Buckland Weekly #11: Differences in Chinese and Western Techniques: Part 1

A second post this week to make up for the couple of weeks that I was away on holiday. As always, it's all just the author's opinion etc.

This week's post is the first of a series and has been prompted by two things. First of all, I recently had a long chat with a Chinese colleague (who is also a good friend) about differences in approach in Chinese Schools and English ones and discovered that we have serious differences of opinion on many aspects of educational theory, particularly language education. He's a good friend and a good teacher but his opinions are, in many respects, radically different from anything we would do in the west. I started to write a post on it but set it aside.

Then, yesterday, I watched episode one of Are Our Kids Tough Enough in which five Chinese teachers try to use Chinese methods in a British school. It didn't tell me anything that I, as someone who has taught in both situations, didn't already know, but it was interesting. The approaches of our different cultures are very different indeed, for many reasons – historical, philosophical and pragmatic reasons. Nothing in here is intended as a criticism – there are good and bad points in both systems and while I may not agree with my colleague's views, I do respect them.

So, in today's post I want to introduce a number of questions and to discuss two of them in detail. The rest will follow over the next couple of weeks. These questions have all arisen out of the discussions with my friend – and other teachers – and out of watching that TV program. Other questions may come up when I see the remaining episodes of the series.

Here are some topic statements that I'll be considering.

Learning long word lists is an effective strategy for vocabulary acquisition.

Reading a dictionary is an effective strategy for vocabulary acquisition.

Reading aloud is a useful tool in learning a language.

Rote memorisation of text passages is a useful tool in language learning.

Punishment is an effective way to correct mistakes.

Students who do not wish to learn should be ignored as long as they are not disruptive.

Solitary learning is preferable to group activity.

Some students cannot or will not learn.

Passing an Exam means your English is good.

If your English is good you will pass your exam.

In a fast paced lesson students will be forced to learn.

This week I want to look at just the first two.

The basic question behind both of them is this: what is the best way to learn new vocabulary? My colleague suggested, and I have often witnessed, two approaches – learning word lists and reading a dictionary. Let's look at the first one.

Learning long word lists is an effective strategy for vocabulary acquisition.

On the face of it this might sound like a good idea, but is it really? I have seen students here trying to memorise pages of unrelated vocabulary. They are often presented in a context-free form as a list of English words and their Chinese translations which must read over and over and memorised. When they are tested the students mostly remember a good percentage of them. It's a task they are practised in.

I'd argue against it for two reasons. First of all learning this way is like a chef learning long lists of ingredients but nothing about cooking. If you don't learn how to combine the ingredients correctly you might be able to scramble an egg but you will never make that perfect soufflé.

The second reason is more pragmatic and more important. They may well pass a test the day after they learn the list but how much will they recall a week later or a month later? In all likelihood, very little. This is because the vocabulary is being learned for the wrong reason. It's being learned solely to pass the test and not to be used.

What about the second proposition?

Reading a dictionary is an effective strategy for vocabulary acquisition.

When I was teaching in college in England I once had a student proudly inform me that he was learning his dictionary at a rate of one page a day. I tried very hard, though mostly unsuccessfully, to dissuade him. What, you may ask, is the problem? The dictionary will give him new words to work with, often presenting examples and usage notes and so reading it must be useful. Well, let's consider the Chinese/English dictionary that I have on my telephone. From the first fifty words, all perfectly legitimate English words, I only recall ever using nine and even then I have to ask just how likely “a priori”, “aardvark” and “aardwolf” are to be needed in casual conversation. And that's the problem in a nutshell. Dictionaries present all words with no real indication of how important they are or their relative frequencies in the language. It's all very well knowing that “aal” is “the Indian mullberry” or “aasvogel” is a South African vulture, but when are you ever going to need those words? I'd venture, never. Reading a dictionary is a very poor way to go about increasing vocabulary.

Of course that brings us back to the real question. What are the effective ways to learn vocabulary? And, from our point of view, what are the effective ways to teach it? Well, there are many but I'd suggest that the essential elements are this.

Don't present too much vocabulary at one time.

Present connected vocabulary rather than random word lists.

Present vocabulary in context.

Present useful vocabulary rather than obscure vocabulary.

I realise that those are very vague and general suggestions but there are also a few practical things you can do in your lessons.

Keep an area of the board clear for new vocabulary. Either add to it as you go or present the new vocabulary at the start and refer to it as you go.

Explain about word-building. You don't need to get technical, just practical. If the new word is “happy” consider showing how to ad “un-” to get the opposite or turn it into “happiness” to get the noun. Do this whenever you get a word that can have these changes. Let the students get the idea that learning one new word may automatically give them others.

Let new vocabulary come from the class. If a student offers a good word that you hadn't put in your plan, add it to the others on the board. Don't assume that because one knows it they all do.

Use the new vocabulary yourself. Encourage students to use it. If they get it wrong, or over-apply a general principal (maybe producing “unsad”, for example) just point out the error.  

In the next post I'll consider the effectiveness of reading aloud and rote memorisation of texts and also whether punishment is an appropriate way to correct student mistakes.