程怀莹
昆士兰大学
Should some language institutions in China use native speakers to teach students oral English
Cheng huaiying
University of Queensland
Huaiying Cheng
Student ID: 45257775
Course Code: SLAT7826
Course Title: Teaching Languages in a Global Context
Final Essay
(Argument Essay)
Topic: Issues of native speaker in teaching English as an international language
Title: Should some language institutions in China use native speakers to teach students’ English speaking class ?
2019.05.19
Title
Should some language institutions in China use native speakers to teach students in English speaking class?
Introduction
Over the years, standard varieties of English and British English have been accepted and promoted as the only acceptable standard English forms in the world. As an international language, English is being studied and used more and more widely, and this is no exception in China. But with the development of English pluralism, more and more countries have developed their own English system, such as Chinglish or Singlish. When some local teachers are teaching students English, they often think according to the inertia within their own logic; or some teachers will unconsciously bring some learning habits when they are learning English to students. However, these inertial thinking or habits do not have a positive impact on students, so more and more people hope to use native speakers to teach English, which can help learners to more directly contact the English environment. But when we are teaching native speakers, we still have a lot of factors to consider, such as teaching content, teaching mode and so on. This article selects "Should some language institutions in China use native speakers to teach students' English speaking class?" as the title of the article, and demonstrates and explains it through some examples and experience. This article will argue that some language agency in China should use native speakers to teach students' speaking class. In this paper, the article is divided into four parts, namely, introduction, of key terms and supporting evidence, pedagogical implications and conclusion. In the argumentation section of the article, it is argued from three different aspects, many surveys with practical reference values are adopted, and some objective self-experiences are also combined.
Brief information of key items
Before I begin to discuss the support points, I will introduce some definition of key items. These definitions will help readers better understand the environment and some of the points involved in this paper. The first thing I want to introduce is native speakers, a native speaker is someone who learned to speak a language as part of his or her childhood development. It is the only language of a monolingual person, and may be the first language of a multilingual person. It can serve as the basis for their social language features. (Bei, 2015) They have been exposed to a rich English environment and have the most natural expression of English. They also know more about the different meanings that English brings when they use it. Secondly, the English-speaking classroom in the current Chinese environment, learning English in China, many language learning institutions only pay attention to the students' English grammar learning, there is no perfect teaching mode in speaking. Most language institutions only let local teachers teach students some fixed dialog sentences and dialogue methods. These teaching methods do not provide students with sufficient opportunities for English communication, which greatly limits the development of students' speaking ability.(Matsuda,2017) Therefore, the use of native speakers to teach oral English has become the choice of more and more language teaching institutions, because in today's language needs, grammatical form is no longer the only standard to measure language learning, and the true use of language is also increasingly valued. The article then explains the benefits that native speakers can bring to students in speaking in three different ways.
Argument and evidence
First, native speakers can have a more positive impact on the pronunciation of students. Pronunciation has a very important position in the study of spoken English. But whether it is a native speaker or a local teacher, the pronunciation is considered to be a more difficult part of speaking. Correct pronunciation can help learner better communicate and interact with people in English, and can greatly reduce the negative feedback generated in communication. When language institutions use nonnative speakers as teachers in oral classes, they often think that they are not pronunciation models, which leads to an increase in the uncertainty of whether they should teach pronunciation. (Levis, 2016) If native speakers are used, this uncertainty will be controlled to some extent, because English as their native language, they can easily and confidently teach students relevant pronunciation skills. This will have a very positive impact on learners' performance. Experiments by Levis showed that when nonnative speakers and native speakers teach pronunciation about the same period of time, local students taught by native speakers have made better progress in language performance. (Levis, 2016) Although the students have the same level of mastery of the pronunciation skills taught by the two speakers, the students who are taught by the native speaker are more comfortable in terms of the actual application performance. In China's current environment, local teachers pay more attention to grammar and reading, while neglecting the practice of speaking, so oral teaching itself is not a local teacher's strength. In combination with my own experience, when I was studying in high school, the school offered us two types of English classes, one was a traditional English class taught by a local teacher, and the other was taught by native speakers. When I was in the traditional English class, I was more mechanized to repeat what the teacher had read and mechanized memory pronunciation. When I was on the native speakers, the foreign teacher would correct our incorrect pronunciation and use our standard accent to talk to us. I obviously felt that my pronunciation was more natural and smoother. Therefore, the native speakers greatly promote the students' pronunciation. Chinese language institutions should use native speakers as the teacher of oral courses.
Second, native speakers can be of great help to the fluency of learners. If you want to make meaningful conversations with others in English, we must focus on the accuracy and fluency of our spoken language. Accuracy has been covered in the pronunciation mentioned in the previous section of the article. In this part we focus on fluency. Speaking in English learning mainly means that you can communicate smoothly in English to achieve your academic or life goals. There are many factors that affect fluency in speaking, such as emotion, characteristics, and motivation. When we are introverted, when we communicate in English, we only pay attention to the accuracy of English, and ignore the fluency of speaking. Through Ananda's investigation, we can find that native speakers can improve students' willingness to communicate (Ananda, 2017). This is like when we are facing teachers who use the same native language as ourselves. There is a certain resistance to the use of English to communicate. We will feel embarrassed and uncomfortable; but when we face a person who speaks native language in English, English is the only way to communicate, then students will be more willing to face native speakers, or more naturally use English to communicate. When the quantity of this communication is guaranteed, the fluency will also be improved. Speaking pays great attention to language communication. Speaking can't just focus on forms. Accuracy is indispensable for the smooth progress of communication, but fluency must be guaranteed while paying attention to accuracy. From my personal experience of learning English, when I have not gone abroad, my spoken language just remembers the dialogue mode provided in the textbook. But when I went abroad to study, all the professors used to teach in English were taught in English. The guidance and questions for us were also conducted in English. In the constant answering questions and communication, my speaking fluency improved. Now, I think this is the benefit that native speakers can bring to learners. For the speaking class of Chinese language institutions, this opportunity for face-to-face communication with native speakers is indispensable. Because many students studying in Chinese language institutions, most of them end their goal to study abroad. If you want them to fully adapt to language exchange abroad, fluency exercise must be taken seriously, or native speakers are very important to their study.
Third, native speakers can also give a lot of useful advice and guidance to students' language performance. Nurfajrih has suggested that in English as a foreign language teaching, there are many factors that affect students' learning English, such as teachers, teaching models, and teaching locations. These factors are interrelated. Teachers play an important role in the classroom because they are the key to leading students. Students will imitate their behavior and cite their statements. (Nurfajrih, 2017) Compared to nonnative speakers, native speakers have the biggest advantage of their natural and vivid language performance. This kind of performance is precisely what Chinese students lack when they learn English. According to Nurfajrih's survey, they hired a native speaker with teaching experience but not a language teaching to teach English in the classroom. After a certain course, his students were better at expressing their language than other students who were taught by local Indonesian language teachers. Jong's survey also showed that the same oral language courses were taught, but the students taught by the native speaker were more mature and more stable in terms of language expression. (Jong, 2005) This is because native speakers use language as a communication tool, not as a learning goal. They can clearly know which emotions should be used in which environments to express language. If students can learn about these related contents in the speaking class, they will make great progress in language performance. In the current Chinese English learning environment, the vast majority of local teachers are very introverted in language expression. Because in terms of their own learning experiences, the performance of language is not the focus of their learning. However, with the continuous development of teaching, diversified teaching has gradually appeared in the teaching applications of various countries. Among them, communication and interaction are indispensable parts of the teaching methods in the new era. If language institutions want to improve their language performance, then native speakers are their best choice. Combined with my own experience, I will feel that the native speaker is more outgoing, and they are willing to communicate more with students. They will not blindly correct the mistakes students make in their studies, but selectively correct key mistakes and give students a lot of positive feedback. They will also use their communication habits to constantly influence the communication habits of students, so that the learning can help students to speak more like a native speaker. Therefore, for Chinese language learning institutions, native speakers will be a good choice for their speaking classes.
Controversy
Every coin has two sides. The use of native speakers as the teacher of the speaking class has many advantages for Chinese language institutions, but there are also some shortcomings. For example, native speakers may often ignore some of the grammatical mistakes that students have in spoken language. Nonnative speakers have a sharper judgment on these errors. (Reynolds-Case, A, 2012) In the classroom of English learning, like students, NNS teachers have the advantage of being able to identify and predict the mistakes students may make in the target language because they have made similar mistakes. Non-native speakers can also use their success to get the target language, provide advice to students, and provide them with possible strategies to help them become successful language learners. (Reynolds-Case, A, 2012) Because native speakers have not experienced these processes of learning English as a foreign language, they may not be as good at some nonnative speakers as English learning strategies. Through Reynolds' investigation, we can know that native speakers and nonnative speakers have their own advantages and disadvantages in English teaching. Nonnative speakers may help students better master the methods and skills of learning English, but for English communication and performance, the positive impact of native speakers is unquestionable. As far as I am concerned, nonnative speakers can really help me to learn English more systematically and logically, but in this way I learned English, when I travel abroad, I don’t know how to use English in some environments. In English teaching in China, speaking is often the weakest part. Therefore, as a local Chinese language learning institution, choosing native speakers as the teacher of the speaking course, although there are some shortcomings, in general, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Pedagogical Implication
From the above discussion, I am here to give some pedagogical implications. First of all, in oral English teaching, many institutions can use native speakers as much as possible. These teachers have a certain amount of teaching experience before, although some of them have not taught language courses before, but these teaching experiences can help them deal with problems more calmly in the classroom (Michael,2003). Secondly, native speakers employed by language institutions are basically proficient in standard English, although many native speakers also have their own dialects and accents. If these dialects are used well, they can help students better accept the diversity of English, but if they are not used well, they will make students prefer to use English. Therefore, for native speakers, they must be proficient in standard English. Finally, before the native speakers speak oral English, they have a certain understanding of the existing educational and cultural background in China. Because culture is also an important part of language learning, although students learn English, this kind of teaching activity is carried out in China, and native speakers need to have a good understanding of the problems faced by students. For example, most Chinese students are shy and unwilling to speak in class, so native speakers should be more active in the classroom. Or many Chinese students don't like to ask questions from teachers. In this case, native speakers should actively ask questions and interact with students to ensure that students truly master the knowledge they are teaching.
Conclusion
This essay mainly demonstrates the viewpoint of "Some language institutions in China should use native speakers to teach students' English speaking class" from three different aspects. First, native speakers can have a more positive impact on the pronunciation of students. Because they are more accurate and more natural than nonnative speakers, they can make timely corrections about the pronunciation errors of students. Secondly, native speakers can be great help to the fluency of learners. Because they are more focused on communication, they can make a lot of meaningful conversations with learners. Through continuous accumulation, they can fundamentally improve the fluency of students' speaking. Finally, native speakers can also give a lot of useful advice and guidance to students' language performance. Because native speakers are more confident and smoother than other teachers, learners can improve their language performance by imitating them. In the actual teaching application of native speakers, there are still many places to pay attention to. All in all, the native speakers are of great benefit to the teaching of student speaking.
Reference:
Ananda, Dea, (2017) Students' Preferences toward Oral Corrective Feedback in Speaking Class at English Department of Lambung Mangkurat University Academic Year 2015/2016 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Mar 2017, Vol.7(3), pp.176-186
Bei Yang, (2015) Perception and Production of Mandarin Tones by Native Speakers and L2 Learners PP.79-102 Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg : Imprint: Springer
Doan, Ngoc Ba, (2016) To employ or not to employ expatriate non-native speaker teachers Asian Englishes, 15 February 2016, p.1-13
Jin, Jong, (2005) Which is better in China, a local or a native English-speaking teacher? English Today, 2005, Vol.21(3), pp.39-46
Levis, Jm, (2016) Native and Nonnative Teachers of L2 Pronunciation: Effects on Learner Performance Tesol Quarterly, 2016 Dec, Vol.50(4), pp.894-931
Matsuda, Aya, (2017) Preparing teachers to teach English as an international language Bristol, England Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania Multilingual Matters
Michael Byram, (2003) Context and Culture in Language Teaching and Learning Blue Ridge Summit, PA : Multilingual Matters
Nurfajrih Ningsih, (2017) NATIVE SPEAKER IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO INDONESIAN STUDENTS AT ICP FMIPA UNM Eternal (English, Teaching, Learning & Research Journal), 01 December 2017, Vol.3(1), pp.12-24
Reynolds-Case, A, (2012) Exploring How Non-native Teachers Can Use Commonalties with Students to Teach the Target Language Hispania-A Journal Devoted To The Teaching Of Spanish And Portuguese, 2012 Sep, Vol.95(3), pp.523-537