Asian Students in English Classes
Yan Qiu
As a melting pot, the U.S. is hosting people from different races, beliefs，cultures and
backgrounds, so is NDSU. Every year, hundreds of foreign students flood onto the campus and
among them students from Asian countries constitute a large amount. Last year, for the first time,
several Korean students appeared in some English classes as exchange students. Walking on the
campus, you can overhear Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc. However , there is only one official
language in English classes—ENGLISH . ESL (English as Second Language) students are
distributed to these mainstream classes and it’s assumed that all students in the classes are native
English speakers. Generally speaking studying in mainstream classes is good for the development
of ESL students’ ability in communicative or academic respects. But both the instructors and Asian
students may be not used to this new experience.
So how do those ESL students adapt themselves to the classes and how well do they behave
in the classes? Do they have any difficulties in study and how do they find ways to solve these
difficulties? How do the instructors and native students feel to have Asian students in their classes?
What should both of them do to improve efficiency? To find out answers to these questions, last
semester I visited eight classes with Asian students once or several times, had talks with both
students and instructors. I also designed a simple questionnaire and distributed it to about 20
students to fill and took back 12. I’d like to share with everyone what I have found in this report.
I.
Students’ attitude in English Classes
I asked the students about the reasons why they chose NDSU to accomplish their study. The
Korean students came here because NDSU is their sister school and there is a program about
exchange students. For some others, their reasons varied from having relatives here to the low
tuition of NDSU. And a Sri Lanka student came with the help of an agent. Although most of them
got used to the life here very quickly, they did feel a little frustrated in academy at first, because
they have to learn academic subject matters in English which is twice difficult for them as ESL
students. Truly, the students studying here have passed various kinds of English proficiency tests
such as TOEFL, Michigan Test or university test. But as far as I know, most ESL students have a
vocabulary of 6,000 to 8,000 which is far from enough for mainstream classrooms. The lack of
certain vocabulary prevents the students from understanding the instructors to a large degree. So
almost every Asian student has an E-dictionary at hand in case they’ll have to look up difficult
words. While sitting in the classroom most Asian students are very quiet for most of the time.
Even when they are assigned to group discussion they prefer listening more than speaking. I think
that’s partly because they still have some difficulty understanding the instructors and native
students. Even if they’ve had a good understanding, affected by Confucianism, which emphasizes
Jen as “the capacity to measure the feelings of others by one’s own” (Analects), they would regard
listening as an important element of communication. Just like in Chinese culture, individuals are
expected to continue to watch how something is done as many times and for as long as necessary
until they feel they can accomplish it. In my observation, most Asian students work very hard to
try to catch up with other native students. They spend much of their time in the library reading and
doing research.
Facing the same difficulty, few students take different attitudes. In a class with four Korean
students, two girl students sitting in the front pay close attention to the instructor while the other
boy and girl student in the back talk occasionally to each other in their native language. Although
they had their textbooks open, they did not focus on either the instructor or the book. And the
dictionary at their hand seemed to be a toy instead of a tool. These students are dependent on their
peer students because they know they can ask the other girl students for reference about the lecture
if necessary.
Most Asian students would concentrate their attention on the class very closely. They focus
on the instructors’ explanations and refer to their textbooks, fearing that they may miss some
important points if they do not follow the teachers. When they feel puzzled, most choose to write
down the problems or keep them in mind to ask the instructors after class because in most Asian
countries it’s impolite to interrupt the teacher in class. Generally speaking, Asian students prefer to
be seated with their native language speakers provided there is one or more because that may
make them feel at ease and convenient. But in fact as the only non-native student they may benefit
more if they learn to make use of this opportunity. A Sri Lanka girl in English 110 does quite well
in this part. She is active in either the class discussion or group work without worries about the
possible mistakes she may make. But not every Asian student is so dauntless as this girl, most are
rather reluctant to express themselves in class since they do have various concerns.
II.
The Students’ worries
The most concern that Asian students have is of course language. As a matter of fact, those
who can study abroad are relatively outstanding students in their home countries. They usually
have good family or education background or both, while studying in new surroundings is quite
different experience for them. Their dominant positions in communicative and academic fields
suddenly vanish. Many of them can not get used to the culture shock at the very beginning that
they feel at a loss. And confronted with different curricula set-up, different methodology, different
teaching styles, it takes the Asian students some time to adapt themselves to the new settings.
These difficulties will generally be overcome in several weeks, but language barrier will remain a
big problem for a rather long time.
Asian students usually start learning English at secondary school and through into university.
Take China as example, teachers emphasize the memorization of vocabulary and grammar rules
very much, but with few opportunities to interact with native English speakers, the students are
more familiar with written language than with oral English. So sitting in the mainstream
classrooms with native speakers, few feel comfortable at first. One Korean girl in English 110 said
that she can only understand 50%-60% of the instructor’s lecture and the other one is better but
not more than 70%. They feel confused especially when some jokes and idioms are talked about in
class. The acquisition of language is definitely connected with the understanding of culture.
Growing up in totally different cultural surroundings, Asian students can hardly understand the
movies, TV programs or sports players that most American students are fond of talking. So most
of the time when native students laugh at a joke the instructor has made I can only see blank stares
in Asian students’ eyes. Once in an English 110 class, while talking about application of music in
powerpoint, somebody mentioned “yellow sub”, other native students and the instructor laughed
but the two Korean students and I were totally confused. After class I figured out it is a popular
song by the Beatles but I still don’t know why it’s amusing. So sometimes the lack of certain
cultural background may lead to failure in understanding the instructors or the peers. That’s why
Asian students often feel insecure in their ability to compete with native students and when these
kinds of cases take place often, they may feel anxious and worried about their situation in class. So
during my research work, over 80% Asian students express their worries over language.
Another problem that troubles most Asian students is writing. English classes undoubtedly
revolve around writing in English and students are given a lot of writing assignments. Most of my
students have never tried writing English passages longer than 150 words, I can understand how
they would feel when they’re assigned several pages of writing in American classes. For lack of
practice in writing long essays and proficient control of language, most Asian students are rather
frustrated at the assignments. They’re uncertain of the uses of some words and expressions in their
writing and they’re unaware of the grammar mistakes. So most times they turn in poor writing
which is quite far away from the teachers’ requirement. But Asian students are well-known for
their diligence and hardworking and they will try every means to accomplish that. The most help
Asian students seek from is their instructors and the Center for Writers. In the twelve
questionnaires I took back, half mentioned the Center for Writers so that we can see how much it’s
relied on.
A few students expressed their worries over grading. For slow reading and poor writing, it’s
normal for them to worry about their final grade. But I can say that it’s unnecessary because as far
as I know the final grade depends on many respects rather on only the writing assignments.
III.
The Instructors’ comments and the Asian students’ reflection
Most instructors have highly evaluation about Asian students in their classes. In their
impression, Asian students are generally quiet in class but very attentive. This corresponds to what
I have noticed. Asian students seldom express themselves in front of the class or group members.
On one hand that’s due to the education they’ve received from early age that the roles of teachers
and students have been strictly defined and what the students should do is just to listen to the
teachers; on the other hand, the Asian students are afraid of making mistakes or they even do not
understand the teachers quite well. In that case it’s better for them to listen rather than to speak.
And most teachers say those students do come to them to ask for help after class and they seem to
feel more comfortable having private conversation with the teachers. Most teachers I interviewed
understand and welcome this kind of communication although that may take some of their time.
One question has been with me for a long time and I did ask many teachers this question, “do
you treat the Asian students the same as native students or you may have different requirement on
them?” Almost all the teachers say they do not regard Asian students differently provided they
attend the classes and do the assignments as others. But to the accomplishment of the assignments
they do realize that Asian students need to improve a lot in their writing especially the grammar
and the correctness of the sentences. Sometimes the instructors have to focus more on the content
rather on the language of the writing. For this problem they suggest that the students go to the
Center for Writers before they hand in the assignments.
Although a few students want their teachers to treat them like other native students, most
Asian students hope the teachers realize the different situations they are in and provide help when
it’s needed. While being asked about her feeling in the mainstream classrooms, one Korean girl
told me,” sometimes the native students ignore me in a group and I’ll move to another group. I do
hope the instructors could give me some personal instruction and consideration while grading me.
Anyhow we are ESL students and some special treatment is not a bad thing.” Maybe some of
words are not very practical but there is something in there.
IV.
Suggestions to Instructors and Students
Having some nonnative students in class maybe does not make much difference to the
instructors and American students. But taking that into consideration while preparing for and
implementing teaching does help a lot to both nonnative and native students. Once a teacher told
me she and the native students both felt delighted to have a Sri Lanka girl in their class because
they learned different culture, religion and spirit in that girl. I think that’s the main point of having
nonnative students in the mainstream classes. While learning American culture from other students,
nonnative students are also delivering their culture to Americans and enriching American culture
and they bring new perspectives and points of view to the classrooms. So it’s helpful for the
instructors to make students realize the ethnic background of their classmates and be aware that
the classroom is composed of many cultures and many different language backgrounds. Despite of
their language barriers Asian students are usually good at some academic courses as history,
geography, politics, science and mathematics, and they are highly motivated and work very hard to
achieve their goals so the teachers can focus on their merits to encourage the class.
Though they can understand most of the instructors’ explanation and accomplish assignments
by themselves, most Asian students admit they need the instructors help and attention in classes
and after classes. I concluded and summarized the following instructions for the teachers to help
improve the academic performance of Asian students.
Try to speak clearly at a reasonable rate;
Avoid slang and informal language in class and while some jokes or idioms are necessary, try
to repeat or explain them to the class when some students seem confused at those jokes or idioms;
Make an effort to help Asian students interact socially with American students and ask them
to help each other in class or small group work;
Since some Asian students are Muslims, it is important to respect their religion in classroom
and to make other students understand it as well;
Major concepts should be written on the chalkboard and writing should be simple and legible
because most Asian students have difficulty reading the crabbed writing;
Major assignments should provide written instructions and samples if possible;
Distribute copies of lecture notes to help students review what has been covered in class;
Keep the students’ nonnative status in mind, don’t expect too high about Asian students and
pay more attention to the content and organization of their writing rather than grammar mistakes.
To Asian students, I also have some suggestions:
Remember teachers are always willing to help students so don’t hesitate to ask your
instructors for help whenever you have some difficulties in academic work;
Although we Asian students are taught to respect teachers by listening to every word of the
teachers, be brave to state your opinion when necessary;
Reading slowly is not your individual problem and every nonnative student may come across
this problem but looking up every difficult word in the dictionary only results in slower reading;
Taking notes in class is a good habit and if you cannot write down what’s written on the
chalkboard go and borrow notes from others after class.
Write down the points that you are confused about in class and consult teachers or classmates
immediately after class because delaying may lead to obscure impression and thus cause
misunderstanding;
Learning English as a second language involves more than learning grammatical rules if you
want to communicate well with native speakers so try to make friends with some native speakers
and don’t be afraid of making mistakes because it’s understandable for you to make mistakes;
Make sure you understand the assignments and check your writing after you finish it and
refer to some instruction such as the Center for Writer’s.
Based on what I’ve learned, I can safely come to the conclusion that most Asian students get
quite used to the class circumstances here although there do exist this or that kind of problems. I
hope my report may help you have a better picture of Asian students. Anyhow I believe only
understanding the teaching objectives can we teach more effectively.
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