Teaching Chinese College English Reading with Task-based Approach - Case Study Example

Task-Based Approach for English Teaching in Chinese Colleges Task-Based Approach for English Teaching in Chinese Colleges Different task-based approaches have been appointed by different colleges for the purpose of teaching English in China. Although many task-based approaches have been appointed but it had been observed that English competence is still analyzed as lower in Chinese colleges. There are problems which have been observed in the teaching of English in Chinese colleges. Various teachers have highlighted problems which may be causing poor English competence. The basic problem that I have analyzed is the use of traditional approach of teaching which is not task based and does not suit Chinese students. This paper critically evaluates the problem in traditional approach of teaching English in Chinese colleges. An intervention would be proposed at the end of the paper to solve the problem. Moreover, the impacts of the intervention in making English competence high within Chinese colleges shall also be mentioned in the paper. English is a second language for Chinese students but due to its wider use in the global world, Chinese students have to learn English language (Guo 1994). China is itself reforming and opening its borders for international markets and institutions to invest and interact with Chinese culture and mainstream markets (Nunan and Carter 2001). Students aiming to pursue careers in the field of business, medicine, construction, social work, IT, textile, education etc. must increase awareness and fluency in English language. The biggest problem behind the lack of competence with English in Chinese colleges as per my experience is the lack of teaching method that helps students in writing, reading and speaking skills at the same time (Moore and Yujie 2006). Effective output of an approach could be expected when the right methodology is being employed. The need of a modern approach for teaching English to Chinese students is being observed because traditional approaches have not been able to yield effective output. Traditional method of teaching English in Chinese college had been implemented without any research work done on the criteria of Chinese students (Wong 1998). The contemporary English teaching approach that is being applied in various schools and colleges is influenced by other states (Hui 2002). According to the Chinese traditions, new cultures can be learned and must be learned so that the versatility could be achieved. Chinese English teachers believe that it is important to make use of English languages because it is the need of the hour and it could be very useful for Chinese students to acquire higher education in other states or becoming professional to meet international standards. English language in China is considered as a second language and a source of help for meeting international standards. Furthermore, English learning for commercial use of classroom needs can only be done with the help of dividing skills in different sections rather than just elaborating on the written piece of English. English could only be learned by reading, writing and speaking. Stress on only one skill could not get better outcomes. The separation of skills is better for learning English in quick time with effectiveness. Traditional Approach Writing Hazards: The traditional texts included topics which were more of facts and less of brainstorming and thought provoking topics. The traditional approach that is being widely used in the Chinese schools is determined to help students in writing comprehensions (Green 1991). Chinese students have been given a traditional format of writing for the purpose of writing comprehension years ago which is still being used. The format that had been used from quite a long time includes background to the topic, its history and development (Lin 2001). The insight of the student was reflected at the end of the paper which did not give students much chance to write about their understanding and experience with the topic. Following the same pattern of writing comprehension does not allow students to write through evaluation. Writing through evaluation helps in brainstorming of ideas and using language effectively to transfer thoughts and ideas to the paper. Writing through general experience and writing about general understanding of a topic helps one to utilize language in the best way (Broughton, Brumfit and Flavell 1980). If students are not given chances that would help them in brainstorming and writing then they will not be able to practice the right use of tenses in sentences. It is predicted that by using the same format of comprehension writing, children will not be able to match the standards of global English. The effect of writing broadly affects the written material of speeches and debates. In this way, writing skills get connected with speaking skills causing lack of self insight and more of learned material. Memory Based Language: The use of traditional approach for teaching English to Chinese students had resulted in making English language as a memory based language (Jin 2005). Giving lesser chances to brainstorm is the inappropriate practice when it comes to teaching second language. Pronunciation Problem: Traditional approach of teaching English in Chinese schools does not focus on the inability of Chinese students to pronounce English words. The dialects need to be researched in case of Chinese children. Referring students to as incompetent in English is unfair because the traditional method of English teaching is not suitable for dialects of Chinese students (Gimson 1970). According to the research conducted by Laina Ho in the year 2003 claims that PRC students have problem in speaking skills when it comes to English because these students cannot utter English sentences properly due to lack of reading skills (Lee 2003). This show that speaking, writing and reading skills are interconnected and thus an approach is required that address all three types of English competence skills. The research of Lain Ho also claims that pronunciation problems which have been observed can be due to the errors in substitutions, deletion and insertion. Substitutions, deletion and insertion are performed during pronunciation of English consonants (Lee 2003). Traditional Texts: The material which is being used by English teacher in Chinese colleges as a reference does not allow the students to learn English practically. Old text materials have classical methods of teaching while other states where English is not a first language are using contemporary methods. Classical methods include grammar and tenses phrases which are designed in terms of exercises where students are required to correct wrong phrases (Ellis 1992). Traditional method does not allow students to learn the way English is being spoken natively (Coppetiers 1987). It is important to come across the patterns of English culture that allows one to understand native manner of verbal and non-verbal communication (Oskaar 1992). The traditional approach lacks in stressing the need of coming across the patterns of native English. The stress in required in this regard because it will allow the student to understand which topics should be discussed and what tone (formal or informal) should be appointed (Finocchiaro 1964). Connection between Writing, Reading and Speaking: It is important to note that writing, reading and speaking skills are interlinked. A student needs to be skillful in writing as much in reading and speaking. The connection between these three activities embodies strong English fluency (Chaudron 1988). Traditional approach of teaching English does not fulfill the requirement of enhancing reading, writing and speaking skills altogether. This is due to the unscientific assessment of teachers in school and colleges. The goal of the school teaching criteria in term of English language must be stressing towards the capability of students to become competent in English reading, writing and speaking (Cook 1991). Proposed Intervention: Through my experience of observing obstacles in teaching English in Chinese colleges, an intervention is being proposed for the purpose of solution of this problem. The proposed intervention includes following techniques which have been especially designed in keeping focus on Chinese students. The techniques which are included in the proposed intervention can be used interchangeably. The techniques are basically a mixture of one or more approaches which are already being employed for teaching Chinese students. The mixture of such approaches had been employed because every approach has its advantages and weaknesses (Rao 2006). By mixing different approaches, weaknesses could be altered and as in whole the intervention could be very helpful (Konstantinos 2003). Here are some of the proposed techniques in this task-based approach which may be useful for teaching English in Chinese colleges. Techniques: 1. Listening to audio clips determining conflicts and issues 2. Transcription of audio clips on paper 3. Proofreading 4. Video Screening 5. Proposing self analyzed solution 6. Presentation of written content Practical Implication of proposed intervention: The implication of proposed intervention can be helpful in teaching English in Chinese colleges. The practical implication involves step-wise process which is interrelated. The total estimated time for the proposed intervention is 55 minutes. Each step discussed below includes estimated time and application. Step 1: Listening to Audio Clips Estimated time for this step can be 15 minutes. Students must be given chances to listen to audio clips every now and then. Listening to different English accented speakers would in return be helpful for students to understand pronunciation of a single word in many ways (Braine 2005). In the context of the proposed intervention, it is suggested that children are assigned task of listening to audio clips. The significance of listening to audio clips would be higher in case the audio clips discuss problems of any kind such as social or experience reflection. In this way students will have a scenario and understanding of concepts of society. This would enable students to understand how language is used to communicate and discuss different issues. In this way students will also be able to divide vocabulary for specific situation. English is a very rich language and that is why it includes more than two synonyms of a word (Mitchell 1994). Students would be able to judge which word should be used for a particular situation. Step 2: Transcription of audio clips on paper Estimated time for transcription could be ten minutes. Once the student will be done with listening to the audio clip then the next step is suggested to dictate the words a student have heard. This could be a very interesting exercise for students as this would involve learning capacity of a student. Student would be able to write English sentences which they would hear in audio clips (Harmer 2000). It should be noted that this written transcription would not be accurate and wordy as the audio clip would be. It is predicted that students would write sentences from their own understanding of the clip. This exercise would be able to help students in using grammar quickly without consuming a lot of time. This method is predicted to be very effective in comparison with the tradition approach of teaching English in Chinese colleges because it helps students in making as much sentences as they can. The need of assigning audio clips for listening purpose must be fulfilled with better selection of topic. The reason behind the requirement of selecting the right topic is because it is important for students to understand the topic themselves. It is suggested that only those topics should be given for writing exercise which allow the student to write through his or her understanding (Hadley 1993). Allow students to brainstorm ideas and their views so that they can make use of the language as it appears best to them (Houston 2009). If boring and general topics are given for discussion in a composition then it is predicted that students might research facts which are too old and will not let the student write his own view about the title. Tasks should be assigned to students in a way that they can arrange the paper according to their understanding. English essays, coursework and research papers need outlines (Prior 1998). Creating outline requires varied amount of vocabulary which can make the outline look interesting and readable. In this way students can practice to use the right vocabulary. It is suggested that teacher give such topics which would help them learn propose new solutions in English (D. Nunan 1989). This step becomes more effective in the next coming steps. Step 3: Proofreading Proofreading must be done within 5 minutes. The third step stresses on the fact that students should be given chances to become self teacher and find out mistakes. One common phenomenon that has been observed in Chinese colleges is that students are more relying on books and teachers (Wu Man 2004). They think that entire knowledge is in the brain of teacher’s head or in the pages of books of references. Confidence of use of words should be a priority of students which learning second language. Proofreading will help students in reading their written text loudly. In this way, students would be able to pin point their mistakes and read thoroughly (Mishra 2008). Teachers must help students in understanding the fact that proofreading must be done by careful and regular reading of the written material. Students can proofread their written material by highlighting clauses in a sentence and then checking the use of verb. The reason behind the division of time for proofreading for five minutes could be proven as a quick self-assessment. With the limited time of assessment, students can highlight their mistake in less time. The difference will not come in the very first assessment of this technique but it will yield a gradual response from students while learning English. Step 4: Video Screening Estimated time for video screening must be 5 minutes The fourth step in the proposed intervention involves screening of vide clips which can actually help in proposing solution for the issue which is discussed earlier in the audio clip. The video screening will help students in gaining reading skills as the time duration of this step is five minutes (Ni 2003). In the first few attempts of the intervention, students may be not able to read the complete text being screened but this technique would be helpful in the long run. In this way English reading skills would be enhanced in Chinese students. This step works for listening and reading of English which makes it an effective. Video screening helps in quick catching of words and alphabets. It is a scientific researched approach that states that video screening can relatively be better for eyes and brain action to grasp (Grèzes and Wicker 2009). For quicker and correct reading practice, it is better to appoint the approach of video screening. Step: 5 Proposing Solutions Estimated time for writing solutions for the discussed problem is ten minutes. This is the second last step of the intervention where students can brainstorm for ideas in order to propose solutions. This step will enhance writing ability of students. In this step, students are suggested to propose their ideas by writing in a presentation like script. This step will help students in shrinking their written material into pointers where only selected vocabulary will be pin pointed. Step 6: Presentation Estimated time for presentation could be 10 minutes. This is the last step of the proposed intervention in which students are required to present their ideas. This step is effective because it allows students to communicate in English language. This step makes English as an easy language for understanding and not memory based-language. Communicating language is as important as learning grammatical rules of a language (Littlewood 1981) Overall it could be said that following approach could be very successful in Chinese classroom because this intervention could is especially design for students who are new to English language. Intervention like this had never been used by English teachers in Chinese classrooms because reading, writing and speaking was never divided as patterns of English learning. The division of skills while learning English is important because learning a second language must be done through task based approach. Division of learning in different skills of learning, writing and speaking could be helpful in quick and effective English learning. The change in approach could be a broader change in English learning system as it will be implemented in schools and colleges. Schools are potential of building the beginner knowledge of second language. Thus change in approach could be wider in impact. The proposed intervention is a mixture of more than one lesson plan so it could be expected that it could overshadow tradition lesson plans for English teaching. Strength of Proposed Intervention: It is a thoroughly researched intervention that overcomes pronunciation problems. It does not include any tradition method of learning and includes interesting text and activities which could be regarded as an effective approach. Previously, traditional method of teaching English appointed only limited brainstorming that did not enhanced much of writing ability of students. The proposed intervention makes Chinese students dependent upon their brains within the limited time of classroom. The proposed intervention enhances reading, speaking and writing ability of students altogether unlike traditional method of teaching English through reading and traditional method. This intervention could easily be appointed by Chinese colleges’ curriculum because Chinese schools are more inclined towards appointing approaches to meet international standards. Concluding Remarks: Traditional approach for teaching English in Chinese colleges has been better for the understanding of grammatical rules of English. Traditional approach had not proved to be effective in terms of reading, writing and speaking in Chinese colleges. With the help of above proposed intervention, teachers can help students by scientific means to understand English language and enhance their reading, writing and speaking ability. References Braine, G., 2005. Teaching English to the World:. New Jersey: Routledge. Broughton, G., Brumfit, C. and Flavell, R., 1980. Teaching English as a Foreign Language. London: Routledge. Chaudron, C., 1988. Second Language Classrooms: Research on Teaching and Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cook, V., 1991. Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. London: Edward Arnold. Coppetiers, R., 1987. Competence differences between native and non-native speakers. Language, 63, pp.544-73. Ellis, R., 1992. Second Language Acquisition and Language Pedagogy. Philadephia: Multilingual Matters. Finocchiaro, M., 1964. English as a Second Language: From Theory to Practice. New York: Simon and Schuster. Gimson, A.C., 1970. An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English. London: Edward Arnold. Green, C.F., 1991. Typological Transfer, Discourse Accent and the Chinese Writers of English. Hongkong Papers in Linguistics and Language Teaching, 14, pp.51-63. Guo, M., 1994. Elicitation Pedagogy: A Method of Second Language Teaching in China. The American Journal of Semiotics, 11(3/4), pp.103-15. Grèzes,J and Wicker,B. A failure to Grasp the Affective Meaning of Actions in Autism Spectrum Disorder Subjects. New York: Neuropsychologia. Hadley, A.O., 1993. Teaching Language in Context. Boston: Heinle and Heinle Publishers. Harmer, J., 2000. How to Teach English. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Houston, H., 2009. Enhancing English Learning through Brainstorming. Teipei: Ministry of Education in Taiwan. Hui, D., 2002. An Investigation of College English Teaching in Four Universities in. International Education Journal, 3(2), pp.71-84. Jin, L., 2005. Communicative Language Teaching in China: Misconceptions, Applications and Perceptions. Sydney: Australian Association for Research in Education. Konstantinos, A., 2003. Program Evaluation Methodologies: A comparative Assessment. Discussion Paper Series, 9(17), pp.387-404. Lee, G., 2003. Teaching English to Students from China. Singapore: NUS Press 2003. Lin, J., 2001. Chinese Ministry Wants More English Used. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 48(11), p.60. Littlewood, W., 1981. Communicative Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mishra, A., 2008. Second Lanuguage Teaching and Learning. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://164.100.150.131/megNIC/elearning/SECOND_LANGUAGE_TEACHING_LEARNING.pdf" http://164.100.150.131/megNIC/elearning/SECOND_LANGUAGE_TEACHING_LEARNING.pdf [Accessed 30 August 2010]. Mitchell, R., 1994. The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching. Teaching Modern Languages, pp.33-41. Moore, T. and Yujie, L., 2006. College English Teaching. Brisbane: Central Queensland University. Ni, J., 2003. From Seventeen to Seventy Words a Minute: Rapid Changes in College Englsih Teaching in China over the Past Twenty Years. ALM, 11(3), pp.3-7. Nunan, D., 1989. Understanding Langugae Classrooms: A Guide for Teacher-initiated Action. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall. Nunan, D. and Carter, R., 2001. The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Oskaar, E., 1992. Intercultural Communication in Multilingual Settings. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(1), pp.3-16. Prior, P., 1998. Writing/disciplinarity. London: Routledge. Rao, Z., 2006. Understanding Chinese Students Use of Language Learning Strategies from Cultural and Educational Perspectives. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 27(6), pp.491 - 508. Wong, S., 1998. What We do and dont know About Chinese Learners of English: A Critical Review of Selected Research. RELC Journal, 19(1), pp.1-19. Wu Man, M., 2004. Problems Faced by Chinese Learners in L2 English Learning and Pedagogic Recommendations from an Inter-Cultural Communication Perspective. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/problemschinese.html" http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/problemschinese.html [Accessed 30 August 2010]. Read More