{"id":25491,"date":"2015-09-29T14:26:57","date_gmt":"2015-09-29T18:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=25491"},"modified":"2016-07-19T11:15:41","modified_gmt":"2016-07-19T15:15:41","slug":"ten-chinese-scholars-join-emu-community-to-learn-teaching-techniques-and-immerse-themselves-in-the-english-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/ten-chinese-scholars-join-emu-community-to-learn-teaching-techniques-and-immerse-themselves-in-the-english-language\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Chinese scholars join EMU community to learn teaching techniques and immerse themselves in the English language"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the Chinese scholars at Eastern Mennonite University this semester, witnessing the difference between Chinese and American educational systems has been enlightening.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn China, students are willing to listen to professors lecture,\u201d says Yan Wang. \u201cHere, there are a lot of group discussions. It is good for creative thinking. Every student has their own idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"China<\/a>
Hongjuan Tang and other members of the group from China are greeted by President Loren Swartzendruber after Convocation. (Photo by Michael Sheeler)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wang is one of ten Chinese scholars visiting EMU from Sichuan Province as part of a \u201cvisiting faculty\u201d program. Eight are sponsored through Mennonite Partners in China<\/a> (MPC), an exchange program that has been thriving in various formats since the early 1980s. The other two are on scholarship from the China Scholarship Council, a competitive, state-funded scholarship fund for research and study abroad.<\/p>\n

For 16 years, Mennonite Partners in China has placed English teachers from the United States at Sichuan University of Arts and Science and many other schools. In turn, Sichuan sends visiting scholars to EMU. A cross-cultural group from EMU, co-led by MPC director Myrrl Byler<\/a>, is currently in China (visit their cross-cultural blog<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The agreement between the Sichuan university and EMU<\/a> was formalized in January 2015. Administrators hope the agreement will facilitate \u201cacademic exchanges, scientific research cooperation, and communication between teachers and students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sichuan province is in Southwestern China, a region Wang describes as \u201cdeveloping.\u201d She says English teachers there have little opportunity to study the language in an immersion environment.<\/p>\n

Teaching, learning, research<\/h3>\n

Here at EMU for the fall semester, the scholars are working on research projects, perfecting their spoken English, and auditing classes about world literature, writing, and\u00a0methods of language teaching. Some of the scholars will analyze the teaching techniques they observe in research papers that they will eventually publish on subjects as varied as the difference between the writing of Chinese and native English speakers and differences in American and Chinese teaching methods.<\/p>\n

English professor Mike Medley<\/a> is the on-campus liaison for the visiting faculty, which means, among other activities, he organizes a picnic when the group first arrives and a farewell luncheon at the end of the semester. He also provides an academic orientation, a campus tour, an explanation of the academic schedule and helps the scholars connect with \u201cfriendship families\u201d so they have an opportunity to interact with the local community.<\/p>\n

The scholars also interact with EMU faculty at all university-sponsored faculty events and are often invited into classes to speak. Among those professors who have extended invitations to former and current groups are visual and communication arts professor Cyndi Gusler<\/a> and English professor Marti Eads<\/a>. Nursing students have also benefited from visits to their classes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
From left: Hongjuan Tang, Liu Yang, Shuli Chang and Yan Wang. (Photo by Kara Lofton)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a quite different educational experience,\u201d says Liu Yang of her time so far. One of the biggest challenges \u201cis learning how to manage our time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wang agrees. \u201cIn American colleges, the students have to read a lot. In China, the students read, but not as much\u2026there is a lot more out-of-class work here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabbatical helps busy teachers ‘recharge’<\/h3>\n

Hongjuan Tang has been teaching English for more than 20 years and, except for a brief visit to the United States for her son\u2019s undergraduate commencement, had never been to an English-speaking country. Shuli Chang, too, visited Canada and Australia for brief periods. Out of the group, these two teachers were the only scholars to have traveled to an English-speaking country in the past. For both teachers, coming to EMU not only places them in an English-speaking environment, but also acts as a much needed sabbatical to \u201crecharge\u201d and further develop teaching expertise.<\/p>\n

Back home, \u201cI\u2019m working on a nationally-funded research project studying the relationship between environment and children\u2019s language competency in western China,\u201d she said. At EMU, she has the time to work on her project and access research resources not available at her home institution.<\/p>\n

In part, the lack of research resources may be because of the rapid expansion of Chinese universities. \u201cIn the ’80s and ’90s, most universities had 2-4,000 students,\u201d said Byler in a recent email. \u201cWith a 10-year expansion, most of these universities have grown to 30- and 40,000 students.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, class sizes in China are normally large and professors become used to teaching to an exam in order to cope. Poorer provinces, such as Sichuan, don\u2019t have the resources to reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a gap in inequality between the big and small universities,\u201d said Yang.<\/p>\n

Tang agrees. \u201cThis program is a very good thing for the western part of China because it helps with development.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the Chinese scholars at Eastern Mennonite University this semester, witnessing the difference between Chinese and American educational systems has been enlightening. \u201cIn China, students are willing to listen to ... read more about Ten Chinese scholars join EMU community to learn teaching techniques and immerse themselves in the English language<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,14184,5642,5593],"tags":[5647,6795,17028,17037,6085,15396,14627,16259],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-25491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-campus-guests","category-faculty-and-staff","category-intercultural","tag-cyndi-gusler","tag-diversity","tag-hongjuan-tang","tag-hongjun-tang","tag-marti-eads","tag-michael-medley","tag-myrrl-byler","tag-sichuan-university"],"yoast_head":"\nTen Chinese scholars join EMU community to learn teaching techniques and immerse themselves in the English language - 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