Having a teaching assistant in China is beneficial. Here's my experience.
At some point, we've all been subjected to learning a second language.
This may be voluntarily for pleasure or, for many, whilst at school and without much of a choice.
Whichever category you fall under, I think we can all agree that learning a second language is not without its trials and tribulations.
Sometimes though, it is easy to forget the challenges of learning a new language when it comes to teaching English in China as a second language.
Teaching English in China can be challenging
Being a native speaker, when I first began teaching English in China I found myself in need of re-learning the language!
There is so much in speech that comes naturally that thinking about why I use grammar in a particular structure required me to stop and really think.
Even if you have a perfect explanation to a grammar structure, English is one of those languages that has so many rule breakers that students can often still respond with “but why?”
When teaching younger students, life is a lot easier. You often show a picture, give the vocabulary, practice, give the grammar and combine all in a game. Everyone’s happy. Move on!
But to teach English to a class of middle school students, the game changes.
Although I have found the style of learning in China is very much about committing to memory, there is no way to ignore the limitations this style of teaching presents.
Enter the teaching assistant
I really enjoy the challenges of trying to explain to my students why we use English the way we do.
However, I appreciate that having a Chinese teaching assistant in class opens up the possibilities for the students to really acquire the target language as opposed to repeat back to me a specific grammar structure.
In my classes of younger students, the teaching assistant’s role is often to ensure comprehension. But this is something a simple presentation of a flash card and yes/no answer could achieve.
A teaching assistant in a Chinese classroom.
But where I really love to teach English is with my older classes. Where we can push past the objectives for that lesson and create a classroom that promotes free English language output.
But how much output can you have without understanding?
An English and Chinese environment
One hot topic of conversation that seems to have an equal number of candidates for debate is the strictly English-only environment.
Although there is a fair argument that allowing too much Chinese could make teachers and students lazy, I have to say that I sit firmly on the side of a bilingual classroom when it comes to teaching English to higher-level students.
When a written assignment followed shortly after a taught subject, I sat there and felt like I read 16 slightly different versions of the same extracted text. None of it read with the feel of authentic language use.
Overlooking the common grammatical errors, what I was presented with was the very rigid grammatical structure taught from the curriculum and applied to various discussion points.
To be honest, I wasn't willing for another marking session like that!
A conversation with the teaching assistant
The first point of call was sitting with my teaching assistant and confessing that I didn’t think this is what being an English teacher in China was going to be about.
I thought we’d be having discussions of the differences in our cultures and who our favorite pop stars are!
Her response shocked me: “Can you have that conversation with me in Chinese?”
The rhetorical quip quickly made me realize I was asking too much of my students without providing them with the right support.
In the next lesson, I walked in with my teaching assistant and put the writing assignment question on the board. Putting the students into groups, I asked them to discuss their answer together in Chinese.
My teaching assistant took on the role of teacher, monitoring the students to ensure they were on topic. We then opened the floor to each group to discuss their answer exactly how they want to say it using both English and Chinese where needed.
Together, the teaching assistant and I translated as we went along, and the students were responsible for the writing of the English and Chinese on the board.
Resetting the assignment, I was filled with excitement on the next marking session!
More than a teaching assistant
The way I like to work with people, colleagues and students alike, is to get to know people.
I made a conscious effort with all my teaching assistants in China to know them outside of the classroom.
I highly recommend anyone teaching in China to do the same. There are two teachers in a classroom that can provide support to the students.
Get to know your teaching assistant inside and outside the classroom.
Teaching with all my teaching assistants is not just effective in giving context to the language being taught. It creates an open environment where the students have the confidence to take risks with English.
Respect is given to both me and the teaching assistant equally. We support each other in creating the classroom dynamic that we both want for ourselves and the students.
And, research shows that effective use of teaching assistants can reduce your workload and stress, and improve classroom behavior.
Keeping students motivated
Now and again, Mandarin will be used as a default for some students feeling lazy.
However, part of our role as teachers is to motivate the students.
How better to motivate students than enabling them to broaden their knowledge in English outside of every lesson’s target language aim.
By creating an environment that allows for both languages, I can almost guarantee students will acquire English more authentically.
Breaking barriers and becoming more than colleagues is incredibly rewarding all around!
I hope you liked my blog about having a teaching assistant in China. You might also like the one I wrote about what I learned in my first year teaching in China. Enjoy reading!
