Imitative Writing

 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

Education 1 - English as a Second Language

I started this blog writing about aerospace as the first subject of my profile’s list of interests.  Unfortunately, for me, I listed linguistics as the second subject, because although linguistics in its basic form has long been an interest of mine, I quickly discovered that it does not have a basic form and greatly exceeded my academic abilities.  I recently added Tom McArthur’s ‘The Oxford Companion to the English Language’ to my bookshelf and, if I dare to open it, I am lost within its wealth of knowledge for hours, just as I was with a earlier copy of Eric Partridge’s ‘Usage and Abusage’ (abusus non tollit usum) and numerous such works.

To find a topical language subject outside of academia, I decided to say something about English as a Second Language (ESL), without any attempt at prescriptivism ... and using less than 300 words.

Recently, I returned to Canada following many years teaching Business Studies to postgraduates in China, who were, hopefully, to be awarded scholarships to foreign universities.  Not surprisingly, it was necessary to include a heavy dose of ESL within each course.  I was presented with excellent students, and there was never any thought of using a stick, due to the attractive sight of the scholarship carrot.

Interestingly, the Chinese-produced exams were of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), and my protests were always met with the pervasive, “This is how we always do it” response.  I am sure that many expat teachers in China recognize this behaviour and often wonder why they had been presented with a little red book entitled ‘Foreign Experts Certificate’.

Equally, back in Canada, I had cause to visit some LINK ESL classes, and was astonished to discover that a major percentage of the teachers were immigrants from non-English speaking countries.  According to the authorities, they had all passed a TESL teaching exam ... the oral part being undertaken by their foreign peers, it seemed.  It was not surprising that many students could not understand the teachers.


I would welcome your views on this subject.