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ask_weasal -

Today I told my students to jot down three things they dislike about America. One major issue that
kept coming up was Taiwan. usually my students are not interested in talking about anything they
just sit there like stone statues. So....me being the man I am I decided to spice things up. I
said....Taiwan should be it's own seperate country. In all honesty I don't care where Taiwan goes.
It won't put food in my future children's mouths.I just did this to create a spark. The students
just went hysterical and one started crying and preaching. I asked her why did she think China
should have Taiwan. She said......Because Taiwan is Chinese! and I am Chinese!!! I told her to
give me another reason other than the fact that she's Chinese. She said the other is because of
history which she wrongly assumed(and most wrongly assume I know nothing about) I knew nothing
about. She said it was a culture thing that I could never understand.

1)One thing that I find very difficult being a teacher in China is that students are not willing
to open up and talk about sensitive issues. Another thing is that I always get the " You don't
understand our culture so shut your mouth"
I mean this is the reason why I am here to try and understand. Why not explain the reason to me? I
have all the time in the world this is why we are here aren't we? It seems like we are always
limited to our devices to telling stories of dating women/men, drinking and joking in which
perpetuates a bland stereotype of the naive foriegner. Information is power...and it is something
that I have difficulty getting from Chinese people. Whenever I want to know something sensitive
about China I have to go read a book or ask a foriegner.

2) In China I sense a huge impact of nationalism. I think it's to a point where it is just too
much and it becomes something else. I remember there was one instance I read about in an article
about a 1989 incident that happend in Nanjing dealing with Africans. suppsosidly some Africans
that went to the university were demonstrating unfavorable behavior...i.e...dating more than one
girl, loud music, rumors of rape. A fight between a Chinese security guard and a black man
escaleted because of a new rule that stated blacks should sign in their chinese female guest and
that these guest were only allowed to be in the lobby. A rumor got around that A Chinese was
killed. It quickly escaleted into a mass riot and protest and Chinese from all over Nanjing ran
the Africans out of the university towards the train station. Signs of "black devils" and "We want
a pure culture" were displayed.
It seems that this is a trend in China especially when it comes to Japan(I know the history of
that too)

I tried to get them to understand that this is a problem between governments. This is not a people
problem. Most students have the wrong opinon about Americans as being some kind of imperialistic
country. The fact is that the government is imperialistic not the people. Most Americans probaly
couldn't point to Taiwan on the map if it didn't have the name placed on it. People don't care
really. The Chinese got Hong Kong back but in the end does getting Hong Kong or Macao or any other
place put food in your mouth? Does it fatten the average Chinese person's wallet?

Two years ago I had a Chinese girlfriend and I was job hunting in Dalian. At one of the schools
that I was applying for the boss was a Taiwanese woman. Immediatly there was a strong feeling of
uncomfortableness between the two. the Taiwanese woman told me that my girlfriend should wait
outside which I thought was very strange at the time. This is when it is made into a people
problem because of government minipulation and propagizing from all governments.

Slavery, South African Apartheid or the new problem of Immigration is a problem of the people. It
effects ordinary people's (especially the poor) wallets and living conditions. The Taiwan problem
doesn't. Why are the people so adament about whether they will get it back or not? It won't
benefit them or us as ordinary folks at all.

Most don't seem to agree with this theory, mostly because of nationalistic pride which is very
very strong in China. I think that this pride should be lessened to a small degree so that people
can talk about it without attempting to kill each other over it.

In conclusion my point is don't let the government control your thinking and desires. You yourself
should control what you think. When you get angry make sure you know why you are angry because I
don't see this Taiwan thing benefitting any ordinary Chinese, American, Japanese or Taiwanese.
It's only the rich people that win in the end if we keep this up.

Randall



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roddy -

Moving to the correct forum.

Frankly your job as (I presume) an English teacher is to improve their English, not encourage
discussion of 'sensitive topics'. They wouldn't do that in any other class, why expect them to do
it in yours?










Long Zhiren -

Are you sure that you understand?
Here's a quick quiz.
To which nation and people do the contents of the Palace Museum in Taipei belong? Why?
What country's flag flies over Taiwan?
What country's flag was displayed on the jackets and planes of the Flying Tigers?
For which countries were the Flying Tigers flying?
Is it now as clear as mud which country is on Taiwan?










gougou -



Quote:

I tried to get them to understand that this is a problem between governments. This is not a people
problem.

I agree, Randall, but I think if as a teacher you address a class, you'll have a lot of trouble
having sensible discussions, as you might be misinterpreted as the American who comes to China to
missionize (would that be misinterpreted, in fact?).

But I experienced that when talking to friends, one on one, they would voluntarily tell me that
they probably would have no problem at all befriending Japanese (or whichever other country we
spoke about), that in fact it was just the government that they had a problem with.










wushijiao -

I think the general issue to be aware of is that the classroom in Western academia is a space in
which people can intelligently discuss and analyze sensitive or controversial issues with complete
freedom. This is just not the case in China. In China, the realm in which people discuss anything
controversial is in private, or behind closed doors. It has sometimes amazed me how eloquently
students can discuss complicated issues like Taiwan/Japanese history in their second language, but
it will only happen in private.

Also, I think the Socratic method of teaching, in which the teacher questions the students and
hones the logic of their arguments, simply is doomed to failure in China. Instead, the teacher is
more seen in a Confucian light: a wise and learned scholar for the students to emulate, with
little direct questioning. Both systems have their drawbacks.

Personally, as an English teacher, I try to avoid the sensitive issues in class, especially
Taiwan. If you teach writing, you can always use other controversial issues as catalysts to form
solid writing skills.

I think I understand your frustration Randall, minus the racism. I love discussing politics,
literature, sociology…etc, so I was extremely disappointed and disillusioned when I first
started teaching in China and these topics seemed to have no appeal. If you need “intellectual
stimulation” to not go crazy, the trick is, I think, to shift all your focus towards EFL. I
think reading books about problems in the classroom, language theory…etc, can really help. If
you can see your teaching mainly from the student’s point of view of “how is this improving my
English ability”, then I think teaching will become less frustrating.

Anyway, I hope that helps.










gato -



Quote:

Also, I think the Socratic method of teaching, in which the teacher questions the students and
hones the logic of their arguments, simply is doomed to failure in China.

I've seen it work. Hehe.

As for "sensitive" topic, gougou is right. You can't expect your students to open up to you like
that in public. What if there are spies?!










wushijiao -



Quote:

I've seen it work. Hehe.

Well, maybe with a class that has a very high degree of English competence and some prior
experience with foreign teaching methods and a teacher better than me , then perhaps I could see
it working out.










DrinkDrankDrunk -

I agree with Roddy. No offense, but it is unprofessional for a teacher to be blatantly biased on
such a controversial issue in front of his/her students. In the classroom, your role is to
educate, not to gain cultural/political insight from the students. It is no different in the
"west". If you're seeking constructive discussions/insights about chinese culture and politics,
your chinese colleagues or this forum are much more appropriate venues for you to pursue. I'm sure
that everyone here will be more than happy to answer any of your inquiries.

Man, I need to post less and read more. What I wrote was already stated above heh.










mr.stinky -

and taiwan should be independant because....

....you just don't care?










geraldc -

If you really wanted to impress your bosses, you should create a lesson plan allowing your
students to express in English why Taiwan is an integral part of China

In China, you tend to expect your teacher to be right all the time. So a teacher going off on how
Taiwan should be independent would be a big shock. It really won't have helped your students view
of you.












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