Dr Mark Brian Debowski & Miss Yu Sui Li, China

This paper was published in October 2004.
 
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Dr Mark Debowski has been a principal, CEO, CFO and business manager of education and training enterprises spanning petrochemical industries, public service, industrial training and education for the last twenty-five years. Currently he is principal of an English Language Training Centre in the Peoples Republic of China. He is also an English language education consultant to a number of institutions across Guongdong province. Mark has an extensive publication history spanning his qualifications and experience in the areas of Mathematics, Science, Training and Education and now specialises in business management, finance and marketing. Dr Debowski can be contacted by email at drmarkdebowski@hotmail.com

Ms Sally Yu has ten years experience as a business leader in Chinese society. She is currently the General Manager and owner of a number of businesses throughout Guongdong province. These businesses span a number of areas in the commercial sector, including a number of service and retail functions. Her experiences span the fields of education provision, import/export, immigration, hospitality and tourism.

Abstract

The challenges faced by administrators and teachers of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) in China are like challenges faced nowhere else in the world. Competing against prestigious government schools that can run large classes with ethnic Chinese teachers of limited EFL experience (and hence low salaries), those who run English language schools must provide sought after instruction if they are to survive.

Background

The authors visited a number of English Language Colleges in Southern and Central China. While these colleges varied markedly in their processes and levels of success, the authors identified a number of similar challenges that the private English language colleges all faced. They were all under pressure to out-compete the Government English Language Centres if they were to survive. While this is not a major issue in most western education systems, it provides a particularly difficult challenge in P.R. China.

This competition means that customers needed to constantly be of the impression they are getting good value for their money, time and effort. To promote this perception, the facilities, teaching practices and administrative structures needed to be of highest standards. These private colleges needed to present a professional, well organised, well experienced and friendly approach, balanced against sound economic management. Many such colleges appeared handicapped by a lack of funds, meaning they were ill-equipped and their staff had limited or no experience to meet such a challenge.

A National Overview

The Chinese education system is the largest education system in the world. This system caters for over three hundred and thirty million (330,000,000) students. The system spans more than seven hundred and ten thousand (710,000) conventional primary and secondary schools, more than a thousand universities and Colleges of Higher Learning and an additional one thousand one hundred formal adult education facilities. Of these facilities, the vast majority offer English language either as a compulsory (or at least a highly sought-after elective) subject. Consequently, there are more students learning English language in China than anywhere else in the world.

The Chinese education system is made up of preschool education (before the age of six); primary (six years of schooling; five years in rural areas); secondary (three years for junior, three years for senior); university (four years for Bachelor degrees, and 2-3 years for non-degree specialised courses); and postgraduate education (2-3 years for Masters, 2-3 years for doctorates). Formal schooling starts at the age of six and education is compulsory for the next nine years. The academic degree system (e.g., B.A., M.A., Ph.D.) is very recent in China, dating only back to the 1980s.

The curriculum for primary and secondary schools is essentially similar to that in most European countries. The Chinese put a great deal of emphasis on teaching foreign languages. English for instance, is compulsory in secondary schools and some primary schools offer English from first or third Grade. China has the largest number of students learning English anywhere in the world!

While there are some government and private schools in the cities that can match some of our western countries in terms of resourcing, the vast majority of schools are in the countryside. The schools (in these more remote regional areas) may often be poorly funded, poorly staffed and poorly equipped. Just as disappointingly, many children in rural schools have to discontinue their education, before they have even completed their primary schooling, for economic reasons.

The Chinese educational system differs significantly from that found in Australia. The structure and commercial policy of government schooling makes this a highly competitive and prestigious education system. The best and wealthiest students go to government schools. Due to the huge population waiting to be educated, and the limited number of spaces in local colleges and universities, entrance to higher educational institutions is extremely competitive. Only 7% of high school graduates could be enrolled in local colleges/universities.

There is great pressure, then, on parents and students alike to get into the ‘top’ schools and to achieve well. The option of entry into an overseas university continues to gain popularity and now opens doors to wealthier students who otherwise could not gain a competitive place. Consequently, overseas international colleges enjoy a curious mixture of prestige (that you are able to afford to study overseas) and ‘face loss’ (as you did not achieve a local merit position in a Chinese university or prestigious school).

Unlike most European education systems, the PRC independent education sector is very much the ‘Cinderella’. Unlike government schools, they can employ native English language teachers full-time but the low salaries they offer means that most of their teachers are itinerant back packers looking for quick cash on their tours of China. These people need constant support (and often policing) to provide satisfactory classes.

As stated previously, competition for places in the best government schools is strong. Those who cannot achieve a place through academic merit must go to a lower relegated school (diminishing their university entrance chances) or obtain a place through paying hefty fees for the privilege of saying they are in a top ranking school. These fees are then used by the school to improve the facilities and teachers, further widening the gulf in educational standards between these best government schools and all others.

As in all other educations systems, independent schools are relegated to positions in the ‘prestige hierarchy’, based on the quality of their students, their facilities, resources and reputation. They can, at best, be compared to the lesser government schools in any district. Independent schools thus find themselves unable to charge high fees. Rich students buy themselves into a good government school and so are a reduced market. They compete directly with the lower order government schools that charge almost nil for students. Yet, unlike their competition (government schools), they must make modest profits even to survive. They receive no government subsidies or financial support.

The mechanism for selection for local university entrance is a nationwide Unified College Entrance Examination system. Traditionally, these exams are held on July 7, 8 and 9 each year. All study in primary and secondary schools is understandably then focused on that college examination.

The Chinese educational system. is a centralised educational system. The legislation of education rests not locally or provincially but centrally. The Ministry provides policies and gives directives through a 5-level hierarchical system consisting of ministry, provincial education commissions, city education commissions, district education bureaus and, at the lowest levels, the individual schools. The central directives are very specific and explicit, instructing schools on what kind of textbooks schools have to use, how many students have to be in a class and even how big the sports ground has to be, as examples.

Trends in Chinese Education

The size of the population poses many constraints on the nature of instructional delivery. The key Ministry priority is the improvement of access to, and participation in, the nine years of compulsory education for primary and junior secondary children. Other priorities are adult education (specifically improving literacy levels among young and middle-aged people), higher education (particularly to develop its 'intellectual capital' and specifically the ‘211 Project’, which aims to achieve more student places).

Vocational education is also receiving considerable attention. Presently, more than 50% of secondary students are in vocational education programs, but there is a huge shortage of vocational education teachers. One strategy to overcome this problem is increased attention being given to technology, with online university programs emerging. Another strategy in use is the importing of curricula and manpower to teach specialist training courses. One such program we visited was the Shantou Campus of the Oxford Business School, which runs degree level business courses, as well as English language programs. About a quarter of their teachers annually are recommended and imported, from the parent college in England, to Shantou. The majority of the remainder are local ethnic Chinese teachers.

International education and student/teachers exchanges are also recognised as having an increasingly important role to play. The low number of students who return after studying overseas is a major worry to the nation. Calls to review the ability for students to remain overseas after their studies are growing.

Findings of English Language School Visits

The authors visited some twelve schools in total, ranging from regional kindergartens and primary schools, through to government and independent secondary schools, an independent Kindergarten to Year 12 facility, several specialised English and business-related colleges and one central and one regional university.

Most instruction is teacher-centred and concentrates on vocabulary. Students find such instruction boring, and hence, popularity of English programs is low. This is where private TEFL courses can capture the market by providing what the government system cannot.

Strategies for Effective TEFL in PRC

Private TEFL providers can make their classes more attractive to students and hence capture a greater market share by:

• providing a detailed plan of what will be done and when (including content assessment and activities);

• making the experience as different and exciting as possible by:

• group work activities;

• using the concept that constructive noise is good;

• making the experience as real as possible with contemporary relevant topics and excursions and concrete activities;

• making the experience different and enjoyable with prizes, competitions, use of music and games;

• not being afraid to experiment to find out what works best;

• using homework as a strategy of getting families involved with post-learning and reinforcement activities and proving to parent their money is well spent;

• encouraging overseas study and living with English speaking families; and,

• encouraging students to want to learn for themselves.

Conclusion

Change in the Chinese education system will be slow by virtue of its size and structure. Such change will need to be led from the top, with the Ministry of Education encouraging innovation. The first steps for future progress are evident in the teachers’ own comments that students are unhappy with their English language learning. While teachers recognise the inadequacies in their current approaches, they continue to cite the large class sizes and physical setting as reasons not to innovate.

A number of simple strategies, which will enhance learning, can be put into place with the PRC English Language classroom.

These acquisition strategies include observation of role models, effective use of group learning, a curriculum that is intensive but is incremental in increasing difficulty of content and the complexity of tasks required, enforces repetitive strategies concentrating on memorisation but stretches students later in the program to apply information in every day situations, uses concrete examples and experimental approaches and ensures that content is both pragmatic and relevant.

Acquisition will be best facilitated by obtaining local input on the content. The translation of materials, provision of sufficient context as to the relevance of the learning and the provision of continuous feedback will make all materials far more user friendly. Making the experience an enjoyable one through the use of non-conventional classroom teaching practices, such as music, art games and rewards, a clearly structured classroom (both learning and assessment) and homework program using such concrete strategies as learning trees and/or Gowin's Vee will enforce a joyful experience. Teachers should aim to excite and empower students with skills so that they want to continue to learn English for themselves through turning the classroom activities to a stimulus focus.