Chinese Consultant

As a professional language teacher, I believe that developing, maintaining, and fostering students’ intrinsic motivation to learn is extremely important. This belief comes from my own language learning history and teaching experiences. I have found that a student’s eagerness to learn, the commitment and the thirst for knowledge about the target language contribute more to his or her success than anything else. One of the things that I have been doing is to develop a rapport with students by sharing my own language learning experience with them in class, so that they realize that I am not only their teacher, but also a language learner who has been through most of, if not all of, the difficulties and stresses that they are experiencing now. I emphasize that I have never given up, because I have always believed that all of the time and money spent on the learning will be worth it in the long run. My actual experience is more helpful and convincing to the students than a pep talk. If possible, I also invite my former students or American friends who speak Chinese well to my class to share their joys and sorrows about learning the language. Of course, more often than not, they talk about their successes or regrets, both of which can be motivating and thought- provoking for my current students.

To maximize learning opportunities and fulfill teaching objectives, I believe that creating a positive atmosphere in which students feel at ease is a must. Only when students feel comfortable, can they take the risks of practicing the language and doing some experiments. Only when they take the risks, can they learn much more and more quickly. Consequently, their self-confidence and language egos will be strengthened. Therefore, I have been making an effort to be as approachable as possible, so that I can get to know my students on a more personal level and build a friendly teacher-student relationship, which is the first step to making students feel at ease in and outside of the classroom. During my classes I always encourage students to experiment and give them credit for trying. Instead of giving my students general positive feedback, I always try to specify the particulars of an accomplishment, so that students know exactly what was performed well. After that, they were more willing to take my constructive criticism, even if it is sometimes quite harsh.

I also believe that interaction is crucial since language is learned mainly for the purpose of communication. During my classes I try to do more pair work, group work and role plays, because they can lower students’ anxiety, thus making students’ feel free to practice and experiment more. In addition, individual talents are shared through the interaction and students gain more from the exchange. As a result, the sense of security and fulfillment motivate them to take more initiatives in learning. I have found that students normally have more fun to do role-plays, not only because they are more close to real-life situation, but also because students can use their creativity and imagination to the fullest extent. I also like to invite other native speakers, if condition permits, to my class, to conduct interviews or other activities, so that students have opportunities to interact with people from the target country whom they do not know. For each of my class, I try to pair up every student of mine, if they want, with my friends or Chinese students studying in Monterey as language partners, so that they can interact more with native speakers after class. Moreover, these language partners can bring my students to their Chinese community, thus increasing their language and cultural awareness.

I understand that with more teaching experiences and constant reflection, along with continuous professional development, my beliefs in teaching will be attested, strengthened and expanded.