Sharing my ideas in China

Lest you think that I have been living the life of a princess with all my adventures, I want to assure you that I also have been working very hard at collaborating with the teachers here at the university. The teachers all teach English to their college age students as it is mandatory within the school system.
The problem that we are finding in North America is that when a student from China comes to a Canadian school system, there is an abundance of knowledge of English grammar, but not how to use the language. The international student has difficulty fitting in, speaking and generally being able to communicate, despite their extensive knowledge of English grammar. The teachers (in fact, even the government) are seeing this disparity and are not sure what to do about it. This is where I come in. I am demonstrating new methodologies that will train the teacher of the university to promote the students’ abilities to use the language as competently as they can dissect complex grammar sentences.
Our methodologies are based on communicative activities rather than oral drills, translation methods and written exercises. We encourage the use of the language rather than just the knowledge. We encourage pair work and group work; students getting involved with their learning as opposed to the teacher just telling them what to do; and getting the students to freely produce their skills in either the spoken or written form.
Of course, with any new methodology there is the tension between “what we have done before” and this new way of thinking. It is hard for the teachers to decide how to embrace what could be a better way of teaching and incorporate it within the ways of the tried and true methods. Some are quite willing to leave the old and bring on the new; others are more reticent. Discussions have been plentiful.
One component of what I have been doing is allowing the teachers to prepare a teaching segment for their peers. They have done really well in demonstrating these new methods and I see the light in their eyes when they know they have done a good job. It gives me great satisfaction knowing the teachers have each encountered their own moments of success and have felt proud of their achievements.
Of course, along with new methodologies, they are also experiencing English as it is spoken by a native English speaker. We have had great fun in explaining common idioms and phrases that make English speaking more natural sounding. For example, one young gal was fanning herself and saying “I’m hot.” I told her about the other definition of hot, meaning sexy or attractive. Of course, I exaggerated the intonation to get my point across. A few days later, she was sitting in class with a fan and exclaimed that she was hot. She quickly winked and said “you choose which one!” I just love it when the “light bulb” goes on!
This is the first time something like this course which trains teachers has been offered in China before. I really am on the ground floor of a new wave of thought for China’s educational system. China truly is a developing nation whereby changes are happening rapidly; probably faster than people can anticipate. So, for the last six weeks I have been a pioneer; blazing new trails of instructive l thought and hoping that people will settle down in this new territory of educational methodology.