With the four syllabi needed for my doubled, diversified course load, this semester has certainly proven to be busy. Although I am still enjoying every minute of it! I have been putting in the hours these first six weeks in order to allow smooth sailing from here on out. Today I have officially finished each courses' lesson plans for the remaining 14 weeks, including the final exams ready to be sent to the print shop. I even prepared all the lessons for tutoring my primary students over the next three months. I am feeling accomplished.
The main challenge was preparing a syllabi for my newly added classes in the International College where I teach non-English majors whose skill level is quite low. Some of the students speak only as well as the children I tutor. I have taught beginners before but only in small groups in which I can provide one-on-one attention. Unlike my first college Spanish course, there are no text books, university-run online learning programs or guidance given to the instructors. After a lot of student evaluations and research, I finally feel as if I am running a professionally informed classroom fully equipped with valuable visuals and student materials.
Despite my preparedness, I still face the obstacle of getting the class to participate. I have learned that the International College isn't a department of the university for students wanting to study abroad. Rather, students who did not do well enough on the college entrance exams to be accepted into Yangtze University attend the college instead or in hopes of eventually being admitted into the university. So while the two schools are affiliated they are, in fact, separate. Frankly, the students come from more privileged families who can keep them in school. For most Chinese students who don't pass the entrance exam, they have to return home to work. After my first few classes, I become very frustrated with their behavior and poor work ethic. I have never encountered such problems with my university English majors and so was taken by surprise. It seems many do not care for be there. I have some that always sleep and many who just don't pay any attention. When asked to turn in a very short, easy in-class assignment today, 10 out of 30 did so before leaving. So now I am devising methods to keep them interested and attentitive that doesn't involve babysitting. If you have any suggestions, please send them my way!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Mountains and Monkeys
During the Chinese National Week holiday (the first week of October) I traveled to Zhongjiajie, a city on the border of Hubei and Hunan provinces. The city itself is very much like any other in mainland China. The attraction is the Zhongjiajie National Forest Park, which is where the movie Avatar was filmed. If you are familiar with the movie, I saw the pillar-like rock structures that the main characters climbed and flew around. Unlike in Avatar, however, the rocks are not floating among the clouds.
When we first entered the park there was a sign that read "Do Not Touch the Monkeys." We had a good laugh, thinking that not only was such advice silly but also pointless. How would a person even be able to attempt to pet a monkey? Halfway up our first trail, we soon learned why such a warning was valid. There were monkeys everywhere, and they were fearless!
Evidently they've become accustomed to being fed by tourists so they linger near the trails. After watching for awhile, I continued hiking and began to eat an apple. Soon enough, two monkeys literally ran onto the path in front of me, standing on their hind legs and eyeing my snack. I felt obligated to share. My friend was walking ahead and was able to snap the photo below. While it is definitely a cool picture, their aggressiveness was unnerving. After giving one a small bite, I got too nervous and threw the remaining apple into the trees, sending both running after it. I still cannot believe how close the monkeys will come to people!
Frankly, the interaction between people and monkeys there is borderline dangerous. To make matters worse, the park actually sells sling-shots. Sadly, there was a little boy who was slinging stones at the animals! Of course, I yelled "Stop that!" But his parents or any other adults around didn't seem to care one bit. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if some day in the future newspaper headlines read "Chinese family attacked by monkeys at Zhongjiajie National Forest Park!" So I offer warning: If you ever pay a visit to the park be wary of the primates because apparently the Chinese tourists don't take any precautions.
The other highlight was making it all the way to the top of a mountain! Such a spectacular view! My friends and I hiked about eight miles each day. Good times.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
White Noise
When I arrived in China, one of the biggest adjustments I unexpectedly had to make was getting use to the noise pollution. If you thought New York City was loud, come take a walk through Jingzhou.
Cars and motor bikes honk obsessively. Even if there is nothing in their way, they still continue to honk as if asserting their authority. Chinese talk louder than the average American and, if there's no one to converse with, people boast their singing voice. (Although, I do find the love of song endearing.) Most shout into their cell phone as oftentimes the reception is horrible. My conversation with friends has been drowned out by the loud, one-end phone conversation of the passenger sitting behind us on the bus. When shopping, every store blares it's own music at top-volume, seemingly unaware that their playlist can't be distinguished while it just adds to the chaos of sound bombarding the sidewalks - which also includes street vendors shouting at you. Everywhere you go there seems to be construction so the clinking and clanking of large machinery rings in your ears. Currently, they are repaving the road near my apartment. (China is certainly changing and developing quickly.) At night, you can hear the barking of stray dogs and an occasional shout from local folk walking through campus.
Admitedly, I still have not adapted to all this noise. But just when I think I have managed to ignore the constant humdrum of life in China, allowing it to fade into white noise in the background, I hear the firecrackers. The local residents here LOVE firecrackers! They set them off daily for no apparent celebratory reason. On more than one occasion, I have awoken early in the morning to the echoing blasts somewhere outside my window. The first time it happened, I jumped out of bed alarmed at the racket. Just today in class, I had to stop teaching for five minutes as we waited for the boom of firecrackers to cease!
Cars and motor bikes honk obsessively. Even if there is nothing in their way, they still continue to honk as if asserting their authority. Chinese talk louder than the average American and, if there's no one to converse with, people boast their singing voice. (Although, I do find the love of song endearing.) Most shout into their cell phone as oftentimes the reception is horrible. My conversation with friends has been drowned out by the loud, one-end phone conversation of the passenger sitting behind us on the bus. When shopping, every store blares it's own music at top-volume, seemingly unaware that their playlist can't be distinguished while it just adds to the chaos of sound bombarding the sidewalks - which also includes street vendors shouting at you. Everywhere you go there seems to be construction so the clinking and clanking of large machinery rings in your ears. Currently, they are repaving the road near my apartment. (China is certainly changing and developing quickly.) At night, you can hear the barking of stray dogs and an occasional shout from local folk walking through campus.
Admitedly, I still have not adapted to all this noise. But just when I think I have managed to ignore the constant humdrum of life in China, allowing it to fade into white noise in the background, I hear the firecrackers. The local residents here LOVE firecrackers! They set them off daily for no apparent celebratory reason. On more than one occasion, I have awoken early in the morning to the echoing blasts somewhere outside my window. The first time it happened, I jumped out of bed alarmed at the racket. Just today in class, I had to stop teaching for five minutes as we waited for the boom of firecrackers to cease!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Cross-Cultural Crash
My students turned in their final papers a few weeks ago. With 130 papers to get through, I got started immediately. I was soon reading information that was written with a style and diction that was beyond their evident ability and expertise. So I started Googling... Plagiarism plagued the research papers. I further discovered that even the papers that appeared as if they were written at the same skill level were copied from blogs and amateur websites. Of all my students, fewer than ten wrote their own paper.
I felt awful. What had gone wrong? I devoted most of the semester's last two months to final paper preparations. At the start, I even discussed the definition of plagiarism, the importance of giving credit to authors and how it is a serious offense in Western universities. An entire lesson was devoted to avoiding it by practicing paraphrasing and reviewing the use of quotations. The criteria sheet I handed out also stated in large, bold print "Purposeful plagiarism will result in a zero for the assignment and possibly a failing grade for this class."
After some online reading and talking with others, I then learned that plagiarism is actually very common, labeled by some as a problem with Chinese academia. Several Chinese professors have plagiarised the works they published in academic journals. Chinese friends informed that even graduate students oftentimes copy their thesis. Some stated that when they turned in papers, they hoped that their professors did not even read them - an idea that my Western perspective blocks me from grasping. Such news caused me to conclude that I was encountering not only lack of effort and sincerity on the part of my students but, moreover, a cultural barrier.
While I consciously did my best to not become angry, it proved difficult. My students are fluent English speaks for whom which a lack of understanding was not the issue. The issue seems to have been the disregard of my expectations and guidelines. However, then I reminded myself - How can I blame them for doing what they have been taught and following the examples of their teachers? Culturally, Chinese are taught that to copy the works of great artists is the best way to improve oneself and eventually become great too. Hence the strong emphasis on studying the Chinese classics in all subjects.
Obviously not going to fail everyone, the final papers couldn't be graded. After much deliberation, I decided to just make the mid-term exams worth a larger percentage of their course grade. I sent an e-mail to all students informing them about the change and expressing my disappointment. Because many of them had mentioned that they want to attend graduate schools in the U.S. or Britain, I reiterated the Western stance on plagiarism and warned that it would cause them to lose all potential for acceptance into any program. After spending a long time on my wording, I hit "Send" and hoped that they would understand I simply cannot issue grades for papers they didn't write. Surprisingly, I only had five or six responses, most of which offered apologies. Interestingly, a few seemed to acknowledge that we were facing a cultural difference, which just made me wonder why these seemingly self-aware students didn't bring such important information to my attention earlier.
One thing is clear - next semester's syllabus will need a lot of adjusting. I am quite certain that I will not be assigning research papers. I can't break down educational and cultural barriers in a four-month term. But I can definitely craft other practical lessons that will benefit them in the future. With that said, I still think that many of my students are incredibly smart and wonderful. Live and learn. Taking all the experience I've gained so far, my goal will be to reconstruct the class to hopefully create a classroom in which both the students and I can appreciate our cultures and engage in valuable learning (& teaching!) - living and learning.
I felt awful. What had gone wrong? I devoted most of the semester's last two months to final paper preparations. At the start, I even discussed the definition of plagiarism, the importance of giving credit to authors and how it is a serious offense in Western universities. An entire lesson was devoted to avoiding it by practicing paraphrasing and reviewing the use of quotations. The criteria sheet I handed out also stated in large, bold print "Purposeful plagiarism will result in a zero for the assignment and possibly a failing grade for this class."
After some online reading and talking with others, I then learned that plagiarism is actually very common, labeled by some as a problem with Chinese academia. Several Chinese professors have plagiarised the works they published in academic journals. Chinese friends informed that even graduate students oftentimes copy their thesis. Some stated that when they turned in papers, they hoped that their professors did not even read them - an idea that my Western perspective blocks me from grasping. Such news caused me to conclude that I was encountering not only lack of effort and sincerity on the part of my students but, moreover, a cultural barrier.
While I consciously did my best to not become angry, it proved difficult. My students are fluent English speaks for whom which a lack of understanding was not the issue. The issue seems to have been the disregard of my expectations and guidelines. However, then I reminded myself - How can I blame them for doing what they have been taught and following the examples of their teachers? Culturally, Chinese are taught that to copy the works of great artists is the best way to improve oneself and eventually become great too. Hence the strong emphasis on studying the Chinese classics in all subjects.
Obviously not going to fail everyone, the final papers couldn't be graded. After much deliberation, I decided to just make the mid-term exams worth a larger percentage of their course grade. I sent an e-mail to all students informing them about the change and expressing my disappointment. Because many of them had mentioned that they want to attend graduate schools in the U.S. or Britain, I reiterated the Western stance on plagiarism and warned that it would cause them to lose all potential for acceptance into any program. After spending a long time on my wording, I hit "Send" and hoped that they would understand I simply cannot issue grades for papers they didn't write. Surprisingly, I only had five or six responses, most of which offered apologies. Interestingly, a few seemed to acknowledge that we were facing a cultural difference, which just made me wonder why these seemingly self-aware students didn't bring such important information to my attention earlier.
One thing is clear - next semester's syllabus will need a lot of adjusting. I am quite certain that I will not be assigning research papers. I can't break down educational and cultural barriers in a four-month term. But I can definitely craft other practical lessons that will benefit them in the future. With that said, I still think that many of my students are incredibly smart and wonderful. Live and learn. Taking all the experience I've gained so far, my goal will be to reconstruct the class to hopefully create a classroom in which both the students and I can appreciate our cultures and engage in valuable learning (& teaching!) - living and learning.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Mmmm Food
Being in mainland China, there are not many meal options beyond Chinese food. Only in the bigger, coastal cities will you find any international cuisine. The three Western restaurants here are McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut, all of which are expensive by Chinese standards. There is one Korean restaurant near the campus, but its menu has maybe five entrees. As for grocery shopping, there is one super market in Sha Shi (the neighboring city) that has a few western items, including butter, cheese, french bread (which is usually stale) and spaghetti.
So I've been eating lots of Chinese food! That means I eat rice just about everyday. The basics are rice, meat (chicken, beef or pork) and vegetables. The most commonly eaten veges are cabbage, peppers, onions and tomatoes - you find at least one of these in almost any dish. My favorite food here (which was new to me four months ago) are lotus roots. Everything is cooked. When I explain how Westerners eat uncooked veges (i.e. salads), people are just aghast!
Some other new and weird foods I've eaten: duck blood, milk bean soup, rotten tofu (called "stinky tof"), donkey, snake, chicken feet, and pigs blood, ear, tongue and balls (yes, balls...)
The spiciest Chinese dishes come from far Cantonese south or Sichuan province but, in general, Southern China is known for spicer foods relative to Northern China. So many dishes here are quite spicy. Most, especially meats, have chili peppers and/or peppercorns in them. Even now with it being 90 degrees and high humidity, people still indudge in these hot dishes. Us foreigners just get uncomfortably hot and sweaty!
Chinese do not consume a lot of dairy. Many of them have never even tasted cheese and most don't drink milk. Yogurt cups are very popular, but the servings are only a couple ounces. I assume the lack of calcium is why they are all so small, and why three of my students had broken bones this semester. Milk is sold warm in cardboard boxes. Frankly, I don't like it and I miss my 2%.
At restaurants the food is served family-style. Everyone shares the dishes, picking up the food with their chopsticks and placing it in their bowl of rice. Below is a pic of a typical dinner. The middle dish in the back is lotus root.
All in all, I really enjoy the food here but, admittedly, I sometimes overwhelmingly crave non-Chinese foods. I took it for granted that in America people can eat any ethnic foods they want. Within just a few blocks from Bren's & my apartment in Chicago we could go to a Thai, Mexican, Japanese, Italian, Ethiopian, Irish or Middle Eastern restaurant. Awhile back I actually had a recurring dream about eating a taco....
So I've been eating lots of Chinese food! That means I eat rice just about everyday. The basics are rice, meat (chicken, beef or pork) and vegetables. The most commonly eaten veges are cabbage, peppers, onions and tomatoes - you find at least one of these in almost any dish. My favorite food here (which was new to me four months ago) are lotus roots. Everything is cooked. When I explain how Westerners eat uncooked veges (i.e. salads), people are just aghast!
Some other new and weird foods I've eaten: duck blood, milk bean soup, rotten tofu (called "stinky tof"), donkey, snake, chicken feet, and pigs blood, ear, tongue and balls (yes, balls...)
The spiciest Chinese dishes come from far Cantonese south or Sichuan province but, in general, Southern China is known for spicer foods relative to Northern China. So many dishes here are quite spicy. Most, especially meats, have chili peppers and/or peppercorns in them. Even now with it being 90 degrees and high humidity, people still indudge in these hot dishes. Us foreigners just get uncomfortably hot and sweaty!
Chinese do not consume a lot of dairy. Many of them have never even tasted cheese and most don't drink milk. Yogurt cups are very popular, but the servings are only a couple ounces. I assume the lack of calcium is why they are all so small, and why three of my students had broken bones this semester. Milk is sold warm in cardboard boxes. Frankly, I don't like it and I miss my 2%.
At restaurants the food is served family-style. Everyone shares the dishes, picking up the food with their chopsticks and placing it in their bowl of rice. Below is a pic of a typical dinner. The middle dish in the back is lotus root.
All in all, I really enjoy the food here but, admittedly, I sometimes overwhelmingly crave non-Chinese foods. I took it for granted that in America people can eat any ethnic foods they want. Within just a few blocks from Bren's & my apartment in Chicago we could go to a Thai, Mexican, Japanese, Italian, Ethiopian, Irish or Middle Eastern restaurant. Awhile back I actually had a recurring dream about eating a taco....
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Going to the Country
Every Sunday Keith and I tutor four primary school students in oral English. This past weekend one of our students, Gary, invited us to spend an afternoon in the countryside at his home. We loaded in his father's van and headed out of the city. It was wonderful to breathe fresh, sweet-smelling air. The city is rather polluted. In China, Gary's family would be considered "rich peasants." Their newly built two-story home has the kitchen in another small building separated by a narrow courtyard from the main house. In the courtyard is the pig pen and chicken coop - but the chickens roam throughout the entire yard.
After a few hours of playing with the kids (none of the adults spoke any English), we had a huge feast prepared by Gary's mother and aunt. It was so lovely to have a home-cooked meal! I never cook at my apartment and eat out almost every evening. It was one of the best meals I've had since arriving in China, particularly the duck legs. After eating like it was Thanksgiving, we returned to campus.
We walked through the garden and around the rice paddies where we met Harry the water buffalo. I helped Gary feed the chickens and we played with their new puppy, DuDu (which sounds like "doo doo"). I told them they should get another dog and name him PeePee! Despite his English being quite good, I was surprised that Gary actually understood the joke...When I was checking out the pig, I nonchalantly shooed a chick away who was getting to close too my face. I had failed to notice five other chickens sitting in a nearby basket. When they saw my hand swing over them, they all flocked towards me in panic. I shrieked loudly and hurried away swinging my arms to fend off the chickens! I caused such an uproar that Gary's grandmother came to see if everything was OK!
Harry
After a few hours of playing with the kids (none of the adults spoke any English), we had a huge feast prepared by Gary's mother and aunt. It was so lovely to have a home-cooked meal! I never cook at my apartment and eat out almost every evening. It was one of the best meals I've had since arriving in China, particularly the duck legs. After eating like it was Thanksgiving, we returned to campus.
Group Photo
The Feast (which I can't get to load right-side up)
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The Red, White & Blue
Last week I passed around a blank sheet of paper and asked each student to write any question they have about American culture, politics and society. So I knew this week that I would be discussing topics of interest on a subject I'm knowledgeable about. It was the best discussion all semester with some students actually participating!
Some questions were rather light and funny, while others were more inquisitive and serious:
"Does everyone have casual sex like they do in American movies?"
"How did Indians (Native Americans) influence American culture?"
"Are American housewives really like the characters in the show Desperate Housewives?"
"How old are women when they get married? How many children do they typically have?"
"Are Americans more accepting of black people after President Obama was elected?"
"What do American women look for in and find attractive about Chinese men?"
I made sure to discuss every inquiry. For a few, I had to do a little research in order to provide a good answer, especially one question in particular. Two students asked about my opinions on America "not thinking that Taiwan is a part of China" and the recent weapons sale to Taiwan. I was surprised to see these two questions written down. The issues surrounding the status of Taiwan independence are the Chinese government's Achilles heel. For example, China refuses to do business with any country that asserts Taiwan's sovereignty. A few other foreign teachers warned I would be entering dangerous territory, but I didn't want to ignore the students' questions after I encouraged them to ask whatever they wanted. Because of the sensivity of the topic, I had to be very careful in crafting my response.
I mostly quoted statements issued by both the Obama and Bush administrations, which essentially leave the American government's stance vague and arbitrary, causing my response to also be. In addressing the $1.6 billion sale of weapons, I said that it was an economic exchange, not a political move. One student then proceded to ask, "How would Americans feel if the Chinese government sold weapons to California?" I explained that wouldn't happen because California doesn't have it's own army (Taiwan does) and continued to emphasis economical reasons for the transaction. While this one student did seem to get aggravated, I kept the conversation from getting heated. My communications degree in rhetoric proved helpful in the situation. I made a conscious effort to avoid saying "Taiwanese government" or any way insinuating that Taiwan has a separate government. (Although Taiwan actually does - It has its own president, political parties, judicial system, tax system, etc. A Chinese passport isn't even valid for entry; Mainland Chinese have to purchase a visa).
So the class discussions went great even though I touched upon a very delicate issue. I succeeded in not angrying or offending anyone! Everyone paid attention and no one appeared bored. If only past attempts at encouraging student oral participation went as well. The students were also glad to not have to do any writing after turning in their preposterous final papers!
Some questions were rather light and funny, while others were more inquisitive and serious:
"Does everyone have casual sex like they do in American movies?"
"How did Indians (Native Americans) influence American culture?"
"Are American housewives really like the characters in the show Desperate Housewives?"
"How old are women when they get married? How many children do they typically have?"
"Are Americans more accepting of black people after President Obama was elected?"
"What do American women look for in and find attractive about Chinese men?"
I made sure to discuss every inquiry. For a few, I had to do a little research in order to provide a good answer, especially one question in particular. Two students asked about my opinions on America "not thinking that Taiwan is a part of China" and the recent weapons sale to Taiwan. I was surprised to see these two questions written down. The issues surrounding the status of Taiwan independence are the Chinese government's Achilles heel. For example, China refuses to do business with any country that asserts Taiwan's sovereignty. A few other foreign teachers warned I would be entering dangerous territory, but I didn't want to ignore the students' questions after I encouraged them to ask whatever they wanted. Because of the sensivity of the topic, I had to be very careful in crafting my response.
I mostly quoted statements issued by both the Obama and Bush administrations, which essentially leave the American government's stance vague and arbitrary, causing my response to also be. In addressing the $1.6 billion sale of weapons, I said that it was an economic exchange, not a political move. One student then proceded to ask, "How would Americans feel if the Chinese government sold weapons to California?" I explained that wouldn't happen because California doesn't have it's own army (Taiwan does) and continued to emphasis economical reasons for the transaction. While this one student did seem to get aggravated, I kept the conversation from getting heated. My communications degree in rhetoric proved helpful in the situation. I made a conscious effort to avoid saying "Taiwanese government" or any way insinuating that Taiwan has a separate government. (Although Taiwan actually does - It has its own president, political parties, judicial system, tax system, etc. A Chinese passport isn't even valid for entry; Mainland Chinese have to purchase a visa).
So the class discussions went great even though I touched upon a very delicate issue. I succeeded in not angrying or offending anyone! Everyone paid attention and no one appeared bored. If only past attempts at encouraging student oral participation went as well. The students were also glad to not have to do any writing after turning in their preposterous final papers!
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