This post is about my English News class.
One of the classes I had this semester was called 'English News',
an elective course for Non Major students, from Week 1 to Week 17 (students can
choose from a range of Elective Courses, from Western Culture to Chinese
literature to Principles of Marketing to Chinese Military History, etc, etc).
There were 61 students in the class; mainly from engineering
majors, but also economics and finance; the class was held 4.10 to 6pm on
Tuesday afternoon, from Week 1 - 17.
I had this course a year ago. There was no syllabus, and I was told
“just get on with it”. How does one teach News? And how do you test their knowledge or understanding at the end? It took some time to work out a suitable approach, which
I used again this time around.
Basically, every week I allocated 5 students to do short
presentations (max 8 min each) on recent items of News – whatever caught their
fancy - that took up the first lesson.
Then after the break I did short presentations on 6 or 7 articles for
the second lesson. The students got their articles from many different sources,
while most of my articles came from the good old China Daily.
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| Students were given plenty of notice of their presentation date. I found it interesting to see the kind of topics they chose. Often they included short videos and animations. |
The format worked pretty well – lots of variety to keep everyone interested, and students also got experience in presenting to a roomful of
their peers.
The final exam was held 7 - 9pm on Sunday 19 June 2016 and I have
just finished grading the papers.
The exam paper comprised six short news articles (about
three-quarters of an A4 page), followed by questions. The students had to
compile a ‘5W Summary’ (Who, When, Where, What, Why & Other) of each
article and answer the questions.
The following are the titles and first few paragraphs of the six articles
in the exam paper, which will give you the gist of the subject covered.
EXAM PAPER FOR ‘ENGLISH NEWS’,
7 – 9pm Sunday 19 June 2016
New rule requires
university students to book library seats on WeChat
By Wu Yan (chinadaily.com.cn) 2016-04-15
Students in Nanjing University will no longer have to worry
about their seats in the library being taken up by someone else when they
temporarily leave their seats.
"WeChat library", a mobile-based online platform
for managing the use of library seats, started a trial operation at Nanjing
University on Thursday to keep good order in the library.
Students must scan the QR code
on the seat within 20 minutes of the library opening; maximum time allowed for
toilet break 20 min; for book searching 30 min; for meals 90 min. Students who
record more than 3 violations are registered on a blacklist. Most students
support the new platform, as occupying seats has long been an issue.
Do a 5W summary, and answer
the following questions
What do you think of this new procedure for seats in the
library at Nanjing University? What has your experience been at UPC? Some students complain that it’s difficult to
find a seat because others leave books and bags even when they go to classes,
or leave for a long time. Should such students be penalised? Do you think UPC
should introduce a system to ‘reserve’ seats in the library? What kind of system would you prefer?
China calls for more school sports
(Xinhua) 2016-05-09
On Friday the State Council issued a guideline instructing
schools to guarantee that students have enough time for sports.
The guideline prohibits schools from reducing sports time,
and encourages schools to add more physical education classes if conditions
permit. It also asks local educational authorities to incorporate sports exams
into the evaluation system.
A 2014 study found that 23% of
Chinese boys and 14% of girls under age 20 were overweight. Alarming trends
have also been seen in teenagers' cardio-pulmonary function, eyesight, stamina
and running ability.
Do a 5W summary, and answer
the following questions
Do you think that school children should do more
exercise? Should parents take more
responsibility and set aside specific time at night or on weekends for children
to exercise? Is being overweight
becoming a problem in China? Some people
want to ban Western-style fast food, others want to ban sugary drinks. In your opinion, what is the solution? Do
students at UPC get enough exercise? How
often do you exercise? Do you think there should be 2 or 3 compulsory PE
classes every week to force students to do more exercise?
Military hospital staff punished,
Baidu warned
By Shan Juan and Wang Xiaodong (China Daily) 2016-05-11
Ten staff members of the Second Police Hospital in Beijing
that offered an experimental cancer therapy to a young man who died last month,
have been punished.
An investigation found that the hospital had illegally
sub-contracted out some services to private medical suppliers, and participated
in misleading medical advertisements.
Wei Zexi, a 21-year-old student from Shaanxi province, died
on April 12 from synovial sarcoma, a rare cancer, after taking a type of immunotherapy
at the hospital's Biomedical Clinic, which had been outsourced to a private
entity. In an online posting before his
death, Wei said he found the clinic while researching his disease on Baidu. His
parents paid more than 200,000 yuan but the treatment was useless.
The Cyberspace Administration of
China has ordered Baidu to review its paid listing system, under which search
content ranking is based on the price an advertiser pays. The CAC also said Baidu should check to
verify claims made in medical advertisements on its website, and compensate
people who were misled by false or exaggerated advertisements.
Do a 5W summary, and answer
the following questions
In your opinion, why did this case attract so much
attention? Who was more to blame, the hospital, the clinic, or Baidu? Some
commentators said that Baidu is just a search engine and should not be
blamed. What do you think? How much can
we trust what we read on the internet?
How can we know if advertisements are not true or exaggerated? What is the answer?
Pushy parents provoke child-vote
backlash
By Tang Yue (China Daily)
2016-04-13
People are increasingly contacting long-lost friends, or
even casual acquaintances, and urging them to vote for their children or
grandchildren in competitions. The practice, which has been growing rapidly,
has now reached the point where people are becoming annoyed.
A recent survey conducted by Jinhua Evening News in Zhejiang
province showed that 94% of 384 respondents had been asked by friends or
relatives to vote online for their children.
The contests range from the
"cutest baby" to dancing competitions. Often the people receiving the messages
haven't heard from the sender for a long time and have never met the child
involved.
Do a 5W summary, and answer
the following questions
What do you think of this phenomenon? Do you think it’s reasonable to ask relatives
or friends to vote in an online competition?
Have you ever done so? Some
commentators say that such competitions, which are based just on voting rather
than talent, may give children wrong ideas that they can succeed without
working hard. These days many companies make unsolicited calls on your phone or
WeChat, trying to sell something. Do you think that should be allowed? How can
this be controlled?
Attacks on hospital staff to be shown
zero tolerance
By Yang Wanli (China Daily)
2016-05-12
The Health Commission declared that zero tolerance will be
shown for people who assault and injure medical personnel, after three recent
incidents. In 2015 there were about 71,000 medical disputes in China; more than
80% were resolved through meditation, but others involved physical violence
against medical personnel.
Three recent serious cases: a surgeon in Chongqing was
stabbed several times in the face and back by a 19-year-old patient and two of
his friends; a doctor in Jiangxi province was beaten by a patient's family
members after the patient died; and in Guangdong a retired dentist was killed
by a patient he treated 25 years ago.
Some experts called for improved
working conditions for doctors. They said there are not enough doctors to meet
the demand, which puts great pressure on both doctors and patients. Also the
public should be educated to realise that sometimes patients cannot be cured,
despite the best endeavours of medical staff.
Do a 5W summary, and answer
the following questions
In your opinion, what are the main reasons for the tension
between medical staff (doctors and nurses) and patients? Are the doctors more
to blame, or the patients? How can this problem be solved, so there is more
trust between medical staff and patients and less fighting and violence?
'Zombie' enterprises to be cleaned up
By LYU CHANG (China Daily)
2016-05-21
China will press ahead with merging and revamping
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and plans over the next three years to clean up
or close 345 central "zombie" enterprises.
‘Zombie’ (walking dead) enterprises are unprofitable SOEs
burdened by debt, mismanagement or overcapacity and only kept alive by
government subsidies.
Overall, China has about 150,000 SOEs at all levels, many of
which are uncompetitive with declining or zero profits. Changes are planned in the powers of directors
and managers; in investment, mergers and acquisitions; and in information
disclosure and transparency.
Do a 5W summary, and answer
the following questions
Fifty years ago all enterprises in China were State Owned,
but today about 65% of China’s economy is generated by private companies and
35% by SOEs. Some people say this change has gone too far and the government
should support SOEs even if they are unprofitable. What is your opinion? Previously SOEs were
regarded as attractive for employment because they offered stability and good
salaries but now benefits have been wound back. Would you prefer to work for an
SOE or a private company? Explain your reasons.
…
Sixty students sat the exam (one student had dropped out of the
course). One failed, the rest passed (pass mark is 60); 30% got over 80%; top score - 90% - went to Yu Jia Yi (Sophie) a third year student majoring in Petroleum Engineering; clever girl.
Overall I was impressed by their knowledge of English and their ability to
answer the questions. There are so many smart kids in China - can you imagine Aussie students doing an exam like this in a language other than their native English?
Here are photos of Class NM60. There were too many students, so I divided the class into two parts.
From left: A Bu Liang (Liam); Mate; Liu Xin Yuan
(Jim); Hang Wen Zhi (Darren); Wang Ya Dong (Kahn); Shi Yi Chan (Eleven); Chen
Hao (Monsen); Sun Cheng Xiang (Ben); Drick; Zhou Xin (Vivian); Li Guo Zhen
(Ad); Bao Xiao Lin (Dolce); Zhou Xin (York); Yu Jia Yi (Sophie); Xiao Sun
(Geoffrey); Lu Lu (Lily); Wang Wen Jing (Isabella).
From left: Wang Meng Hao (Joyce); Ge Jian (Jane); Wang Xiao (Amanda); Liang Ya Nan
(Mary); Li Li Sha (Lisa); Wang Jia Qi (Janet); Yuan Pu Shu (Lily); Hui Zeng Bo
(Manu); Hui Geng (Terry); Ren Mei Jie (Bunny); Xu Xin (Monkey); Liu Xue Cong
(Chloe-Green); Zeng Ke (Zero); Gao Yun Bo (Wave); Lei Xiao Xiong (Reddick);
Zhang Tian Yang (Burning); Ma Meng Qi (Chloe); Liang Tong (Supertong); Jiang
Sai Sai (Jessica); Zhang Zhen (Nicholas); Guo Pei (Tommy); Yang Xu Xi (Cassie);
Han Jin Rui (Neil); Qiu Jian (Eric); An Xin (Norah); Liang Shu Yuan (Sharon).
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| In the last class of the semester, the class monitor (captain) Yuan Zhou (Joey) presented me with a souvenir plaque of our university. He said that the students had taken up a collection as they wanted to show their appreciation for my teaching. Sometimes individual students have given me small gifts, but this is the first time a class has done so. What a lovely gesture! |
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I'll do a separate post on my Oral English classes.
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I came across this puzzle recently - drove me crazy - see how you go.
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Just over two weeks left in China. We'll miss this place.
Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.
Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Thursday, 23 June 2016
Qingdao TV did a series of programs on foreigners living and working here. One program featured two foreign teachers, Laxmisha Rai and Alex Olah - to view on YouTube click HERE. It's about 25 minutes, mainly in Chinese but enough English to get the gist.
