Creation of Challenges Cont.
There are numerous of factors that contribute to why there are challenges for Chinese students when they are immersed in American classrooms.
There are even internal factors that contribute to this difficulty- Chinese students’ self-confidence (Peng and Woodrow). The author mentioned
self-confidence playing a role in Chinese students’ willingness to engage in dialogue with a native English speaker and the author also briefly stated the denotation of self-confidence in reference to her usage of the word: -- “Defined as the overall belief about one's ability to engage in efficient L2communication”. Bridget’s project 2 revealed how she became insecure with her speaking ability in English because of her inability to understand English expressions used in America, such as her incomprehension of the difference between a “playground” and a “ground to play” (Bridget’s Project 2). Thus, Bridget’s situation is a great example of the author’s usage of self-confidence for non-native English speakers. I
also wish to point out that self-confidence may not only make a non-native speaker hesitant to speak in a foreign a language, but their self-confidence can also hinder the student’s ability to further develop their skills in a foreign language by making them frightened to speak the foreign language in front of native speakers. How can a student improve on their speaking skills in a language if they are afraid to speak it? In the Sedaris reading, Sedaris emphasizes how his teacher verbally tortured him to the brink of becoming terrified of speaking French. In the end of the reading, he expressed how he now understood his teacher, but he also stated that comprehending is not the same as speaking. Sedaris could now understand French, but still could not speak the language because of his fear and lack of self-confidence created by his French teacher. The Sedaris example may be categorized as an extreme example, but it still shows that the lack of usage of a foreign language in daily life can prevent an individual from truly learning to speak that language.
Another relevant factor I want to emphasize is the contribution of an individual’s personality and how it changes the results of some empirical
data. The author briefly states some of the effects that an individual’s personality may have on some of the factors that she/he mentioned, but there is more information that the author didn’t clearly emphasize on (Peng and Woodrow). A good example is how Chinese students’ personality heavily influence their ability to speak English. If a Chinese student is more confident in themselves than the average Chinese
student, then they may be more willing to engage in an English conversation inside and outside of the classroom. For instance, Bridget was
embarrassed because of her lack of knowledge of commonly used expressions in America (Bridget’s project 2). However, because of her confidence and passionate interest in the English language, her ignorance of American expressions didn’t deter her from exploring more of the English language in America. It also didn’t stop her from inquiring the differences between what was taught to her in China and the actual denotation of the word, and usage, in America. The current source revealed some key factors that explains why challenges exist among Chinese students when it comes to speaking and learning a foreign language. My next source shall reveal some of the actual challenges that Chinese students face in an American classroom.
Click here to head over to my fellow peer's, Bridget, writing piece that I used.
There are numerous of factors that contribute to why there are challenges for Chinese students when they are immersed in American classrooms.
There are even internal factors that contribute to this difficulty- Chinese students’ self-confidence (Peng and Woodrow). The author mentioned
self-confidence playing a role in Chinese students’ willingness to engage in dialogue with a native English speaker and the author also briefly stated the denotation of self-confidence in reference to her usage of the word: -- “Defined as the overall belief about one's ability to engage in efficient L2communication”. Bridget’s project 2 revealed how she became insecure with her speaking ability in English because of her inability to understand English expressions used in America, such as her incomprehension of the difference between a “playground” and a “ground to play” (Bridget’s Project 2). Thus, Bridget’s situation is a great example of the author’s usage of self-confidence for non-native English speakers. I
also wish to point out that self-confidence may not only make a non-native speaker hesitant to speak in a foreign a language, but their self-confidence can also hinder the student’s ability to further develop their skills in a foreign language by making them frightened to speak the foreign language in front of native speakers. How can a student improve on their speaking skills in a language if they are afraid to speak it? In the Sedaris reading, Sedaris emphasizes how his teacher verbally tortured him to the brink of becoming terrified of speaking French. In the end of the reading, he expressed how he now understood his teacher, but he also stated that comprehending is not the same as speaking. Sedaris could now understand French, but still could not speak the language because of his fear and lack of self-confidence created by his French teacher. The Sedaris example may be categorized as an extreme example, but it still shows that the lack of usage of a foreign language in daily life can prevent an individual from truly learning to speak that language.
Another relevant factor I want to emphasize is the contribution of an individual’s personality and how it changes the results of some empirical
data. The author briefly states some of the effects that an individual’s personality may have on some of the factors that she/he mentioned, but there is more information that the author didn’t clearly emphasize on (Peng and Woodrow). A good example is how Chinese students’ personality heavily influence their ability to speak English. If a Chinese student is more confident in themselves than the average Chinese
student, then they may be more willing to engage in an English conversation inside and outside of the classroom. For instance, Bridget was
embarrassed because of her lack of knowledge of commonly used expressions in America (Bridget’s project 2). However, because of her confidence and passionate interest in the English language, her ignorance of American expressions didn’t deter her from exploring more of the English language in America. It also didn’t stop her from inquiring the differences between what was taught to her in China and the actual denotation of the word, and usage, in America. The current source revealed some key factors that explains why challenges exist among Chinese students when it comes to speaking and learning a foreign language. My next source shall reveal some of the actual challenges that Chinese students face in an American classroom.
Click here to head over to my fellow peer's, Bridget, writing piece that I used.