China ESL
An Industry Run Amuck?

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by Niu Qiang, PhD & Martin Wolff, J.D.

V. Complaints of Native English Speaking Teachers

A review of (113) complaints containing multiple allegations (409) about teaching ESL in China (posted on www.ESLCafe.com between 1/11/01 and 1/26/03) reveals a number of common complaints in identifiable categories under identifiable management models.

Bad Management (COMPLAINTS: Public Schools -- 8; Private Schools -- 40; Agencies - 7)

The title of this category says it all. With no formal business management education, no special training, little or no experience, no education in cross-cultural relations or human resource management, what can really be expected other than the perception by the FEs that the management has no idea how to run a school or that the management is corrupt?

Bad FAO (COMPLAINTS: Public Schools -- 4; Private Schools -- 6; Agencies - 0)

FAO Directors who are perceived to be "bad" usually have no formal education, training or experience in cross-cultural relations, human resource management or the requirements of their job. This results in cultural insensitivity, miscommunications, incorrect advice or instructions and eventually a breakdown in the FAO/FE relationship.

Classes (COMPLAINTS: Public Schools -- 0; Private Schools -- 10; Agencies - 1)

FEs are promised various teaching assignments during the recruitment process but when they are on the ground in China they learn quickly that their primary teaching responsibility is oral or conversational English.

China has Chinese English teachers to teach vocabulary, phonetics, reading comprehension, listening comprehension and all of the substantive disciplines from Accounting to Zoology. If assistance is required from outside experts in substantive disciplines, China turns to the visiting Professor system, not the ESL teacher.

The ESL teacher is in China to facilitate conversational English and the classes they are assigned to teach are consistent with this, the exception being private business institutes that offer advanced business courses but offer no degree.

Contract (COMPLAINTS: Public Schools -- 2; Private Schools -- 24; Agencies - 4)

The complaints regarding contracts include the failure to have any written contract, the failure to live up to the contract terms and the unilateral amendment of the contract.

Written contracts are the creation of the British Common Law and are foreign in nature and effect to most Chinese. Therefore, the FE's employment contract has little or no value to the Chinese, except that it is required by the Government in order to issue a Foreign Expert's Certificate, which in turn is required to legally employ the FEs.

There are some "sharks" who know exactly how to manipulate the system and the FEs and get away with it. They are often the ones who tell the FEs to hurry up and get to China as quickly as possible, entering on a tourist "L" visa, and promising the moon when the FE arrives.

Class Too Large (COMPLAINTS: Public Schools -- 0; Private Schools -- 10; Agencies - 1)

Classes may have up to 80 students. Those lodging this complaint should try teaching an English class with 150 students as the Chinese English teachers are often required to do. (See: Zhichang Xu, Teaching and Learning Forum 2001, "Problems and Strategies of Teaching English in Large Classes in the People's Republic of China.")

Public university classes are unreasonably large in many instances. One of the reasons is economic. The FEs wants a bigger salary so the school must reduce costs and one way is to increase the student/teacher ratio. This is a self-inflicted injury in some cases. Some schools are just too poor to afford smaller classes.

Business institutes and training centers try to limit class size to between 10 to 12 students. This is also a matter of economics. The students pay through the nose for the smaller class size.

Housing (COMPLAINTS: Public Schools -- 5; Private Schools -- 24; Agencies - 6)

Construction standards in China are not equal to the Uniform Building Code in America. There are major differences.

Electricity in rural areas and even some larger cities is not static and periodic rolling brownouts are necessary during peak usage periods, just like in California in 2002. Many Chinese peasants and farmers live in areas with no electricity service at all.

Some FE in the warmer area of Southern China complaint about a lack of heat. The Central Government policy is that public buildings North of the Yellow River have heat and those South of it do not. This includes schools and school dormitories. There are many areas South of the Yellow River that have below freezing temperatures from November through February and yet the students have absolutely no heat in the classroom or in their dormitory. Imagine how guilty the FEs must feel sitting in their "Western Style" apartment with electric or gas heaters while their students must bundle up in warm clothes 24 hrs a day, seven days a week. The FEs only understands the plight of their students when they must bundle up to teach in a freezing cold classroom. And yet, some FEs in the warmer climes of Southern China are complaining about a lack of heat.

In areas North of the Yellow River FEs complain about a lack of heat in October and early November because it really is cold but the Government does not turn the heat on with the first freeze. They wait until the cold season has begun in earnest. Public buildings are heated by a central hot water piping system that also serves the FE's apartment. FEs in this situation are no colder than their students and if it is really unbearable, they can purchase a very cheap (50 rmb) electric radiant heater.

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