This is taken from material I recently prepared for some Chinese high school teachers of English undergoing continuing education. The codes A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2 are references to the language levels under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
The sole purpose of learning a language is to communicate! It isn’t about getting good grades on exams (though good grades are important), it’s about becoming first an independent user of the language and then a proficient user (the latter is what we call being fluent in a language). If you’re not teaching a language in order to create independent and proficient users of that language, then you’re not teaching language, you’re only teaching about language, much like teaching other school subjects such as history, geography, mathematics, or the hard sciences.
THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF LANGUAGE
You’ve heard of the five elements (wu xing) in Chinese astrology: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water? In classical Western culture, there are only four elements (as proposed by the ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles): earth, air, fire, and water - though Aristotle later added a fifth element called aether (also spelled ether, which he claimed fills the universe beyond our planet’s atmosphere). Well, languages also have elements of a sort and, like in classical Western culture, there are four of them. The four elements of language are speaking, listening, reading, and writing. These four elements are how we do language. Let’s look at these elements individually:
Speaking - Chinese English-language learners tend to be weak in speaking (and listening), and much of that is because of how languages are often taught in China (with a greater emphasis on grammar and translation with the goal of passing written tests). But speaking is one of the first two language skills we learned as young children, long before we ever learned to read and write. Since the sole purpose of learning a language is to communicate in that language, and since most of our communication is verbal (speaking and listening), students need to put greater emphasis on speaking.
English-language learners, particularly in Asian countries, tend to have a fear of speaking. This is mostly because they’re afraid of making mistakes (and, thereby, losing face). At least here in China, they use the excuse that they’re shy - but they’re not shy; if they were shy, they would have just as much fear speaking their native language as they do trying to speak English; it is not being shy, it’s being afraid of making mistakes.
Let’s make something clear: language learners will make mistakes; even native speakers make mistakes! Making mistakes is part of the process of learning languages. The only way to get better at speaking is to speak. So, you as teachers need to help your students overcome their fear of speaking and to encourage them to speak. What is the Nike slogan? Just do it!
A lot of language textbooks have dialogues for students to practice doing with each other. They’re okay, as far as they go, but I would suggest that you forget the textbook dialogues. Have your students engage in real conversations about real topics. Is there a holiday or festival coming up? Have them talk to each other about what they’re going to do during that time away from school or how their family celebrates the festival. Have a class discussion about a recent event (this one may require students to spontaneously ask and answer questions, something that is not generally encouraged in Chinese schools). The topic of conversation doesn’t matter; the important thing is to get the students talking in real conversations. In addition to having real conversations, get the students to give presentations. Again, the only way to get better at speaking is to speak.
Listening - This is another area where Chinese English-language learners tend to be weak, and (as with speaking) much of that is because of how languages are often taught in China (with a greater emphasis on grammar and translation with the goal of passing written tests). Yet, listening is also the greatest difficulty many language learners have. Ask a lot of language learners what the hardest part of learning the language is and many of them will tell you that listening is the hardest. For example, they’ll say that native speakers sound like they’re talking too fast; so, it’s really hard to understand what they’re saying. Well, most of this is because language learners don’t have sufficient vocabulary to understand what native speakers are saying. But for English-language learners, there is another reason: the nature of the English language itself.
English is a stressed language. This means that when we’re speaking we put stress (emphasis) on certain kinds of words. When you’re listening, those words sound like we’re saying them louder and longer - in fact, that is exactly what we’re doing. The other words are said softer and shorter - it almost sounds as if we’re eating those words (according to one English-language learner from Mexico). Look at the following two sentences as an example:
He can come on Friday.
He can’t come on Friday.
If you listen to a native speaker, or a proficient user, of English say these sentences, the second sentence sounds longer. Each sentence has only six syllables, but it’s the second sentence that sounds longer. Why? Because of the number of words being stressed. In the first sentence, only two words are stressed: come, and Friday. In the second sentence, three words are stressed: can’t, come, and Friday. Look at the sentences again below; this time, the stressed words are in bold and italicized print.
He can come on Friday.
He can’t come on Friday.
Again, when the two sentences are said correctly, the second sentence sounds longer - even though the sentences have the same number of syllables.
When English-language learners are listening to the language being spoken, and they don’t understand word stress, they’re trying to listen to absolutely every word that is being said. This makes it a lot harder for them to understand what is being said because they’re trying harder to hear the words that are said softer and shorter; so, they miss a lot of what they’re hearing. But because English is a stressed language, it’s important to understand what kinds of words are being stressed and to focus on those words.
The words that we stress in English are what we call content words. These words are the content of what we’re communicating. These words are more important than the other words and, very often, the message being communicated can easily be understood just by using these content words. For example, “come Friday” and “can’t come Friday”. So, what kinds of words are these content words? The content words are: nouns (person, place, or thing); most main verbs (these words do the action); adjectives (these words describe or modify nouns); adverbs (these words describe or modify verbs); and the negative form of some modal verbs (e.g., can’t).
The words that we don’t stress, the words that sound softer and shorter, the words that we practically eat when speaking, are called function words. In the examples used earlier, you should have noticed that we didn’t stress the function words. Let’s look at the sentences again; this time, the words that we don’t stress will be in bold and italicized print:
He can come on Friday.
He can’t come on Friday.
Did you notice that in the first sentence, the sentence that sounds shorter, there are more function words, more words that we don’t stress, more words that sound softer and shorter? Did you notice that in the second sentence, the sentence that sounds longer, there are fewer function words? More content words makes a sentence sound longer, while more function words makes a sentence sound shorter. So, what kinds of words are these function words? Well, very simply, they’re everything else in a sentence - everything that is not a noun, main verb, adjective, adverb, or the negative form of certain modal verbs. Specifically, they’re: determiners (e.g., the, a, an, some, a few); auxiliary verbs and some modal verbs (e.g., don’t, have, am, can, were; note that all modal verbs are auxiliary verbs but not all auxiliary verbs are modal verbs); prepositions (e.g., before, next to, opposite); conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, while, as); and pronouns (e.g., I, you, he, they).
When your students are listening to English, have them listen specifically for the content words, since these are the words that are stressed (they sound louder and longer). The function words do add some additional information, but the meaning of the sentence is in the content words.
Reading - Chinese English-language learners tend to be better at reading English than at speaking or listening because the education system in China seems to put more emphasis on it. After all, they’re reading from their textbooks, which have a lot of English content such as specific task instructions. Reading is an important skill that should not be ignored. In fact, reading in English is the best way to build vocabulary, learn new words.
Many bookstores in China have books that have English and Chinese text together. If your students are at the A1-A2 level, then having Chinese translation alongside the English translation is beneficial; but once your students move from A2 to B1, they need to start moving away from having the Chinese translation to rely on and start reading English-only texts.
But what should your students read? Well, that depends on how much vocabulary they have, their language level, and (to some extent) their interests. There are simplified versions of classical English literature and other books that provide aids to reading and understanding the text. You can also find books that are aligned to a student’s language level. These would be especially helpful for A1-A2 level students.
When choosing what to read, try different kinds of reading material such as novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction (such as biographies, history, and so on). Newspapers and magazines can be good sources of reading material as well (but Western newspapers in recent years have become lax when it comes to proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation).
There are different reading skills that are important for students: skimming, scanning, extensive reading, and intensive reading. Skimming is just looking for the gist or main idea of a text; we might skim a newspaper to get a general idea of what is reported or to decide which articles to read. Scanning is looking for specific information, such as a train schedule. Extensive reading is reading to get a general idea about a topic and includes reading for pleasure. Intensive reading is very accurate reading for understanding details; for example, reading an insurance policy or a contract.
You should give students opportunities to use each of these four reading skills on a frequent basis. Create exercises that require them to skim a paragraph or short article to get the gist or main idea; or have them skim an English-language newspaper (such as China Daily) to select an article to read later. Give them a menu in English and have them scan it to decide what items they want to order. Have your students read newspaper articles, magazine articles, and books to build their skills in extensive reading. Intensive reading is a skill for more advanced (C1-C2) language learners, though you might create activities for B2 level students to prepare them for move on to becoming a proficient user of English.
For extensive reading, including reading for pleasure, you should give your students the opportunity to choose texts based on their interests. What kinds of stories do they like? They’re more likely to read something if it’s interesting to them. Regardless, there are certain authors and titles that I am inclined to recommend.
As I stated earlier, there are simplified versions of English books that are aligned to students’ language levels. These are especially good for A1-A2 level students. For B1 level and beyond, you should choose texts that are slightly above their reading level. Here’s what I recommend:
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway - this is a short book and the vocabulary is fairly simple. Hemingway has longer works as well, and these would also be worth reading.
Jack London - this is an American author from around the turn of the 20th century. His adventure stories - Call of the Wild, White Fang, and Sea Wolf - are American classics.
Mark Twain - this is the pseudonym of Samuel L. Clemens, a 19th century American author and newspaper editor. He is most famous for his novels Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
The Little House on the Prairie series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder - this series of books is classified as an autobiographical novel written largely for children. It spawned a television series, Little House on the Prairie, that was popular in the United States of America in the 1970s.
Louisa May Alcott - this 19th century American author is best known for her classic work, Little Women, though she also wrote a companion work titled Little Men, both of which are good for high schoolers to read.
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis - this is a series of seven books by 20th century English author Clive Staples Lewis, a contemporary and close friend of J. R. R. Tolkien (famous for his Lord of the Rings trilogy).
The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien - Tolkien was a philologist and Oxford University professor who was a contemporary and close friend of C. S. Lewis. In 1937, he wrote a children’s book titled The Hobbit. He later wrote The Lord of the Rings trilogy as a sequel to that earlier work. The trilogy consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. Readers should start with The Hobbit before going on to the trilogy.
Agatha Christie - perhaps the greatest mystery writer of all time, Agatha Christie is renowned for her detective mysteries and thrillers.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - this famous British author is best known for his series of detective novels featuring the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.
Rudyard Kipling - this 19th century journalist and author was born in India and is most famous for The Jungle Book.
Some of your students might want to try reading other authors and titles as well. For some reason, 19th century authors seem to be fairly popular among English-language learners in China (e.g., Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson, Oscar Wilde), but they’re not necessarily easy to read. While my favorite author is Robert Louis Stevenson (Kidnapped, Treasure Island), I would not recommend him to English-language learners who are below a C1 level because his English is difficult to read (particularly since it is a 19th century Scottish variant of English). And don’t underestimate the value of graphic novels (otherwise known as comic books) in encouraging your students to read more. The point is to get students reading; and the more they read, the better they will be at reading.
Again, reading is the best way for your students to build vocabulary, to learn more words, and lack of vocabulary is one of the reasons why language learners often have a difficult time both with communicating and understanding what others are communicating.
Writing - this is an often-neglected skill in language learning. Even a lot of native speakers aren’t good at writing. But writing well is an important communication skill, and every language learner should learn some of the basics.
Writing is a process that requires putting words into a logical order to communicate what others will receive by reading what you’ve written. It starts with combining letters to form words. Then using words to form phrases and sentences. Then using sentences to form paragraphs. It is the paragraphs that tell the story. Try this paragraph outline with your students:
Topic sentence - the main point of your paragraph.
Support sentence - the first support sentence should begin to provide a rationale for your topic sentence.
Support sentence - this sentence provides another support for the topic sentence.
Support sentence - this sentence provides yet another support for the topic sentence.
Concluding sentence - this can either summarize the main point of your paragraph or draw a conclusion about the topic of the paragraph.
Obviously not all paragraphs look like this, but this is a good way to teach students how to organize their thoughts.
Write in English, not Chinglish! When writing in English, it’s important to understand how we communicate in that language. Very often when Chinese learners of English try to communicate, it comes out as something called Chinglish, which I define as “Chinese language structure using English words”. It’s a product of trying to translate from Chinese into English without understanding how things are said in English. There are other reasons behind Chinglish as well, but you can explore those on your own by reading the Wikipedia article (in English) on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinglish. For a more detailed analysis of Chinglish, read the article at http://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/html/10.11648.j.ijll.20150305.11.html.
Chinese language tends to be wordy. A lot of words are used to say something that can be said much more simply. English language, on the other hand, strives to be more concise. We generally use far fewer words. For example, instead of “Although we took many actions, but we still failed to solve the problem”, try “Despite many actions, we failed to solve the problem”.
SUMMARY
The sole purpose of learning a language is to communicate! It isn’t about getting good grades on exams (though good grades are important), it’s about becoming first an independent user of the language and then a proficient user (the latter is what we call being fluent in a language). There are four elements of every language: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Each of those elements is essential for your students to master if they are going to become users of English.
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