Teach English in Taici Zhen - Anqing Shi

Problems for learners in TaiwanI have been teaching english in taiwan for the past six months and, before moving here had experience teaching in Russia. When I moved here, I imagined the system to be slightly different and I thought that it would be a challenge for me to be a successful EFL teacher. Firstly, it is important to note that, although I had several years of teaching experience from Russia, the system in Taiwan is so completely different, that it appears to me that I am starting from the beginning, with no experience and very little confidence. There are several points which should be mentioned when thinking of the monolingual EFL classes in Taiwan. Firstly, it should be mentioned that the students are often shy and fear speaking out in class, this is for several reasons, firstly they have the habit from school that they should only speak when they are told to speak and free conversation is very rarely encouraged in the classroom. Students in Taiwan often feel peer pressure in class, the pressure to appear intelligent in front of their peers will often cause them to be silent in class and to keep speaking freely to a minimum, as they fear making mistakes. The fear of making mistakes in turn makes it difficult for the students to experiment with the language and do certain activities. Although the students understand that without communication, you cannot learn a language to the maximum of your ability, most, if not all, of the students in Taiwan have been raised with the habit of writing and listening in the classroom, their speaking skills rarely or never being practiced and enhanced. Teachers, especially those with little experience, may feel frustration and a lack of confidence in the situation where he or she asks the students questions and does not receive a response, this is simply due to the students? culture though and the teacher should understand this and try different methods of encouraging the students to speak out. Teachers should also remind themselves that the likelihood in this situation is simply the culture rather than the students not liking the teacher. There are many grammatical and pronunciation issues which will be encountered when teaching EFL students in Taiwan. There are certain sounds (for example ?th? and the endings of the words, for example ?ed? or ?s?) which students continually have problems with and teachers should try to focus on these pronunciation problems with all classes. It is also noticeable that students have problems with certain grammatical structures, for example the past tense. In Mandarin, the main language spoken in Taiwan, the past tense is not used, so people speak only in the future and present tense, it is therefore difficult for the students to remember that in english we have the past tense. It is therefore, important to spend time going over and revising the past tense and to remind the students of the importance of using the past tense. In the situations talked about, it is important for the teacher to remember that they are teaching english, not only in a different country, but in a completely different culture also. It is important for the teacher to keep an open mind and show respect towards the students and their culture at all times. The teacher should remember that the students might feel nervous with a native speaker in the beginning and that they need to learn to become accustomed to speaking to the teacher and to the classroom rules. Teachers should remember that it is particularly important to keep an open mind, because in this situation, they can perform at their best as EFL teachers and will get the best they possibly can out of their teaching experience, not only in Taiwan but anywhere in the world.