{"id":46935,"date":"2016-10-11T04:45:43","date_gmt":"2016-10-11T08:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/?p=46935"},"modified":"2025-06-29T05:14:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T09:14:45","slug":"teaching-english-to-chinese-speakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/educator-english\/teaching-english-to-chinese-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Teach English to Chinese Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chinese students who are learning English have to tackle certain linguistic and\u00a0cultural differences<\/strong>. This is why your teaching won’t be the same as with a class of French speakers, for example.<\/p>\n

Whether you have a mix of Chinese ELL students in a mainstream class or an entire class of Chinese students, a little understanding of China and its people will be incredibly helpful.<\/p>\n

Consider yourself lucky, because that’s exactly what I’ve put together for you here: the main differences to be aware of, plus common questions and activities specifically for Chinese students<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc skip=4]<\/p>\n

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Cultural Differences Between China and the Western World<\/h2>\n

To be a successful English teacher to Chinese students, it’s important to know a bit about Chinese culture. Here are some of the most obvious and relevant differences:<\/p>\n

Focus on Education<\/h3>\n

From the Chinese viewpoint, education is very formal and serious<\/strong>, and teachers are expected to tell students exactly what they need to know. Students are expected to respect teachers, work hard and do lots of homework in order to succeed.<\/p>\n

Sometimes the appearance of studying\u2014being present (though not necessarily alert) and learning lists of words\u2014seems to be more important than being engaged in\u00a0learning.<\/p>\n

Learning Styles at School<\/h3>\n

In Chinese education, factual information is important, fantasy is not; science wins over arts. Students expect to be taught steps<\/strong> to solve problems. Teachers must not be questioned or challenged.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So it comes as a surprise to them to find that they’re expected to problem-solve, without necessarily being told exactly how. There could even be more than one answer to a question.<\/p>\n

You’ll want to facilitate and model problem-solving, and your students should be actively involved rather than passively observing. Encourage them to question you, and help them discover that reading is a constructive process.<\/p>\n

Families and Home Life<\/h3>\n

In Mainland China until very recently, only wealthy families (who could afford the fine) and ethnic minorities in rural areas were permitted to have more than one child. So most\u00a0children have no siblings<\/strong>, and no aunts or uncles.<\/p>\n

Each child has six doting adults (parents and grandparents) pressuring them to succeed for the sake of the family. On top of that, there are far more boys than girls, and boys are often treated with more deference than girls.<\/p>\n

Special Interests<\/h3>\n

Chinese students love numbers<\/strong>, math and things that are predictable. They don’t seem to mind if things are complicated.<\/p>\n

So if a class of students appears bored, try giving out something like word search puzzles<\/a> and immediately you’ll see such total engagement that even recess is of no interest until they’re finished.<\/p>\n

The Importance of “Face”<\/h3>\n

Nobody likes to feel stupid or be made to look silly. But you have to realize that “losing face<\/strong>“<\/a> is a much, much bigger issue with Chinese people.<\/p>\n

If you notice a change in your students, you might like to consider that they have lost face, and look for ways for them to save face again.<\/p>\n

Handling Cultural Differences in the Classroom<\/h3>\n

Here you have already taken the first step: being aware of the differences.<\/p>\n

Depending on the age and ability of your students, open discussion times about cultural expectations can make students (western and Chinese) more sensitive to other cultures. Groups of students could complete projects and present talks on their own or each other’s cultures.<\/p>\n

Students in a Chinese classroom\u2014especially if they haven’t yet had much experience with foreign teachers\u2014may at first be surprised, or even somewhat disconcerted and hopefully eventually delighted by your teaching style.<\/p>\n

Linguistic Differences Between English and Chinese<\/h2>\n

Now let’s look at four main differences between the English and Chinese languages (speaking rhythm, word stress, pronunciation and grammar) that can trip students up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking Rhythm<\/h3>\n

Have you ever noticed how English speakers don’t say each syllable and word with the same degree of clarity?\u00a0<\/p>\n

In any sentence, the important words or syllables are stressed<\/strong> and spoken at an even, rhythmic pace, almost like the beat you can feel in music. The other (less important) syllables and words just get squashed in between. Here’s a simple example:<\/p>\n

Dogs chase cats.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Each word is important, so each word is stressed.<\/p>\n

Now, let’s add some less important unstressed syllables into the mix:<\/p>\n

The dogs<\/strong> will be chas<\/strong>ing the cats<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

These sentences essentially take the same time to say because the stressed syllables still dictate the timing of the sentence. The unimportant, unstressed syllables are tucked in between, and are often reduced\u2014such as “will” reduced to\u00a0apostrophe “ll.”<\/p>\n

In Chinese, however, every syllable has the same value and takes the same amount of time.<\/p>\n

Teaching techniques for speaking rhythm<\/h4>\n

You may have heard of jazz chants<\/a>\u00a0or grammar chants<\/a>,\u00a0usually said to have been invented by\u00a0Carolyn Graham<\/a>. Even though it might seem counterproductive because we don’t strictly talk like that all the time, there are benefits to using these in class.<\/p>\n

Firstly, they’re\u00a0a lot of fun, and secondly, they\u00a0emphasize the stress-timed nature of the English language. You can find and use the chants from the websites above, watch grammar chants<\/a> on YouTube,\u00a0buy the books<\/a>\u00a0or simply create your own around the sentences that you’re currently practicing.<\/p>\n

Create 4-beat sequences, and use clapping\/clicking\/movement or music to keep the beat as you say them. If there are only three beats in your sentence, you can either have an empty beat on “4” or start the next sentence.<\/p>\n

So, for the two sentences above, we could have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Beat 1<\/th>Beat 2<\/th>Beat 3<\/th>Beat 4<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Dogs<\/strong><\/td>chase<\/strong><\/td>cats<\/strong><\/td>(and*)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cats<\/strong><\/td>chase<\/strong><\/td>dogs<\/strong><\/td>(The*)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
dogs<\/strong> will be<\/td>chas<\/strong>ing the<\/td>cats,<\/strong><\/td>and<\/strong> (the*)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
cats<\/strong> will be<\/td>chas<\/strong>ing the<\/td>dogs.<\/strong><\/td>( )<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

*Note: The extra unstressed words at the end of the line (i.e. and, the) are\u00a0spoken quickly on the “upbeat” just before the start of the next line.<\/p>\n

Lots of rhythmic speaking practice will give your students a chance to be totally engaged and have fun, and the rhythmic aspect of the language will help them to remember it better, quickly internalizing the grammar.<\/p>\n

Syllables and Word Stress<\/h3>\n

The Chinese language is monosyllabic, meaning that basically each one of their\u00a0characters is one syllable. Each syllable receives the same amount of attention (same stress, same time allocation) and each has its own tonal shape, giving the language that delightful sing-song sound.<\/p>\n

One\u00a0result of this is that Chinese ESL students tend to pronounce each English syllable too<\/em> carefully<\/strong>, messing up the word-stress pattern, causing discomfort to English-speaking listeners and sometimes causing confusion by changing the meaning. For example:<\/p>\n