity's target of 40 teachers per program.
In its initial evaluation of these new in-service training programs, Amity held frank discussions with local education bureaus about the long-term feasibility of the programs in light of recruitment problems. In each place, Amity found a strong determination on the part of local authorities to make the programs work. In Yuncheng, the city mayor herself met with Amity and pledged municipal funds to enable the program to be offered at a greatly reduced cost during its first few months. In Hohhot the local education authority has pledged to underwrite the program fully, making up any initial financial losses due to low recruitment numbers and putting its weight and authority behind future recruitment drives. The overwhelming feeling is that there is a great need for this kind of program but that it takes time for it to take off and gather momentum. The hope is that, as middle school teachers graduate from Amity's programs, their upgraded skills will translate into better English teaching ability and better English scores for their students. When this happens, word will quickly spread of the benefits of Amity's programs and recruitment should no longer be an issue. But, until that time, these programs need extra help to get them through their "birthing pains".
Foreign language ability is vital to China's continued development and opening up to the outside world. This has been recognized in recent years with the introduction of a new English language curriculum, syllabus and textbook for middle schools aimed at emphasizing practical oral communication skills. But there are still thousands of middle school language teachers all over China who simply do not possess these skills themselves and who therefore struggle to cope with the new materials. With its in-service training programs, Amity is seeking to address such problems and ultimately give middle school teachers and their students a better chance in the future.
