Grad School Applications

UBC is done. (And so close to the deadline I wouldn't be totally shocked if the application was rejected due to some supporting documents arriving late -- which I hope they don't, of course.)

Next up -- UW, Purdue, Penn State, and Arizona State.

Ling Shi on NNS/NES English Teaching in China

"NES teachers need to understand the background training of their

EFL Chinese students just as NNS teachers need to incorporate the

standards of their NES counterparts into their teaching and testing

evaluation so as to socialize their students into English academic discourse.

On the one hand, NESs should be aware of the different variety

of English writing being cultivated by NNS teachers. They should

adjust their teaching accordingly in a setting where most students are

studying to pass exams rated by local NNS teachers. Based on similar

findings, Kobayashi and Rinnert (1996) suggested that NES teachers

in an EFL context should be aware of the needs of local students to

meet the standards of NNS teachers. On the other hand, NNS teachers

should be aware of the diverse instructional emphases of their NES

colleagues. Both NES and NNS teachers should also help their

students to understand how readers’ expectations can vary based on

their cultural backgrounds, and how this would affect the way they

should write. Seminars for teachers and training workshops for raters

should be organized to help the communication between NES and

NNS teachers so that each group gains access to the shared background

and beliefs of the other. Such cooperation and share of expertise

could lead to more effective writing instruction for EFL students

in China."

- Native- and nonnative-speaking EFL teachers’ evaluation of Chinese students’ English writing