Unless you are following an ESL or similar program of teaching English in China, "Oral English" Classes in China (only from my observations and experiences in Hubei Province), have no structure other than might be provided by the foreign teacher. In Hubei at least, one hears from foreigners that Oral English class tends to be something of a joke.

From my own experience of teaching students who have already had 5 - 9 years of English teaching (with up to 10 classes per week in Senior High School), generally speaking  students are not capable of 'demonstrating' any ability to have even the simplest conversations, and have no interest in formal English teaching programs.

Someone is bound to write me and complain about these statements, but I think that it is fair to say that when 2nd year university students do not even know in English how to ask for permission to go to the Toilet, that their English conversational abilities are sadly lacking.

I am well aware that many foreign teachers find it too difficult to do anything worthwhile in class, and succumb to student demands for games, songs and entertainment. I myself have on numerous occasions been instructed to run my classes that way. Unfortunately for me (and for the students), I did not come to China with ultruistic motives, nor any desire to 'see China', and I certainly never had any intention of remaining in this country beyond that first year.

I was talked into coming to China by my brother who insisted that I put a stop to my unrestrained spending and travelling. I had quit working 18 months earlier to devote my time to writing, and with no schedule in hand to return to the workplace, had additionally used my 'free' time to travel.

Agreeing with his logic, I agreed to travel to China for just one year and be paid for seeing a foreign country. When I got here, two things happened.  Firstly , I saw a tremendous desire on the part of about 30% of my students, to really improve their English, and secondly, I fell in love with the place. Only these two things have kept me in China. Should the time come when I lose one or the other of these motivations, I am out of here!

Because I was primarily motivated by the needs of the Students, and because I really do want these kids to fulfil their potential and be equipped for a financially secure future, I have devoted a great deal of time and energy to developing successful methods of breaking through the Cultural Mentality, so that students do progress in their endeavours, and consequently, I do not lose my love of the job.

Cultural Mentality includes such attitudes as:

• Passing English Grammar Tests is the only thing that is important
  I will speak English when I can do it perfectly
  I am afraid to make mistakes and lose face
  I am too shy to speak
  I have nothing to say
  I want you to make me 'feel good' in class
  I want to be entertained
  Oral English class is about the foreigner talking

In the hope of reaching more students than my individual teaching contracts permit, in Summer last year, I began to publish at King's Calendar, articles designed to help those students who are serious about Conversational English. To date I have published 15 articles, and today, I want to present one of them to you. The article title is:

For Chinese Students Learning English: What is the Foreign Teacher's Job.

This is the 12th article in this series that I have published at King's Calendar in relation to teaching Chinese students to speak English, but it is perhaps, the most important.

In this article, I present my own opinions about the Foreign Teacher's job description, and will discuss why my opinion and therefore my approach to teaching English is important.

What do the Students think is my Job? When one asks students to describe the foreign teachers job, they reply with one or more of the following:

• 1. To teach us English
• 2. To teach us correct English
• 3. To teach us Oral grammar
• 4. To tell us about foreign culture
• 5. To Improve our English
• 6. To correct our pronunciation
• 7. To get paid a lot of money for talking talking talking

You may well laugh at that last point, but I have heard it from students. It is a great answer, and an ironic one at that. You see, in my 4 years of teaching so far, I have found that students hate to talk to the Teacher in English, and yet hate listening to the teacher talk talk talk! One day after class, a student approached me and asked: "Why did you teach us that lesson?"

I replied: "For the same reason I teach anything, because you guys won't talk, and I have to do something to earn my salary.

So the first point to notice is that Foreign Teachers are not paid to Talk Talk Talk! They are paid to help students improve their own talking. If students won't talk, the teacher has no job to do!

Looking at points 1 to 6

Point 1. To teach us English

Really? What have your other teachers been doing for the last 5 to 8 years? Foreign teachers are not there to teach you English.

Point 2.  To teach us correct English

Really? What have your grammar teachers been teaching you? Incorrect English?

Point 3. To teach us Oral English.

What does Oral mean? It means 'by mouth'. No foreigner can teach you to open your mouth and speak. If you can't do it at your age, you will never learn to do it.

Point 4. To tell us about foreign culture

Can't you learn this from a book? Western Countries are multicultural. How can a teacher from one culture teach you about other cultures? Does a foreigner really need 1 or 2 semesters at 45 or 90 minutes per lesson to teach you everything he knows about culture?

Point 5. To Improve our English

Now we are getting somewhere. But tell me: How can I improve your Spoken English? The only person who can do the improving is the student.

Point 6. To correct our pronunciation

Finally something solid. Yes! The foreign teacher can correct your pronunciation. Then again, so can listening to a tape recording!

So What is the Foreigner's Job?

All of the points listed above including point 7, have something to do with what the foreigner's job really is, but when one asks students 'how' does the foreigner achieve the task, the answers are either not forthcoming or too vague to qualify as definitive answers.

If there is one thing that I know it is that if Students really apply themselves to their grammar studies, and constantly practice speaking what they learn, they will never need a foreign teacher. Unfortunately, the percentage of students who do this is quite small.

So the Foreign Teacher's Job is To get the students to put into practice what their grammar teachers have taught them. There is only one effective way that foreign teachers can do this, and that is to teach the students to have group discussions.

Unfortunately, whilst all textbooks provide exercises to that end, students do not actually learn to think and use English when they do these exercises.  Instead, they just memorize preplanned conversations. This does nothing for the students ability to hold a conversation.

Why are Group Discussions Important? They are important because they force students to rely on their knowledge of English, and as that knowledge of English is imperfect during conversations, the physical act of having a real life conversation creates the situation in which the foreign teacher can be the most effective at his job. He or She can:

• Correct Pronunciation
• Correct Grammatical construction
• Point out and Correct Chinglish
• Point out and Correct Ambiguities
• Point out and Correct Slang
• Introduce Idioms
• Offer more direct methods of stating ideas
• Provide cultural information revelant to the topic under discussion.

In order to achieve all of this, students need to learn the basic skills of conversation. The difference between an Oral English Class (Conversational English Class), and a tutorial or teaching lesson, is that it is hands on and/or interactive. This means that students learn the correct way to express their ideas, whilst they are having meaningful conversations.

I use the words "meaningful conversations" deliberately, because a real life conversation requires not only some interest in the topic under discussion, but the necessity to follow changes in the topic as they occur as a result of some persons interest in a particular aspect of the general topic.

Such occasions provide opportunities for students to learn the skills of conversation in a practical 'hands on' way, and forces them to drag up forgotten vocabulary necessary for the new conversational direction. In Short, it forces students to begin thinking in English.

Whilst a foreign teacher can listen to students reading and then correct their pronunciation, or teach them some theory of conversation, the only effective way to make students improve their conversational ability, is to make them actually have real conversations.

To prepare students for such conversations, I usually give them a list of questions that derive from some generally stated topic. As one follows the list of questions, one can see the topic changing. I get students in groups to discuss and understand the questions, and to find suitable answers.  Then they have a week to think about the correct English to use in answering the questions.

The following week I will call different students from different groups to discuss the issue. This becomes difficult, for while students might have tried to memorize conversations with their original group, in a  new group, they are forced to recall the English they have practiced, and to put it into a new conversation with new students whose conversational direction may not be the same as was originally practiced.

This process forces students to think in English in Real Time Conversations. You know if you send emails to someone, your conversation is spread out over a period of time that may include some days, but if you chat on line your conversation is immediate, or in real time. This is what I try to teach the students to do in the English conversations.

Students Learn from Each Other in Group Discussion. In addition to all of the ways in which a foreign teacher can assist students to learn and improve during group discussions, group discussions provide great venues for students to learn from each other.

During Real Time Discussions, students often forget how to express themselves in English, and so others in the group can translate a Chinese word or phrase. At that moment, everyone can learn something.

It is truly amazing how much students improve once they begin to engage in Real Time Unplanned English Conversations. Students begin to believe what I keep trying to tell them, that:

• They have a wealth of knowledge stored in their heads.
• All they need to do is to get it to come out through their mouths.
• Once they do this, they progress very rapidly.

So next time you are in class with the foreign teacher, remember that the success or failure of a foreign teacher depends upon how willing you are to speak and be corrected.

Students must begin to Learn, as opposed to waiting to be taught!

R.P.BenDedek

rpbendedek@hotmail.com

Links to the 15 articles are found in the King's Calendar copy of this article.
www.kingscalendar.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=viewnews&id=507

From Brisbane in Australia, BenDedek comes from a Multi-Faith and Multi-Ethnic family (including Christians and Muslims), and is currently teaching Conversational Business English in China.