Welcome!

1. Welcome!

2. Pre-Semester Training • Teaching is not a formulaic process but a dynamic pursuit. • Our aim is to provide you with the basis for an approach to teaching that will allow you to make effective decisions by basing your classroom practice on sound principles derived from research in the areas of language acquisition and teaching.

4. Continuing Training • Weekly Team Meetings • Friday Sessions • Sept 13 - More on Levels and Lesson Planning • Sept 27 - Understanding and Teaching English Pronunciation • Oct 11, Nov 15, Nov 22: TBD

5. Introduction to Sias:Understanding Your New Position • Shawn Boyd • 26 August 2013

6. Sias Quiz • “Founded in 1998 with an enrollment of less than 300 students, today Sias has an enrollment of ~25,000, and employs about 1,000 full-time faculty members, including 128 full-time foreign teachers. The rate of foreign faculty to students ranks first in China. ? ? ? ? ? • It offers 67 undergraduate degree programs, 14 associate degree programs, and 5 dual degree programs with Fort Hays State University in Kansas. It also has six graduate programs. The nine discipline areas offering degrees include liberal arts, science, engineering, economics, management, medicine, law, education and performing arts.” - Sias Website

7. Sias Schools • School of Basic Education • School of Business • School of Physical Education • School of Foreign Languages (SFL) • School of Electronics and Information Engineering • School of Art Design • School of Law • School of International Education (SIE) • School of Architecture • School of Chinese Language and Culture • School of Journalism and Communications • School of Nursing • School of Music • Wu Xiuzhi Research Institute for Opera and Music Drama • Research Institute of Applied Cognitive Science • World Academy for the Future of Women • Institute of Social and Environmental Responsibilities

8. Chain of Communication • Academic Administration • ⇅ • Foreign Faculty Academic Coordinator • ⇅ • Team Leaders • ⇅ • Teachers

9. **Exceptions** • Things can change quickly and drastically here. • I will point out exceptions wherever I am aware of them. • Words to live by in China: Be flexible, patient and prepared for unexpected circumstances.

10. Our Students • ~17-24 years old • Majority from Henan Province • Very mixed backgrounds • Not uncommon case: Student at Sias because of low college entrance exam scores.

11. Cohorts • Each year incoming majors are divided into cohorts of approximately 60 students. • Cohorts of each major follow a pre-set degree plan, taking every class together for their entire time at Sias. • Some classes (e.g. Marxism) combine multiple cohorts. Others (e.g. Oral English) are divided in half - each half is taught by a different teacher.

12. Compared to Western College Students • Living conditions • Educational Expectations • Emotional maturity

13. Our Students • Most foreign faculty teach classes administered by SFL to students of all schools and majors. • Classifying Students • Year (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior) • Program (Sias or Fort Hays/SIE) • Degree Type (3yr or 4yr) • Major (English Major or Non-English Major)

14. Financial Management Survey and Measurement Instruments and Technology Electronic and Information Engineering (Electronic Design Automation) Electronic and Information Engineering (Embedded Systems) Electronic and Information Engineering Animation Design and Production Law (International Commerce Law) Law Business Management (E-Commerce) Business Management (Real Estate Development and Management) Business Management (International Enterprise Management) Business Management (Human Resource Management) Business Management Business Management (For Athletes) Business Enterprise Management Advertising International Economics and Trade Chinese Language and Literature Nursing (International Nursing) Computerized Accounting Accounting (Financial Management) Accounting (Computer) Accounting (Auditing) Accounting Accounting and Auditing Computer Science and Technology (Computer Communications) Computer Science and Technology (Embedded Software) Computer Science and Technology (Network Engineering) Computer Science and Technology (Network and Information Technology) Computer Science and Technology (Networking) Computer Science and Technology (Information Security) Computer Science and Technology Computer Science and Technology Applied Computer Technology Architecture Finance Management and Practice Finance (Insurance) Finance Economics Tourism Management (3yr) Tourism Management Human Resource Management Japanese (Translation) Japanese (Business) Software Engineering (Software Development) Software Engineering (Cultural Creativity) Software Engineering Social Work Marketing (Business Planning Management) Marketing FHSU International Economics and Trade FHSU Business Administration FHSU Finance FHSU Information Management and Information Systems FHSU English (Business English) FHSU English Athletics (Golf) Athletics (Dance) Athletics (Wushu) Athletics Communications Engineering (Wireless Mobile Communications) Communications Engineering Statistics Secretarial (International Secretarial) Logistics (International Logistics) News Gathering and Production (Journalism) News (Internet and New Media) Journalism Information Management and Information Systems Information and Computer Science Art and Design (Product Design) Art and Design (Environmental Design) Art and Design (Landscape Design) Art and Design (Visual Communication Design) Art and Design (Digital Art Design) Music Performance (Computer Music Production) Music Performance (Choir and Conducting) Music Performance (Instrumental) Music Performance (Voice) Music Performance (Dance) Musical Performance (Musical, Opera) Music English (Translation) English (Education) English (Business) English Education English Applied Electronic Technology Nursing 3 Yr Business English 3 Yr Logistics Management 3 Yr Automation

15. Oral English Requirement • The largest group of foreign faculty teach a sequence of English oral skills classes to Freshman and Sophomore students of all majors (except Japanese) • 英语口语 I-IV Oral English 1-4 (non-English majors) • 英语会话 1-4 Conversational English 1-4 (English majors) • *Currently same curriculum, collectively called ‘Oral English’.

16. Students’ English-Learning Background • Requirement: 6 years of English study before college (Ministry of Ed.) • Amount for individual students may differ slightly. • Quality of education can vary drastically. • English camps and private training schools are very common.

17. Language Teaching in China • Traditional teaching methods and roles • Focus on memorization • Accuracy > fluency • Not uncommon for Chinese to be the medium of instruction • Teacher as the expert transmitter of knowledge • Student as the receiver of knowledge

18. Communication • Little, if any, practice of true communication. • Many students have never had even the opportunity to speak English with a foreigner before coming to Sias.

19. College English Education • Non-English Majors: All take College English (4 hrs/wk) May take major-specific English course(s) May take some content courses taught in English • English Majors: 16-18 hours per week of English classes each year Many courses taught by foreign faculty Start French or Japanese at end of sophomore year

20. Why do students take English? • Required part of the degree-plan. • Critical for exams (CET, TEM, HLI, etc.) • Improve opportunities for work, further education and travel.

21. Exams • College English Test (CET4, CET6)Band 4 (minimum requirement for many jobs in China)Band 6 (considerable advantage for jobs) • Test for English Majors (TEM4, TEM8)Band 4Band 8 • Both test reading, writing and listening. TEM is more difficult and the rate of speech for listening is faster. • *College English Test - Spoken English Test

22. Exams • Hays Language Institute Exam (HLI) also referred to as ‘Michigan Test’ or ‘Michigan 9’ • Required of all SIE students, usually by end of sophomore year. • Multiple-choice listening and reading test, timed composition and a one-on-one oral interview consisting of two opinion based questions on topics of general knowledge.

23. Test Prep • Foreign Faculty are not specifically tasked with test prep. • Listening portions of CET and TEM require: • Making accurate inferences • Identifying the speaker’s point of view, attitude etc. • Recognizing the communicative function(s) of utterances

24. Job Opportunities • More jobs in China require the ability to comprehend written and (possibly) spoken English, translate between English and Chinese, and write in English (e.g. email correspondence). • International companies are creating a highly competitive job market that generally requires a higher degree of English language fluency.

25. Why do students take English? • Required part of the degree-plan. • Critical for exams (CET, TEM, HLI, etc.) • Improve opportunities for work, further education and travel. • Build relationships.

26. Student Motivations • Students want to learn English to: • Pass high-level exams (CET6, TEM8) • Get a job that requires English • Travel • Make foreign friends 63% 50% (60% SIE) 47% 58%

27. Student Motivations • Which English skills are the most important to be taught? (student responses) • #1 how to have casual conversation • #2 how to participate in classes taught in English • #3 discuss work related topics • #4 how to ask teachers about studies

28. What’s Our Role? • Authentication not assimilation • Make your class something that they could not possibly get from a Chinese teacher. • Oral English is not the only English class students are taking. But it is the only class with the main goal of developing a functional ability to use spoken English for communication.

29. Questions?