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In China, English language teaching effectiveness appears as a complex thing to assess, primarily because various variables exist in evaluating a teacher, foreign or otherwise. One obvious consideration is the fact that classrooms are large, with 50-60 students attending a lecture. Class size must be considered in any evaluation regarding methodology, especially methodologies that advocate for communicative language learning strategies. Nevertheless, many people have asked me to comment on what makes an effective English teacher in China.
Obviously, education, social background, knowledge of the subject matter, experience and the personality of the educator are key factors. Foreign educators with the proper combination of these and other variables, such as good health and energy, make for successful teachers. Yet a still larger question now looms: Can the foreign educator satisfy the needs of Chinese students, and can that teacher also educate them?
Educational researchers assert that the teacher’s personality may be the most important variable in the evaluation of teaching effectiveness, not just for foreigners working in China, but globally. Patterns of teacher behavior and the teaching methods they rep- resent often have little to do with a teacher’s training and methodology.
Some researchers also state that Chinese students are more receptive to their foreign teachers if they perceive that this guest educator is respected by the faculty. Additionally, psychologists have determined that a teacher’s “involuntary expressive behavior” helps him or her to be more successful in conveying information, especially if a language barrier exists between students and teacher. I feel that this expressive behavior is especially pertinent in China, due to the linguistic gap between English and Chinese. Another reason is that foreign teachers speak quickly, leaving Chinese students little time to evaluate the information. Thus, student impressions concerning foreign teachers can be significant in how he responds to the way information is conveyed.
In short, students need to both respect and like their foreign English language teachers. Educators who come to China have many different motives, but successful teachers all display one quality: genuineness. They are effective because they can create a direct personal connection with their Chinese students.
Chinese students, like students everywhere, rate their teachers. My students told me that they regarded “teacher charisma or popularity” as the most important characteristic in their rating schemata. The idea that students, even sophisticated Chinese students, can be effectively “seduced” into an illusion of having learned if the lecturer simulates a style of authority and wit is certainly not new. But it is important for foreign educators in China to understand that they are going to be evaluated in ways that may seem odd, or even unfair. Scholar-educators who carry a more dramatic stage presence may enhance Chinese student satisfaction with the learning process. I do not advocate going to extremes: A soap-selling quality will certainly not lather the enthusiasm of the pure scholar, nor of his students. Instead, I advocate ways to present information in ways that students can feel satisfied with the teaching presentation, and feel that they are learning English. In China, another key issue, in addition to presentation style and motivation, is the teacher’s ability to exude authority. Foreign teachers everywhere face challenges concerning their authority to teach. Clearly, classroom management is an important aspect of any teacher’s effectiveness. Although some researchers define the term classroom management as a set of techniques or skills, this distances the concept from other issues connected to teacher authority, such as classroom ethos, how students embrace curriculum, if students accept the teacher’s instructional methods and assessment system.
Foreign teachers need to understand and create classrooms that acknowledge the need for clearly defined power relationships. Concerning teacher authority, we must recognize that classroom authority is complex and ongoing. Moreover, different types of authority exist in reference to the concept of classroom ethos. Charisma, tradition, contracts, titles, expertise, passion, consent derived from those over whom one has charged, and gender all can generate, singularly or in mixtures, classroom authority. Until recently, the use of corporal punishment in the classroom was also an accepted form of authority. (A huge difference exists between coercive power and consent.) Successful foreign teachers must possess and demonstrate, over time, a combination of at least several kinds of authority.
In sum, serving as an English teacher in China is no easy task. Personality, education, background, as well as presentation skills and knowledge of classroom management, all influence a teacher’s tenure in the Middle Kingdom. Let’s applaud the teachers that do great jobs!