ESL Plans

If you're reading this blog you might want to skip this one - its a little dry.
Teaching English to Chinese University students, in China, is certainly not a new idea.  However, it is probably more vital now than ever before.
Some background on the world balance of power is important.  When I studied international relations in the 70s the world has somewhat bi-polar. USA and USSR were locked in the cold war.  The relationship was likened to a 'zero sum game', meaning that any gain for one felt like a loss for the other.  After the collapse of the USSR in the early '90s the world seemed bent on a uni-polar model.  The USA ruled as the centre of everything; it referred to itself as the one indispensable state.  According to this model influence would gradually spread outwards from the USA, all other states acting with reference to American (Western) standards.  China is firmly rejecting this model.  A study of the history of China in the 20th century can easily explain why it prefers to set its own standards.  Of course, this is only possible because of the enormous, and growing, economic influence of the PRC.
Mark Zuckerberg, of Facebook fame, has made a point of studying the new book from Xi Jinping which is a compilation of his latest speeches over the last couple of years.  Zuckerberg is not alone in suspecting that the book may provide a key to predicting what the PRC will do in the near future.  Like it or not, Xi Jinping is an extremely capable leader with a reputation for actually doing what he has talked about doing.  And he talks about 'one belt, one road' - the concept of a modern silk road linking the East and the West in a new era of economic co-operation and prosperity.  It is nothing like the old zero sum game.  Both the PRC and the USA are dependent on each other for continued economic growth.  Unlike the conditions in the cold war, a military confrontation between the two major powers today would be an economic disaster.  Leaders of both countries have everything to gain from Xi Jinping's idea.
The bearing this has on ESL is that China must improve her educational system in order to move further in the direction of the knowledge based economy.  Never again can she afford to close the borders to foreign influence as happened during the Qing dynasty.  This means that Chinese people need to be at least familiar with the English Language - the foremost global medium of communication.  Educating Chinese students in China, without sending them abroad, is not only cheaper, but infinitely preferable.
Add on - Have now taught one class and on private session with two students.  I find the students delightful. Its a pleasure to teach them.  Want to find ways to enrich the experience so that they absorb and retain more.  In other words ~ be memorable.