Teach English in Dashu Zhen - Chongqing

Problems chinese students Face Learning EnglishEvery student?s personal aims in learning and acquiring a new language may vary from individual to individual, and country to country, but each student will grapple with problems that many before them have had to face. In particular, there are problems that stem from specific backgrounds that may influence the course of any given English learners success and present significant challenges to them. In particular, what are some of the problems that English learners from china tend to face? The range of problems that students from china will face are very wide and impact them in different ways, however, there are, in particular, key issues that may be common among most chinese English learners. chinese English learners will struggle against losing face, pronunciation (as they consistently confuse their ?L? with ?N?, ?K? with ?G?, and have trouble saying their ?V? and ?R??s), and Grammar (tenses and gender present significant obstacles as they grapple with remembering the proper usage of these functions). In addition to these problems, students will exhibit challenges rising to the creativedemands that are placed upon them in learning English and by their foreign teachers who are from educational systems that encourage and require creativity to flourish. Two final obstacles that most chinese students share in facing are taking initiative and cultural obstacles. It can be quite intimidating to rise up and take initiative in a language that you are uncertain with and lack native confidence to use and communicating in a foreign language with people from an entirely different culture can be exceedingly overwhelming. Such issues as losing face, pronunciation, grammar, lack of creativity, and taking initiative have been observed and discussed by many teachers and researchers looking for ways to overcome these issues and make English acquisition as readily available to chinese students as possible. In their article from the University of Canberra, Australia, entitled ?An Investigation of chinese students? Difficulties in Intercultural Communications and Its Role in ELT?, Dr. Hong Xiao and EleniPetraki cited ?language proficiency?, ?lack of cultural knowledge?, and ?pronunciation? as three key obstacles that chinese students face when trying to communicate effectively with native english speakers (Petraki). One of the most obvious and prominent challenges is pronunciation. As observed in the china TEFL Primer, chinese is not composed of the Roman alphabet, rather, of a system referred to as logographic or, picture words (Middle Kingdom Life). So, students must first familiarize themselves with an alphabet that is entirely foreign to them, both in appearance and concept. Adding to the burden of learning a new written format for pronunciation is the propensity for chinese students to confuse their ?l? with ?n? and ?k? with ?g?, and struggle with saying ?v? and ?r?. Also noted in the china TEFL Primer is the fact that Mandarin does not contain any of our articles (such as ?a/an?, ?and?, or ?the?), and we tend to convey a significant amount of English through the use of modal auxiliary verbs and verb tenses (Petraki). chinese students are overtly aware of ?Face? and are trained from their youth to follow instructions- a stark contrast to the educational style and demands placed upon students who study abroad or study under a foreign English teacher who is most likely from a country whose educational system encourages and requires creativity and initiative to succeed and flourish. Because English is a language, students will not adequately acquire its full functionality and use unless they utilize it in a wide medium of activities with full creativity and take personal initiative to learn and use the language in ways that they would use their own native languages. Overall, one of the most starkly evident hindrances chinese students face is the lack of knowledge about foreign cultures and an inability to adapt and adjust effectively to communicate in a foreign language with people from different cultures (Petraki). As noted, a better preparedness and more well developed knowledge of foreign cultures will help chinese English students to adapt and communicate effectively, which, in turn, will greatly enhance their ability to learn and acquire English as a useful and applicable language in their lives. Works Cited Middle Kingdom Life. (n.d.). Teaching English chinese students. Retrieved from Middle Kingdom Life: http://middlekingdomlife.com/guide/teaching-english-chinese-students.htm Petraki, H. X. (n.d.). Petraki. (University of Canberra, Australia) Retrieved from IMME.SE: http://www.immi.se/intercultural/nr13/petraki.htm