Factors that Promote Second Language Learning for Chinese Students

Jilin International Studies University,Changchun,China Email:489751193@qq.com

[Abstract]Since international communication and information exchanges have increased around the world,people’s need for the skills of a second language have also increased.Second language education has been emphasized in many countries,and how to improve students’learning achievements of a second language has become the main concern of many scholars in this field.There are some factors closely connected to students’second language learning achievements,and through review and analysis of relevant literature,these factors can be identified.Specific factors that promote second language learning specifically for Chinese students,as a unique group of second language learners with their own characteristics in educational policies,economic situation and social context,will also be identified in this paper.

[Keywords]second language learning;Chinese students;learning achievement;language learning promotion

Factors on Promoting Second Language Learning

In searching for the factors on promoting second language learning,no single aspect in the teaching and learning process,such as the persons,materials,activities and behaviors,nor the outside environment and social context can be ignored.Among all the aspects,the teachers’professionalism,teaching methodology and curriculum,the cultural context,and the students’characteristics and emotional factors all influence the students’learning outcome.They play central roles in the whole process of second language teaching and learning.

Teacher Professionalism in Second Language Learning

Many scholars,such as Tschannen-Moran(2009),and Harmer(2007),have confirmed that teachers play on important role in influencing students’learning outcomes,especially in second language learning.Thus,it is important to investigate teachers’professional knowledge and skills,attitudes,behaviors,and personalities in searching the way to promote second language learning.

Specifically for second language teachers,in addition to instructional skills,language knowledge is very important because they not only instruct their students how to use this knowledge,as do teachers of other subjects,they also work as models and standards for their students in learning the new language.As Freeman(1989)stated,teachers are the basic learning resources for the students in second language learning.That is to say,the teachers’language knowledge,which contains knowledge of pronunciation,vocabulary,grammar and the target culture context,along with skills of interpreting,writing and oral communication,has determined the highest level the students can perform in learning.In addition,many studies show that the native speakers do not have an absolute advantage over non-native speakers in teaching a second language because though native speakers have the advantage in the target language and culture,they are at a disadvantage in communicating with the students.So the key factor here is not the native speakership of the teachers,but the allocation of their work for both native and non-native teachers.

On the other hand,the teachers’professional skills mainly pertain to teaching,managing classes and activities,and utilizing various kinds of instructional technology.As Davies and Pearse(2000)stated,good teachers may vary in different ways.Teaching methods and technology are continuously developed,so the important factor here is the teachers’ability to make changes.That is to say,they should always be familiar with the new trends and technology in teaching.They should be able to develop their own teaching styles and methods,and select the best method for a specific group of students in order to maximize their teaching effectiveness.

Furthermore,the teachers’personalities and behaviors outside the classroom are also important in promoting students’achievements.Larisa and Fumitaka(2008)has proved that students are more sensitive and more easily influenced by outside environments in studying a second language than in any other subjects.That is to say,they are quicker to feel frustrated and depressed when they encounter difficulties.But on the other hand,they are also more easily motivated by the teachers’feedback about their learning achievement.Beyond evaluation sheets or test results,teachers’attitude and behaviors even outside classroom all will be seen as a kind of feedback by their students.Therefore,teachers’attitude and behaviors toward their students are important factors promoting second language learning.Second language teachers,as teachers of any other subject,have various kinds of personalities and teaching styles.There is no one best kind of teaching style just as there is no one best kind of personality.The point here is that teachers’personalities need to be shown to their students.Second language teachers should always pay attention to their image in the students’eyes,because it plays an important role in motivating students in second language learning.

Curriculum and Teaching Methodologies in Second Language Learning

Since second language teachers and students rely heavily on textbooks and other designed learning materials,the quality of these materials and whether they are suitable for a specific group of students is important.There are two extreme ways to deal with the problems of curriculum.In some educational systems,textbooks and teaching materials are controlled by the teachers to coordinate their various teaching styles in order to maximize the effectiveness.In some other systems,teaching materials are highly controlled by the officials to ensure the quality and minimize mistakes.Each way has its own advantages and disadvantages.There is still a long way to go to achieve the goal of making the teaching materials high both in quality and in effectiveness.In addition,beyond selection of teaching materials and resources,curriculum design also indicates the expected goal performance of the students.That is to say,the students should know what they are expected to achieve; what is important for them and what is less important.A well-designed curriculum should be able to interpret the needs from the real world and add some practical value to the academic work.The goal should be neither too high nor too low in order to motivate the students as much as possible.

On the other hand,the teaching methods themselves vary.Both the traditional methods and the more rational and innovative methods have their own advantages,and there is no one best teaching method.For various kinds of students,or various teaching objectives,different teaching styles and methods may be suitable and effective.Therefore,the important factor in teaching methodologies that promote students’second language learning achievement is not only the quality of the method,but the appropriateness of the methods as well.Furthermore,through the investigation of various kinds of teaching methodologies,one common factor emerges among all the good practices:the students are central in the teaching and learning process.In other words,rather than the teachers,the students should always be the focus of all kinds of teaching and learning activities.

Cultural Context in Second Language Learning

The cultural context of the target language is especially important in second language learning,because as has generally been confirmed in recent years,the final goal for second language learning is to be able to communicate with others as do native speakers; and language skill without target cultural elements is clearly not enough for communication.Conversely,the content of the language has always been strongly connected with its cultural context.Without introduction to the target culture,students may feel confused about some parts of the language and use it in an inappropriate way.The cultural context then becomes an obstacle to the students’achieving.For example,American people use“How are you?”as a sentence of everyday greeting.But if Chinese students translated it directly into“你好嗎”without the interpretation of its cultural meaning,they will feel confused.Chinese people only use this sentence when they know something unpleasant has happened on the other person.Therefore,high performance of second language learning requires not just knowledge of its target culture;cultural instruction will help the students a lot in learning a second language.

With the acknowledgement of the important status of target cultural context in second language learning,the next question is how to implement the cultural instruction in the teaching and learning process of second language education.Based on the literature reviewed in this field,the best practice is the study abroad program,because it offers an opportunity for language learners to experience the real cultural context in the target language environment.They can see how the target language is used in real life,not only for academic purposes,but also in daily life.On the other hand,although study abroad is really helpful for the second language learners,sometimes it is difficult to achieve.Therefore,other methods may also be applied.In recent years,innovative technology has become more and more important in second language education.Computers and various kinds of media are frequently used in second language classrooms.Cultural instruction can be accomplished and better results achieved through the new technology.For example,videos and films can be shown in class to introduce cultural elements of the target language;and students can also communicate with native speakers through the internet.

Students’Characteristics and Emotional Factors in Second Language Learning

Many students,and even teachers,believe that students’gifts and potential abilities in language learning determine their final performance to some extant(Fisher,2001).It is true that it is easier for some people to learn a second language and others find it extremely difficult.However,this does not mean that success is impossible for students who do not have a special language gift.People’s beliefs about whether or not they have a special gift are not always true,because these beliefs are easily affected by various emotional factors of the students themselves,such how they attribute their success or failure,and the way they interpret other people’s feedback.

according to Fisher(2001),the characteristics of the second language students themselves and their emotional factors have been proved to be important,and may be the most important elements,in second language learning.Because students have central status in the teaching and learning process,their attitude toward second language learning will strongly affect their achievements and performance in this subject.Besides the students’special gift or potential skills in learning a second language,their emotional factors,including their beliefs about whether they have the ability to achieve success,the way they attribute their success or failure,and the way they interpret other people’s feedback toward their performance in second language learning,all play an important role in promoting their learning achievements.

Overview of Chinese Context in Second Language Learning

Second language learning in China has a history of more than 100 years.In recent years,with the rapid development in China’s economic situation and its political status in the world,second language education has been strongly emphasized by the government.In order to identify the important and useful factors for promoting second language learning in China,it is necessary to analyze Chinese social and cultural context for an overall understanding of Chinese students and the second language learning environment.

Educational Policies of China

Since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China,English courses,as a major part of second language education in China,have become compulsory in schools at almost all levels.In addition to Chinese and math,English is the third major course for students in elementary schools,middle schools,and high schools.At the university level,the students of almost all majors are required to take English classes.Second language majors even have to learn a third language.English tests have become a major part of such national exams,as the university entrance examination and the civil service examination.As a result,students have paid more attention to second language learning,and the teaching methods,teachers’quality,and learning resources have all improved to some extent.However,the purpose for learning has changed.More and more students have started to learn a second language in order to prepare for major tests,but not for use it in real life.The results of many investigations have shown that though Chinese students have better scores on English tests they have a lower capacity to use it to communicate with native speakers.In recent years,the quality-oriented educational policy in China has again made the practical use of language skills a major concern both for the students and for the second language teachers,but it still has a long way to go to achieve success.From this point,we can see that the educational policies of a country can directly change the students’and the teachers’attitudes toward certain subjects,and finally affect the students’learning achievements.

Social and Cultural Context of China

China has a very long history and a large and diverse population,with 56 ethnic groups.The complicated situation has attributed to a specific kind of culture in China.Chinese people have unique values,beliefs,and ways of thinking.In second language learning,the specific social and cultural context have given Chinese second language learners special characteristics,some of which have become major obstacles to Chinese students achieving success in second language learning.In searching for ways to promote second language learning for Chinese students,it is important and necessary to analyze the specific social and cultural context in China.

Language structure

The Chinese language has a structure almost totally different from other languages.First,it has more than 90,000 characters,and words are formed by these characters.In Chinese,each word has its unique meaning;unlike English in which words have various meanings and can be used in different ways.Chinese students always try to memorize the vocabulary through directly translating the words into simple Chinese words.In this way,the meanings of the new words have always been simplified to some extent,and will eventually lead to some misuse.

Secondly,the Chinese language has different pronunciation tones.The same sound with different tones may express a different meaning in Chinese.But in other languages,such as English,different tones are not used in expressing different meanings.As a result,since Chinese students are accustomed to their own pronunciation system; their pronunciation sounds a bit strange when they are speaking a second language.Sometimes,it is difficult for native speakers to understand what Chinese students are saying.In addition,some sounds in other languages do not even exist in Chinese,such as[e],[θ],and[?]in English,and are quite difficult for Chinese students to pronounce and will take a lot of practice.

Last,the Chinese language has fewer grammar rules than other languages,and its sentence structure is relatively simple.There is no need to change the order or the form of the words in order to indicate a different tense or person.New words can simply be added to the original sentences.For example,people add the new character“嗎”at the end of an affirmative sentence in order to make it interrogative.As a result,grammar rules and sentence structure are less important in Chinese rather than in many other languages,and the learning of grammar rules and sentences structures is easily ignored by Chinese students.Even though some of them know it is important to learn grammar,the totally different system make it really difficult for Chinese students to learn.For these reasons,second language learning is boring for some Chinese students,and their interests and motivation are reduced.

Chinese cultural elements

Chinese culture,as an example of a high-context culture,makes Chinese second language students quite different from the students of western countries.As stated before,Chinese students are commonly recognized to be hardworking,good at memorizing and test preparation,but silent in class,reluctant to participate in classroom activities,unwilling to ask or answer questions,and passive with group work.These behaviors are basically caused by Chinese culture context.The implicit and reserved style of temperament is highly valued in Chinese culture,and in the classroom,Chinese students keep silent even when they know the answers to the teachers’questions.When Chinese students have problems,rather than directly asking the teachers,they choose to wait for their peers to ask the questions.If no one asks the question,then they believe it is not important.On the other hand,due to their high-context culture,Chinese people always prefer non-verbal communication to expressing their feelings directly in words.In this way,in group work,people spend a lot of time interpreting the under-meanings of other members.They have to care about others’feelings even they will not directly express their feelings in words.Therefore,group work in China is not effective at all,and people always feel more tired from working with others than working by themselves.In order to overcoming these obstacles,second language teachers should be sensitive to the students’feelings in order to understand what they already know and what kind of problems they still have.The students should be encouraged to gradually change some of their values and behaviors,at least in second language classes.

From ancient China,a national wide test called the Imperial Examination which aimed at selecting officials to work for the feudal government,has had far-reaching implications for Chinese people even in modern times.In the distant past,students prepared for the exam through reading over and over and memorizing articles in the textbooks“The Four Books”and“The Five Classics.”It became a cultural element and still affects the teaching and learning activities in second language education in modern China.Based on these traditional thoughts,as Hu(2005)stated,simply memorizing and repeating reading still constitutes the major part of education in China,especially in second language learning.The second language teachers and students in China put more emphasis on writing skills,vocabulary,and grammar rules,than on oral communication and other practical skills.In order to deal with these problems,the original purpose in learning a second language that should be emphasized to the students is that it is not for test preparation,but should be used in real life.

Conclusion

With the review and analysis of relevant literature,factors that promote second language learning have been identified,especially for Chinese students.These factors are key points in the whole teaching and learning process of second language education,and should be emphasized both by the teachers and by the second language learners themselves.With the acknowledgement of these aspects,the reasons for some problems and obstacles in second language learning should be identified;and many of the problems can be resolved through making some adjustments for the real practices in the second language teaching and learning process.