My Corner for Education

My friend FY called me this morning to ask me if I know a particular person at the board office. Then the conversation lead to if I could make a phone call for her instead to enquire about the registration for some international visa students. Sometimes, FY thinks that I am a wonder woman who knows everybody and have all the contacts to get information. Well, I don’t! But, I do have thick skin and I am not afraid of asking questions around.

I am actually a very quiet person who enjoys observing others rather than blabbering all the time. One thing I’ve learned in North America is that you can not be shy away from asking questions though. “You snooze, you lose.” At school, I always encourage my students to ask questions for clarification and to be able to speak publicly in front of the crowds. Public speaking and attentive listening are two very important parts of oral language skills as far as I am concerned.

I remember when I was at junior high school, I was always assigned to represent the schools to participate in formal speech or poetry reading competitions. I might have shown some interest in the beginning of my Grade Six class for poetry reciting, but I was not good at it at all. Then I got better after all the opportunities I had been given throughout the years. In fact, the schools always sent the same students because there were not enough people who showed interest or were brave enough to attend public speaking competitions. My family used to joke about what to do with the awards I won, not enough to wallpaper the wall, but too many to hang up on the wall. Hahaha. So, since my Grade Six class, I had been trained not to be afraid of standing on the stage and facing the crowds, but to speak loud and clear in front of the large group of people.

Later on when I went to Fu Jen Catholic U, I was in love with performance arts. I directed an English school play and was involved in a few performances myself. The experiences were added to my public speaking skills, so I became a natural when I had to speak on the radio, in front of the students or with clients for business dealings. I am not afraid to ask questions, either. I am actually a very quiet person but certainly not shy.

Now I often apply my performing skills to deliver instructions to the little ones in my class. It is sometimes funny to listen to the students’ comment about me. Some students at school think that I am very funny, but they are also afraid of me because I am very strict. I am not a clown and certainly do not portray myself as one to entertain my students in class; however, I have to be able to deliver my instructions to my students in a very effective, efficient and exciting manners so that my students are able to direct their attention to me for a prolonged period of time. They have to be willing to listen to me and understand me clearly. This is the skill that we absolutely have to encompass as a teacher. The truth is that public speaking is absolutely vital nowadays. We need it for every day work life, but most schools seem to ignore the importance of this particular skill development.

Another important part of the oral language skills is listening and questioning skills. Children are very good at asking questions when they were little. They ask adults about how and why things have happened all the time and they listen to their explanations. As they get older, they start to feel conscientious about whether they have correct answers or not. They are afraid to make mistakes and then they stop asking questions all together. In fact, some kids become awfully shy and they don’t say anything unless they are chosen by the teachers to answer questions.

In the ancient China, Roman and Greece, how did the students learn from their masters? They learned by asking questions, and the teachers taught them by giving answers and guidance to their students with oral instructions. We need to bring that kind of learning environment back to the classroom! In my class, I have planned a sharing circle as part of my daily routine because I believe students should be given opportunities to speak every day and just to say whatever they want in a non-threatening but structured environment. They should be encouraged to ask questions and respond properly regardless whether their question and statement are right or wrong. Each response should be acknowledged and recognized as a positive and a valid view point. If the statement is wrong, then the reply should be given directly and correctly to support the statement given. 

From the Ontario curriculum expectations, I derived a few important skills from the oral language development. Students should be taught attentive listening skills about when to listen, when to speak, how much to say and when to stop. When the students are participating in a sharing circle every day, they will have to speak publicly in front of the class and they also need to listen to and question others in order to understand one another.

When we were in Amsterdam, we noticed that almost anyone we met on the bus or on the street could easily strike a conversation in English. One day we asked a waiter why almost everyone can speak English. He said that English is present everywhere in their daily life, TV, radio, magazines, and so on. In order to survive, they have to be able to use another language because Dutch speakers are a very small group, only 20 millions in the world. I am not sure whether he was right or not, but I think he nailed part of the answer. In order to reach out to non-Dutch speakers, they have to be able to use both languages inter-changeably to communicate.

How many Chinese students would consider themselves shy when it comes to public speaking or communicating in English? They learn English since the Grade Seven, and now for the new education system, they are starting English classes as young as kindergarten. We have channeled so much energy and resources to the second language development, but why are there still adults like FY who can read and write well but is afraid to open her mouth to communicate in English after living in Canada for 13 years? I think the solution lies on the educators, who have to create a routine and non-threatening environment for students to speak or express freely on a daily basis right from day one of the school year. If you make it a daily routine and ensure your students it is all right to speak without worrying about making mistakes, eventually all students would be at ease to attempt to speak by the end of the year.

“If you don’t use it, you lose it.” This applies to language learning. Many of us who went through Taiwanese education have learned English for at least 6 years. We should have some basic English skills to strike a simple conversation. All we have to do is just “use it”!