Writing like an Asian: In Class: Speaking in English

In the writing courses I teach, I place a strong emphasis on class discussion. Voicing opinions helps lead students toward writing them. It's an initial step into learning how their opinions -- supported by the course texts -- can become arguments. Many small college courses work along similar lines -- emphasizing the importance of class participation.

With such importance placed on this component of learning, coupled with the record number of admitted international students for whom English is a second language, the recent findings by Nafsa: Association of International Educators raises questions about these students' ability to meet at least one of the current expectations for academic success.

The telephone survey of 25,000 prospective Chinese students?conducted recently by Zinch China, a consulting company that advises American colleges and universities about China?found that 62 percent of those surveyed had "poor" or "subfunctional" spoken English. When Zinch conducted a similar survey approximately a year earlier, just 38 percent fell into that category.

At the same time, the share of students with strong linguistic ability fell from 18 percent to just 4 percent.

But I'm not sure what to make of these findings. While there is a correlation, "poor" spoken English doesn't necessarily mean poor comprehension of or writing skills in English. However, the larger concern about the findings is whether these students, after they have been accepted at American colleges and universities, are provided the necessary tools (i.e. institutional support) to succeed in their courses if they do possess "poor" or "subfunctional" spoken English.

Source: http://writinglikeanasian.blogspot.com/2013/06/in-class-speaking-in-english.html

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