Teach English in Taihua Zhen - Wuxi Shi

The worldwide demand for English education from an earlier age is undeniably present and is increasing in an unstoppable rate in our modern era. Such surging demand for English learning stems from the fact that the English language is establishing itself evermore firmly as the heart of global communication and the well-renown reality of expedited language acquisition for those who learn a second language from a young age. As a result, the increasing demand for native English speaking teachers in non-English speaking countries mirror that of English education, sending annually countless American, Australian, British, and Canadian nationals to such countries. However, when visiting these countries that import so many of these native teachers yearly, one rarely runs into truly proficient English speakers who can indulge in competent and educated conversations. Why is this the reality? From my experience of observing several ESL classrooms for Elementary school and Kindergarten students in South Korea, teaching ESL classes for Elementary school and Kindergarten students in Japan, and watching many video clips of ESL classes for Kindergarten students in Japan, the linchpin to the lack of true English proficiency in non-English speaking countries, despite the simultaneous increase of early English education in such countries, is the improper execution of class discipline. In order to see truly masterful English speakers that can hold competence against native English speakers while speaking English on a global scale, strict class discipline must be enforced as an absolute foundation in these ESL classrooms with young children. An obvious ground to why strict class discipline must be imposed is to maximize the efficiency of the absorption and retention of the class material. Ultimately, children are children, no matter how much one attempts to apply euphemism upon them. The young proteges are in the ESL class not knowing why and, as a result, unmotivated. Fun activities and creative games to arouse their interest towards the class seem plausible and work in an ideal world. However, without clear boundaries and guidelines to who is holding authority and who needs to listen, and respond accordingly, in an obedient fashion need to be firmly established as soon as possible, if not during the first class session. There appears to be a prevalent misconception of native English speaking teachers only being fun, happy, and having no disciplinary standards due to lack thereof in their country of origin. This plants fallacious perceptions in the young students that lead to unproductive, or sometimes deplorable, behavior that squanders precious class time, nullifies huge chunks of class material that could have been effectively assimilated, and burns out all participants in the classroom. Such unnecessary loss of intangible resources can be prevented and class time could be utilized with optimal efficiency through keen administration of indisputable boundaries and guidelines to control the behavior and attention of the students. The second and inconspicuous rationale to why class discipline in an early English education classroom is absolutely necessary is linked with the significance of cultural identity, and morality, in relations to linguistic competency. After a couple session of teaching an ESL class, it is quite easy to realize that the children are learning and speaking English while primarily thinking in their mother language. The students' behavior, utterance, decision-making, and moral standards are all based upon who they are and what they are expected to be by the social and cultural norm. The students develop into natives of their respective country that could express themselves in English but only as far as accepted and reasonable to their culture and cultural identity. To be even further frank, the students are being taught and trained to be translating machines of their mother tongue to English while still thinking predominantly in their mother tongue and trapped in a singular cultural identity. To truly go the full nine yards and be proficient English speakers to the consummate measure, the formation of a new identity, one that may be different from ones original mother language identity and thinks primarily in English, is imperative. The scope of who one could be, namely what kind of identity or person one could possess, and acceptable cultural norms will greatly affect ones competency in the implementation of the English language. That means, in order for peak results in English proficiency, young students need to be disciplined morally and culturally to be shaped into respectable human beings in their English speaking identity, as if a parent in a English speaking country would properly raise and discipline a child into adulthood. Without such discipline to form cultured English speakers at the core, achieving expertise in the English language is virtually impossible for anyone whose mother language is not English. The world is shrinking by the day, thanks to the rapid technological developments of the twenty-first century. The stipulations for the future generation to be global and multilingual will parallel the rate of internationalization. The standard for English proficiency will soon not only be linguistic but it will extend to sympathetic, cultural, and relational comprehensive capabilities as globalization further manifests expeditiously. The necessity to take early English education seriously has truly arrived for the teachers and the students. As display for such gravity, teachers and students should strive to create learning environments that produces well-rounded, competent, and proficient English users. Strict class discipline is where it will all begin.