OPERACIONAL TIPO DE
7. RESULTADOS Y ANALISIS
7.1. Resultados y Análisis de encuestas a docentes y administrativos
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusions
The problems that emerged in China’s English shadow education are fast-paced and absent of authentic language environment yet focused on examination-orientation (Yung, 2014). Consequently, students tend to depend on tutors to spoon-feed them examination skills in a short period of time instead of developing their learning autonomy. In addition, the less authentic English conversation is conducted, the more anxious students feel speaking English. The selling point of shadow education is providing shortcuts and exam skills to tackle high-stakes
examinations. However, when this instrumentally motivated learning style is encouraged, it stops students from learning independently, stimulating interest in English, or developing their
communicative competence; they will end up becoming expert exam takers.
Nevertheless, there are three main factors that result in the huge demand for shadow education and confine students’ communicative competence and English proficiency. Firstly, the One Child Policy and rapid economic growth enable parents to invest more in the only child’s education (Li, 2010). Thus, various shadow education strategies have emerged to meet the parents’ will of “buying” a better future for children, as well as many children’s needs of seeking quick success to compensate the whole family. Secondly, Confucian core values, hierarchy, harmony, and diligence, attach great importance to Chinese teaching values (Clark and Gieve, 2006; Grimshaw, 2007; Jin and Cortazzi, 2006; Watkins and Biggs, 1996). The lecture format of shadow education, the advocacy of extra work, and students’ compliance with teachers and parents are derived from Chinese traditional culture which is hard to change. Thirdly, the priority and high pressure of getting a satisfying score in NCEE (National College Entrance
Examination), which is a once in a lifetime event, leads to the participation in English shadow education for better test preparation and omission of oral English since it is not in the test scope (Li & Baldauf, 2011).
There is a considerable proportion of in-service teachers participating in shadow education (H. Shen, 2008; Tang, 2009; Y. Zhang, 2013) because of competitive pressure, high student-teacher ratio, overloaded curriculum and salary system. Teachers’ performances are evaluated by students’ performances on NCEE (Lu & Liu, 2016) so shadow education meets teachers’ needs of improving performances, helping individuals and earning merit pay. So the teachers’ ability to force the demand for tutoring on their own students stems from their monopoly of power over the students’ learning, and the discretion they have over student assessment (Zhang, 2014) needs to be mediated.
Also, many other realistic constraints in implementing the Communicative Approach are found in the Chinese context, such as large class size, inadequate teaching resources, and
teachers’ limited English language proficiency (Nunan, 2003; Yu, 2001; Zhang & Watkins, 2007). Thus, it’s English shadow education that could provide one-to-one or small class size for conducting the Communicative Approach. Given the more private environment of teaching in shadow education settings, educators should create variety in curriculum to attempt to meet different objectives of teaching English. Not only will the instant need of tackling examinations be met, but also long-term goals of communicative competence and learner autonomy will be achieved. Also, more TESOL practitioners should dedicate themselves to shadow education as teachers, scholars or trainers to improve the quality of English teaching.
Recommendations
The main problems that exist in China’s English shadow education are fast pace, lack of NESTs, and exclusive emphasis on the Grammar Translation Method. In addition, the
Communicative Approach cannot have a powerful effect on English shadow education because of the incomprehension and incompetence in applying the Communicative Approach and the resistance of the China’s current educational system.
For teachers
1. Due to competitive pressure among colleagues, high student-teacher ratio (100:1 or so), and overloaded curriculum for tackling NCEE (National College Entrance Examination), teachers tend to be engaged in shadow education, but shouldn’t use their power over students’ assessment to force the demand for tutoring.
2. Apply the Communicative Approach and avoid Grammar Translation to young kids (up to twelve years old) because they are not preparing for high-stakes examinations. Additionally, it will stimulate their interest in English and develop their oral English before puberty.
3. Given the more private environment of teaching in shadow education settings, teachers should create variety in curriculum to attempt to meet different objectives of teaching English. Students who are interested in studying abroad and students who dream of attending Peking University despite poor English grades should receive different help in shadow education. 4. The diversity and positive competitiveness of English shadow education should be generated under effective intervention. Communicative Approach and Grammar Translation Method should benefit different students in different learning styles and needs. More NESTs (native English speaking teachers) should be devoted to China’s English shadow education to
raise the awareness of the importance of communicative competence and provide a more authentic English speaking environment for Chinese students, and at the same time, consider their cultural needs. The intersection of both methods like using correct pronunciation to enhance memorization of spelling is optimal for Chinese students.
5. The teachers’ lack of communicative teaching experience caused them to stick to
easier-to-handle teacher-centered approaches. Therefore, they should observe as many communicative classes as they can and determine the teaching mode that fits them and their students. Then, practice! Both teachers and students need time to get used to a new approach. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, gain experience from each failed attempt. Lastly, give them some tasks like presentations, oral quizzes or role playing activities to motivate students practicing and preparing during the group discussion instead of
chatting.
For teacher trainers & scholars
1. The majority of the training methods are considered useless since they are not practical under China’s values or education system. Trainers from other cultural backgrounds should better understand China’s English shadow education rather than asserting the Communicative Approach is the remedy for China.
2. Training and supervision should be carefully conducted in English shadow education to stop educators who teach simply for material gain and instant income from monopolizing the market.
3. Recognize the existence, nature, and implications of shadow education (Bray & Lykins, 2012). TESOL practitioners may also need to consider the complex relationship between
mainstream schools and out- of-class contexts like shadow education regarding such issues as the roles of NESTs and NNESTs, and approaches to teaching and learning English.
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APPENDIX
Shadow Education
Bei Ye
A handbook for TESOL practitioners to better
understand and improve China’s English shadow
education
2
Introduction………3 What is Shadow Education?...4
Definition……….4 Characteristics……….……….5 Format & Materials………..7
Why is Shadow Education Needed in China?...12
Political and Economic Factors………...12 Cultural Tradition………12 Education System………13
Which Approach is Optimal?...16
The Grammar Translation Method……….16 The Communicative Approach………...17
What Can TESOL Practitioners Do?...18
Q&A………18 For teachers……….20 For teacher trainers………..21 For TESOL scholars………21
3 (Bei Ye)
Greetings! I am Bei Ye. As an international student who learned English in China and received TESOL education in the US, I have created a handbook for American TESOL practitioners who are interested working in China to better understand English shadow education as an important part of China’s English education.
I’ve learned many TESOL approaches, such as the Communicative Approach at the University of San Francisco and I am passionate to use them in my teaching career. However, it seems unrealistic to apply them in today’s China, especially in the shadow education settings because China’s education culture is fast-paced and test-oriented. I really want to improve Chinese students’ English proficiency by using the Communicative Approach but I know it will not be welcomed by teachers and students since it is not congruous with examination. Therefore, it is significant to determine which teaching approach is optimal in China and what TESOL can do to solve the problem.
Through the handbook, you will learn the local needs of Chinese students and China’s demand pattern for shadow education. Furthermore, you will be able to adapt your teaching pedagogy to be optimized in the context of shadow education.
4
Definition
Private supplementary tutoring is widely known as shadow education because the curriculum in the “shadow” mimics the curriculum inside the school (Zhang, 2014). It exists for reinforcing memorization, exercising mechanically, predicting examination scope, and providing shortcuts and examination skills. In short, shadow education repeats what has been covered in mainstream schools, aiming at improving students’ test scores rather than English proficiency.
Shadow education has expanded significantly in China during the past decade. According to Xue and Ding (2009), 73.8% of students in elementary schools, 65.6% of junior middle school students, and 53.5% of senior high school students participated in private tutoring in urban China in 2004. It has become more and more prevalent for high school students to enhance their competitiveness in NCEE (national college entrance examination) in China.
5
Characteristics
I interviewed Chinese K12 students and students who had graduated to understand
their learning experience and feeling about English shadow education and excerpt their
narratives in this unit to analyze the characteristics and expose the problems of China’s
English shadow education.
1. Fast-paced
In shadow education, students tend to depend on tutors to spoon-feed them examination skills in a short period of time instead of developing autonomy. They were highly instrumentally motivated, as evidenced by their pragmatic goal of performing well in NCEE (National College Entrance Examination) and securing a place at university (Yung, 2014).
“Receiving shadow education is like the psychotherapeutic placebo. The more
information being covered, the more confidence I appear to gain to face the high-stakes
examinations. But actually, I can’t digest that much in a short period of time.”
(Xiaotong)
“The teacher told me a lot of things nonstop. For example, he taught me how to guess
which one is the correct answer in a listening test even before listening to the material,
then explained how it works. I would never learn those tricks at school.” (Ru)
6 Chinese students would rather learn from NNESTs (Non-native English Speaking Teachers) than NESTs (Native English Speaking Teachers) though NESTs have the advantage of creating an English-only learning environment. From the students’ perspective, the choice for NNESTs facilitates communication in the classroom, particularly for explaining the meaning of difficult vocabulary and grammar items (Yung, 2014). In addition, the popularity of NNESTs over NESTs as tutors might also be attributed to NNESTs’ better understanding of the sociohistorical contexts, which facilitates their teaching and pedagogical choices relevant to the local settings (Mahboob, 2010).
3. Examination-oriented
“I can’t stand most of the NNESTs’ (Nonnative English Speaking Teachers’) accent but
NESTs (Native English Speaking Teachers) only teach speaking, which is not in the
examination scope. I am too busy conquering exams to take extra oral classes. I have to
sacrifice my desire to improve my speaking for my pre-requisite: passing the
examinations” (Ming)
“I expected my teacher to explain my errors, but he just let me memorize the correct
answers.” (Shiying Sun
)“I am afraid of communicating in English, so I prefer to learn from Chinese teachers.
I can ask questions in Chinese without anxiety and understand the teacher’s
7 The learning process in English shadow education mainly focuses on memorizing patterns and useful phrases that you can use in varied writing topics as well as drilling grammar exercise and past examination questions.
All in all, the selling point of shadow education is providing shortcuts to tackle high-stakes examinations. However, when this nearsighted and superficial teaching style becomes prevalent, it prevents TESOL practitioners from improving English teaching quality in China. Students may be satisfied with and benefit from learning examination skills exclusively in shadow education for the time being, but they will realize later that it will not improve their English proficiency. Therefore, TESOL educators need to think for the long haul rather than pursuing immediate interests.
Format & Materials
The materials used in China’s English shadow education usually are examination papers, writing models, and prep sheets. Usually, in a shadow education class, teachers hand out past or stimulated examination papers in the beginning of the class, then help with individuals’ questions. At the end, teachers comment and evaluate on their work. Sometimes, teachers help students with specific skills like writing by providing writing models and showing students how to use the models in varied contexts or by telling them what kind of sentence patterns and words will let them get a higher score. If one important examination is upcoming, teachers tend to provide prep sheets covering all key points and ask them to memorize them. Here are some authentic materials for 12th graders used in China’s English shadow education. By learning the format