Its finer in China than an L.A Diner

Greg Parker

Greg Parker has lived in China for three years after a brief teaching stint in South Korea. He has taught at all levels of teaching in Sichuan, Zhejiang and Heilongjiang. Currently he is based in Jiamusi, China, and is employed as a spoken English teacher at the University and also teaches at Middle Schools. He graduated from Murdoch University with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English. E-mail: gecko@asia.com

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Introduction
Background
Examples
Set 1
Set 2
Conclusions
References

Introduction

The introduction is  to give readers of this site an insight to a certain style of teaching in China other than a straight outdated textbook delivery, the attempt to create a written format on a theme followed by exercises, class participatory activities. It follows then than 'deskilling' occurs when tied to archaic text from the sixties which is prevalent here and cannot be changed as newer books are not in 'the catalogue' and there are layer after layers of Chinese university administration and beyond needed to be contacted then communicated with before any change is evoked in curriculum modernization. So the only other alternative is to do your own thing and be creative. On one level there is simply email information. On another level it is classroom delivery.

Background

Mario Rinvolucri entered China via cyberspace on a TESOL list. This list attracted the attentions of academics on email and prompted me to communicate with him. He suggested I write to this site and forward some of my work. This is the beginning. The background of 1.3, the poem 'farmers' was a reflection on the farmers in remote china whose lives are overlooked and left by  the brightest of their youth traded for the American dream,. Bright lights, good job, big city. In reality there is a certain utopianness which they still enjoy but is completely unrecognised as a worthwhile lifestyle for their university going sons and daughters.

Examples

See 1.2 and  2.2 which are the core of classroom teacher diction in a university setting in China.

Set 1

1.1 An email sent to TESOL in China which was returned with the question, 'did you say something?" bespeaking something of the owner of the list's sense of humour, profound intelligence or the lack of.

1.1.1 `Introductory content addressing teachers in China regarding what comes next

Its um, something you know that has come up lately after going to that U.K website on the computer. Not that I'm on the computer. I'm in front of the computer. I am actually on the chair and there's even things on me. Think they're clothes but I don't know what they think of me. Perhaps artificial intelligence hasn't developed that far. But I digress.
So I thought I would write something before class. To read to the class as well as pausing to elucidate which would have been another paper in itself had someone scribed the spontaneous flow of words. 

However I opted for a written structure to begin with. It took a long time to read, eighty minutes and then you can read it in five. I doubt if it belongs on this list but it may and its only April. It was Rinvolucri's tip to go to old.hltmag.co.uk. No, I lie. It was the three names he dropped on LF (lingua franca) which I did a search for a Google that took me there. Yes, I did search for lingua franca too and it wasn't a main language of any culture in the beginning which, goes to show, that words change. 'Gay' was happy before it became a sexist expletive bringing condemnation from the politically correct and now 'gay' means something else akin more along the line of fantasy genre. So. I think the real "Looking Glass' is the computer screen through which I travel or attempt to go as often my sojourns are as brief as Icarus's. Anyway. Oh and being the fool that I am but being afforded the respect I have by those in power here I read the following to my first year class of English majors. Why not read it to third or fourth year English majors? Well, you can see that its not the pattern for third and fourth years to be entrusted to foreign devils as they're just too busy doing real work. Really, I think it's been because the learning ability of those students is more advanced than the teaching ability of teachers I have seen, at least.
 
1.2  What comes Next is What is the core of a written text spoken in class by self to Chinese twenty something year olds English majors
Vagueness is the opposite to preciseness. It is common that people don't know what to say or how to say it or wish to answer questions at times. Usually we are taught that as students we should give the right answer and in the correct form with the right grammar.
However, we may be unable to know what the right answer is or be unsure of the others reaction to what we say.
White lies and half truths spring to mind in difficult situations especially when asked by lovers or those in authority.
We want to avoid getting into trouble so 'hedge' our replies to personal questions or questions that require obedience but one is rebellious.
'Do you like me?' when asked by say a teacher. Even if the student doesn't like the teacher he cannot say that. Or a worker to his boss. Too much is stake. Expulsion, exclusion or humiliation in the face of others. So one either will lie.
A better way is to be vague or use softeners.
With answers like 'sometimes' or a general answer 'I like everybody', 'I like most people I meet'. These are not lies but they may not give the exact truth about the situation either.
'Do you like me?'. 'I like most people I meet' This may mean that the teacher or boss is not one of those persons but said in a soft way would be unlikely to be pressed further and assumed that yes, one does like him or her.
'Perhaps' is also a softener. 'It would seem' is another softener.
What is more enduring? Which is stronger? Water or a rock. Water is soft yet a rock is hard. However over time, water wears a rock down. So softness can win over hardness in the long term.
When one is engaged in a long-term relationship and is in a subservient position such as a student to a teacher or a worker to a boss or a child to his parents, it is better to be soft to win.
So being vague, even not replying or pretending not to know are appropriate modes of behaviour at times for survival.
Then its ok and smart at times to answer a question with a question when one doesn’t want to answer?
A friend gave me a hundred. I said I had no money and wanted to shoot pool. They know I like pool and had an extra hundred so yeah, she gave it to me. Soon after, she learned that I had just been given fifty by her mother. She said why? Why did you get money off me when you already had some? I said to her 'Are you hungry, is the food nice?' as she was eating at time. And she returned to enjoying her meal.
It was unusual but still the general principle applies.
Do you like blah blah blah? Don't know, Do you like blah blah blah? with the stress on 'you' works pretty good ...'what do you think about it?" or 'sometimes, how about you?
People often ask questions not because they don't know the answers but because they want to talk about that topic. So if you give a soft reply, a vague reply, a general reply and rephrase the same question to them, they may talk at length and then you can simply listen.
Listening is very easy if one agrees at times, at regular intervals with one word lines or few words lines such as 
"really?"blah blahblah 'interesting'   blahblahblah 'I didn't know that' blahblahblah 'yeah'
the 'blahblahblahers' always want a chance to prove how clever they are at times so take a backseat and do the listening and at the end of day they have the impression that they had a good conversation with you.
 Asking questions that you know the answer to is ok. It gives the other a chance to look smart and give information and you know if they telling the truth or not so you may be able to judge their character.
  It would seem that chinese people or people everywhere wish to avoid saying 'no' directly so they soften it with "maybe's", "perhaps" ,"I will try to but I can't promise", "I will do my best but its not up to me", "I can't say, I'll have to ask my boss"
Sometimes people in the workplace or even in families when asked to make a decision or give a definite decision cannot and will not. They do not wish to state their own opinion but will refer it to others. This is particularly common in organisations and bureaucracy.
"I'll have to ask my boss", "It's not up to me", "He's at a meeting now, I'll back to you later", "I'll look into it and get back to you later". All these are techniques to avoid answering difficult enquiries. Then the later never happens and when you phone again, the same wheel turns. "Or I passed it to this person and they’re out of the office now". This goes around and around and finally ends up nowhere. Sometimes time solves problems without anything needed to be done or a bigger problem arises which takes the attention.
So we have to look at ways in which we can use 'vagueness'
Another point I'd like to make is of silence. Children are silent for a long time before they master the language before they begin to speak clearly.
Yet English learners such as yourself are expected to jump into conversation. Some can and some can't. Its natural that you can't because the first step to acquiring a language is lots and lots of listening just as a child would. It's a phase that cannot be done without. So I don't want to teach you how to swim by pushing you into the deep end of the pool.
That’s why reading happens a lot in class. Its easier to do. And that’s why its smart to develop the skill of vagueness or incomplete answers, which allow the questioner or other a chance to finish. Of why its good to develop throwback. Where you throw the question back on the person who asked you.
'"What do think of China?' 
"Oh its a big country, how about you?"'
A very general reply which perhaps that’s all you can give with your limited vocabulary or confidence then throw the question back on the other to hear their opinion. Then allow them the chance to continue with agreement. 'yeah, that’s right'
'And what happened next?'
'Did she really?'
"Did he really?"
That’s all I have time for now
1.1.2  However I was also able to read them a poem and yes, they have written and read poems themselves, that I wrote in five minutes in the morning before class. Nothing like an effective lesson plan, eh? It went like this and was inspired by my stay with farmers in the 'outback' of China, which or may not have pedagogical value. However I do like to break one lesson into as many diversions as I can.
Such as the reading of a poem
1.3   
farmers
there were these people from a farm
who never went to a city
there was harm
so they stayed at home all alone
the corn grew wild 
and the summers were mild
in winters were cold
the  children grew old
never leaving their parents alone
the world grew fast
but their slow lives would last
with the donkeys and geese
without any police
they were happy under the stars
while the rest of the world
went to mars
trying to find what was best
while the farmers enjoyed their rest

1.1.3 Email text to teachers in china : That’s it for now but I am interested in morphology and as propose that long term not only be written as long-term but also as long-term because, after all, it is a long word and such should be even longer. I mean it does connote expansiveness so why stick the two individual word together to heighten that effect. However, I do not long for it. Just a casual thought. Greg Parker, Jiamusi University, April 2007
Set 2

2.1 What follows below is the written introductory preamble to be spoken with added spontaneous explanations 
delivered to a second year class of English majors in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang, China by self, Greg Parker 
during the week beginning 17th April to 19th April, 2007
 
2.2 Same vs. Different
 
It would appear that in conversation, people are seeking agreement. 
To arrive in the same place at the same time after beginning in different places.
Argument thereby being fought on the field, on the field of differences.
In casual conversations, we seek to find similarities to begin with. The realm of 'small talk'.
Asking if each other is fine or ok and both agreeing, whatever the real circumstances.
Then with the westerner, something about the weather which seems to be a common topic on which to agree.
The Chinese I have heard enquire politely as to what one had for breakfast or some such thing.
One maxim or crucial understanding further down the track is that we have to agree to disagree when either side cannot be moved from their static positions of power.
Even though we seek sameness for stability and it is a safe known, difference in thought, custom or behaviour being different is also curiously attractive and stimulating to discover.
We need to state and evaluate our sameness to create common ground and then move onto the differences.
When differences are too great to be accepted by either party or person then a rift or split develops which soon leads to a goodbye.
So perhaps we need to look at what is that is the same and what is that is different and build a bridge between the two to cross over with into the field of friendship. And that is the art of conversation.
Believing that you know and assuming that you are right is probably the greatest disease to engage in meaningful discussion.
These days the world is far more grey than black and white.
Nevertheless, qualities such as truth, love, freedom and responsibility will forever be unchallenged as worthwhile.
However these words are so nebulous in a sense with different and deeper layers of meaning that throughout ones entire life meaning changes with maturity.
Being able to listen and have glimpses of understanding into another’s point of view is valuable even if you disagree because one, it gives you opportunity to wait to prepare a response and two, you will more accurately address your audience rather than uttering dead words of a social theory.
People are looking for intelligence, liveliness and creativity in expression that comes in the form of ones own words rather than repetition of a reading.
Better to say something badly in your own words than to parrot phrase an expert.
That is how one learns.
People have much in common. Different people in different countries do the same things but they do them in a different way. That we call 'culture'
The three taboos in general related to speech when meeting a stranger are politics, religion and sex.
These topics are only usually shared between close friends in the privacy of their home.
And that is how it should be. (particularly given that this is a communist country)
I have read that are two different types of people, the 'no' sayers and the 'yes' sayers. Those who can say 'no' easily. That is their nature. Perhaps they are more traditional. Without the 'no' sayers there is no stability, no safety. Then there are those who can say 'yes' more easily. That is also their nature. They provide growth and adventure. Both are needed. So never feel bad about saying 'no' if that is your thing to remain comfortable with the known or conversely  if you are the other type of saying 'yes' and welcoming the unknown.
There are also types of minds that learn in different way. One by recognising 'differences' and the other by recognising 'sameness'.
Which type are you?
So we will begin by asking each of you to say something that is the same or something that is different and perhaps we will find out.
One can also say something the same about 'the same' or something different about 'the same'.
In both case these are additions to the conversation and as such we should develop this faculty to facilitate further conversation.
We can do that later but first each student to stand and say something that is the same or something that is different.
**********(after)
Now it goes like this. The first student says something the same. 
The next student says something the same about what 'is the same' and the third student says what is different about 'the same' , e.g.:
Everyone can see. Everyone can see the sunset. But not everyone looks the same or But not everyone watches the same TV shows. But some wear glasses.
All students sit. The chairs are the same. They sit in different positions.

2.1.3 email signature :you never know in China though

Conclusions

'There’s more than one way to fry a fish if the cat doesn't get it first' and of course 'you never know in china though'. Why dumb down if they’re already not going to understand?
The topic 1.2 was a revelation for them as they only had felt the inadequacies of being unable to delivery perfect English with perfection of grammar before. I think it showed them another card in the deck which they now have permission to play. 

The topic 2.2 'Same and Different' was something I had been thinking about and tried to elucidate on. As a classroom activity, it proved impossible to separate one from the other as they are so interwoven. For example, some people like to drink water and others prefer milk. Well there is a sameness there of people drinking as well as a direct difference in what they drink. However there were also obvious statements of facticity that were accepted as either belonging to one category or the other. 'Generally speaking' seemed to come into play often. Students did have the listening ability to be intelligently attentive. However the time frame needed to 'do the reading' interspersed with further explanation, to dumb it down, was far greater with first year students than second years. 
It proved a workable format and the execution of student performed exercises, well they could do it. Hopefully it may be useful for them to identify threads of difference or sameness in dialogue which they tangent off from.

References 

Nothing is directly copied other than the spelling of Rinvolucri and www.hltmag.co.uk. However after reading what others had to say about 'vague language' I thought I would coin my own two cents. I did however become aware of this theme as having academic validity from HLTmag. 

The  What’s New in Language Teaching course can be viewed here.
The Methodology for Teaching Spoken Grammar and Language course can be viewed here