Teaching Chinese Students English

Teaching a brand-new class is always a challenging prospect, also for the most skilled of teachers. As you try to overcome your very own nerves, it's easy to fail to remember that your trainees may be just as worried to have a new teacher. This is particularly the case in China, where numerous students have actually never ever even seen a foreigner, let alone been educated by one. You need to take this into account when Teaching Chinese trainees and also make certain you deliver your lessons appropriately.

While the language obstacle is most likely your primary issue, it's essential to realize that the cultural obstacle is just as crucial. Cultural worths, as well as ideas bordering education, mean that Chinese mentor approaches differ significantly from those made use of in the West as well as affect exactly how a foreigner ought to approach teaching Chinese students. As an international teacher, it's vital to acknowledge this and take measures to alleviate pupils and develop their self-confidence.

These suggestions will certainly aid you to develop successful lesson plans, tailored to educating Chinese trainees:

Relieve them in

In a normal Chinese class, attention is concentrated exclusively on the teacher, while trainees passively eat info. It's unusual for students to ask or answer inquiries as well as they are dissuaded from making mistakes, making it quite disorientating when a foreign teacher changes the focus to the course.

You'll discover that every class has a handful of positive pupils that wish to address questions and also participate in activities, while the majority of their schoolmates hesitate. The passive learning technique in China means that the last is much more common which it's important you reduce your students carefully.

When instructing Chinese pupils, it's vital you demonstrate from the beginning that making blunders serves. Award initiative as well as proper responses as well as give constructive actions to incorrect ones. "Almost" as well as "good shot" are suitable reactions that show you appreciate the effort. If you're feeling specifically certain, saying a few words in Mandarin is a great way to start a conversation and also reveal that you aren't worried about making errors.

For the very first couple of lessons at least, it's good to choose certain pupils to join your tasks. Commonly, when their shy classmates see their friends having fun and receiving praise regardless of their answers, they will want a turn. Though it's okay to choose students for activities, never pressure anyone into doing something they don't want to. This is likely to alienate the student and cause them to lose trust in you.

In a particularly timid class, small group activities are good for getting students to talk and building confidence.

By taking such measures when teaching Chinese students, you're likely to notice an increase in confidence. It might take time, but it's certainly worth the effort when previously shy students begin volunteering themselves.

Develop a Routine

Your students may struggle to get to grips with the new teaching method. A foreign accent, a new structure and interactive activities combine to make some feel uneasy with the new classroom environment.

A good way to overcome this is by establishing a routine and lesson structure from early on. Starting the class with a song, ending with a game and using consistent behaviour management techniques are all good examples of routines that work well for teaching Chinese students.

By introducing a structure, students will quickly become familiar with the way you work and will come to expect certain things to happen at specific points of the lesson. This may sound repetitive, but routine works well when teaching Chinese students, who are used to learning by rote. It's a great way to overcome the language barrier and reduce the time spent explaining what comes next!

Developing a routine is also an effective classroom management tool. If you usually end your class with a game or video to reward good behaviour, students will make a conscious effort to behave, without instruction. This routine is particularly effective with younger students, where the language barrier poses more of a challenge.

By establishing a routine for your classes from early on, students will find it easier to adapt to your teaching methods. The familiarity that routine provides will comfort your class and help them better follow your lessons.

Use Chinese Learning Methods to your Advantage

The purpose of your role may be to introduce a western teaching style to the Chinese classroom, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't use Chinese learning methods to your advantage. After all, Chinese students respond well to certain techniques and this won't change simply to suit you.

Students in China commonly learn through repetition and tend to have an incredible ability to recall information acquired this way. It might sound boring and inconsistent with the concept of 'fun' foreign teacher classes, but it's an important technique to help your students learn.

Two key examples are grammar and vocabulary. By repeating words and phrases over and over, students will rapidly master them. Of course, you can step away from Chinese teaching methods by putting your own creative spin on this; games like Pictionary, Bingo and Charades all require students to repeat target vocabulary through more active means. You might ask older students to form their own answers to questions repeatedly using target grammar structures or words.

Such activities will still be challenging for Chinese students, but by maintaining a familiar method of learning, you can put them at ease and aid their ability to acquire information.