Teach English in Burin - TEFL Courses

Problems for english Learners in china There are few cultures in the world as different (even directly opposed) as are chinese and Western culture. This vast cultural divide can cause significant issues for chinese students of the english language. However, simplifying these obstacles and looking at them in much more manageable terms can show them to be rather tame. When looked at carefully, these problems can become enjoyable challenges that any chinese student can gradually overcome. One of the most difficult issues facing chinese students of english is that of pronunciation. The chinese language does not use an alphabet. Rather, each syllable in the language is assigned a “character.” These characters, each originating from simple pictures, have evolved into very complex and beautiful forms of art. However, because a word can often be represented by a single picture, rather than a grouping of letters, chinese students often have difficulty with reading and spelling. In addition, spoken english is based upon stressed and unstressed syllables. Therefore, the time it takes for a sentence to be spoken depends upon the number of stressed and unstressed syllables contained within the given sentence. chinese, on the other hand, “uses changes in tone not for stress or emphasis but to distinguish between the meaning of different words” (http://middlekingdomlife.com/guide/teaching-english-chinese-students.htm). This can cause considerable difficulty for the chinese student of english. When beginning the journey of learning english, the chinese student will often speak at a pace that is very choppy and uncomfortable to listen to. This takes an extensive amount of time and practice to overcome. A final pronunciation difficulty is that provided by certain sounds in the english language. The letters l, r, and n can be extremely difficult for chinese students to differentiate, often resulting in the pronunciation of words like “rake” and “rice” morphing into “lake” and “lice” (http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/chinese.htm). As Mandarin contains significantly fewer vowel sounds, distinctively pronouncing words such as “sheep” and “ship” or “pool” and “pull” can be very problematic for native Mandarin speakers (http://middlekingdomlife.com/guide/teaching-english-chinese-students.htm). These differences, while extensive, can certainly be overcome with specific focus and practice on these areas of pronunciation. Learning english grammar can also be a sizeable hurdle for chinese students. In english, a great bulk of material is conveyed through verbs and the various tenses they can carry. There is essentially no equivalent to this in the chinese language ((http://middlekingdomlife.com/guide/teaching-english-chinese-students.htm). Mandarin “is an uninflected language and conveys meaning through word order, adverbials or shared understanding of the context” (http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/chinese.htm). Therefore, mastering verb tenses and learning to think through this complex use of verbs can seem like a monumental task to a chinese student. Lastly, certain cultural issues that are present in china can cause difficulty in learning english. In chinese schools and universities, ideas are taught to students largely through lecture and rote memorization. “chinese professors teach students what they need to understand a topic while Western professors teach how these concepts can be applied and used.” As a result, a chinese student's educational background has been steeped in rote memorization. This approach lends itself much better to learning Mandarin than learning english. In some ways, attempting to learn english through this method “treats english as basically an oversized periodic table of elements: meaningless words to memorize for tests” (http://thediplomat.com/china-power/learning-english-chinese-style). If a chinese student continues to use the same methods of learning he/she has become accustomed to, many difficulties will present themselves. It is self-evident that a student from one culture attempting to learn a language from another, drastically different culture would face major difficulties. Obviously, only a few of those difficulties have been outlined here. Entire books have been written on this very subject. However, it is important to note the frequency with which chinese students are seeing success at learning english. The obstacles can be overcome. The challenges can be met. english can be mastered. Understanding these sorts of difficulties is simply the first step in that journey.