With the introductory statement that almost any subject could be included in this Blog, I have decide to share part of a conversation with an overseas senior student about T.E.S.L., and encourage, perhaps, controversial comment.
Hi;
I knew that it would be hard to change the subject from “Teaching”. But I’ve been reading through earlier comments and this one escaped my reply,:
“I focus on writing in my class. I usually ask my students to write short passages, like imitative writing. They like to do it and they gradually become more confident in English. I think it works well. And the class becomes not so tiring for me.?”
Note: (a). The British have been teaching English for hundreds of years.
(b) I studied T.E.S.L. at a Canadian college.
(c). I’m wearing my boring teacher's hat instead of my humorous penpal hat.
Imitative writing is just copying … a chimpanzee can do that. Write in early Egyptian hieroglyphs and they can do that equally well, but they’ll not become fluent in Arabic … only how to copy meaningful characters, without understanding the meaning. Of course, “they like to do it”. They’re just kids.
Also, thousands of books have been written on this subject, and most end up with concern for fluency. In China, those books are published by the Propaganda Department of the CCP and do not contribute to a fluent use of the language. Even the renowned Oxford University Press is based in Hong Kong! Did you know that?
There was an English Language Competition on CCTV whose hosts were British/Chinese from BBC TV, together with a Canadian called Dashan (I think). They were the only Chinese, that I ever knew who were “fluent”.
[My friend], don’t be annoyed. I am very (very) aware that you are just following the “book”. It must be extremely frustrating.
I’ll finish, as I often do, with a humorous example. Imagine the U.S. removing all the Chinese teachers of Chinese, ruling that Chinese must be taught by American teachers. [China has, in fact, dismissed all foreign teachers]. Take this idea to Europe and rule that the French language must be taught by German teachers, etcetera. I may be displaying humour, but it’s very (very) serious humour.
Bernie
