Author: Stephanie Kiang

Note: This article was originally posted to an earlier version of the site in October or November 2021.

I’m excited about today’s blog post, as it’s my first book review! (And the title is pretty good, if I do say so myself.)

Today’s review is about “The Martian” by Andy Weir, a science fiction novel in which the main character, Mark Watney, becomes stranded on Mars.

The book starts with Mark explaining all the technical points about space missions and how he came to be in the situation he finds himself in. As the story continues, the reader gets to see how Mark uses wit and humor to not only survive on Mars, but also give himself a source of hope in a hopeless-seeming situation.

One thing I like that Weir crafted in the story is a sense of humanity and togetherness. NASA and JPL come together on Earth to save one man’s life, spending hundreds and hundreds of hours in the process. It shows that when people want to help each other, they will go to great lengths to do so.

In an interview, Weir noted that highlighting the good of humanity was important to him, and I think he did an excellent job of this in his story.

I wasn’t expecting to be as interested in all the extensive science, math, and calculations as I was, but I was. I’m not a math major for a reason – sure, I can do the basics and I’ve learned what I’ve needed to, but I’m definitely not at a high-enough level to be an astronaut.

It was interesting to see something I’m not typically hyper-enthusiastic about presented in a way that felt imaginable and applicable to a realistic situation. Perhaps my usual, general disinterest in solving math problems is what sparked the interest for parts of this book.

I didn’t understand all of the math right away, but it was engaging, mostly, at the very least.

While there are aspects of the book I enjoyed reading, there were also some I did not like.

First of all, I found Mark Watney to be annoying. Granted, he is the first fictional person to get stuck on Mars and survive (that I’m aware of), but the book could have done without all of the “yays!” and “boos!”

It sounded like the diary entries from my best friend’s sixth-grade notebook that she read one time. Those were pretty funny, but granted, I am biased. She is my best friend, after all, and Mark Watney, is, well,…not. I’m glad Mark isn’t my friend. He’d probably make me groan internally too much if I had to be around him for a long time.

In the first few chapters of the novel, Watney says a couple of times that he thinks he might die.

It would have made for a much smoother read if he had, but then this story wouldn’t be a novel, would it? It would be a super-short story, a bearable one, even, instead of a drawn-out, dragged-around novel. 

Additionally, I just could not get into Weir’s writing style. It felt rushed and bumbled.

I do give him credit for trying to write a novel and getting published, though. 

I’m not a professional writer, I’m just some college lass who’s not an English major with a blog on the internet. But even though this is the case, I still feel as though I can give this piece of criticism.

One does not need to be a baker to know when a cake is bad, after all.

Especially me. I don’t bake, but my sisters do, and now, I’ve been spoiled with delightfully-decorated, delicious cakes. I’ll never be able to eat a store-bought cake the same way again. It’s such a dilemma. I’ve found myself in quite a predicament. I suppose it’s a good one to be in, though.

Tangent aside, here was my first thought about the writing style.

“I don’t know if I’ll like this,” I thought to myself.

After a while, that “I don’t know” changed to “I know I don’t.”

And it isn’t even that long – it’s only three hundred and sixty nine pages. This was a long read, though – it took me around three-and-a-half weeks to get through, which was longer than I was expecting. Most of the time, I read books in a shorter timespan. I wouldn’t have finished this if it weren’t for English class. Sorry, Professor.

I originally rated this book a three out of five stars, but then, that felt too generous, so I bumped it down to a two, and then a three again once I got past chapter 16.

If it takes me almost more than the halfway point of a book to enjoy it, it gets an automatic three.

Thankfully, I’m not the only person who didn’t enjoy this. There are some reviews with similar star ratings out there, which I suggest you check out. 

Some of these people perfectly put into words what I wanted to express but couldn’t. Some of them were especially funny, like this one: “I started reading it but the log entries, written in a style similar to facebook status updates, were obnoxious and distracting and I put the book down. I was convinced Watney’s fellow crew found him obnoxious as well and abandoned him on Mars.”

This person was lucky – at least s/he could afford to put the book down. I could not, because if I did, I’d lose my precious “A” in the class, and then I’d be really bummed, almost as bummed as Mark when he realizes he’s been abandoned by his crewmates in the beginning.

So, for all the people who disliked this book, just like I did, thank you for sharing. I very much appreciate it.

Andy Weir does have two other recent science fiction books out, titled “Artemis” and “Project Hail Mary”, respectively.

Will I pick them up? Maybe I should, maybe I’ll like them. There’s also a chance that I won’t. If I do, I’ll definitely keep all of you updated. Let me know what you think in the comments – maybe we can even start a lively debate.

Note: This article was originally posted to an older version of the site in October 2021.

There are various types of teaching methods and approaches that are used in classrooms, both online and in-person.

One such method is called CLIL, or Content and Language Integrated Learning, a teaching method that brings together two subjects so that a student could learn a foreign language, such as English, for example. If a student likes literature, s/he could study literature in English and explore an interest while increasing fluency at the same time using CLIL.

BridgeUniverse recently hosted a webinar to discuss the topic in-depth.

The panelists were Erin Hernandez, Owner of Selnate International School, Leticia Moraes, Partner, Troika, an educational start-up, and Anna Hearrell, Product Manager, Bridge Education group.

Anna and Leticia both have experience using CLIL, and shared valuable, straightforward advice with the audience.

While very useful in the right situation, CLIL can sometimes be difficult to understand or implement, especially as you’re beginning to become familiar with it. This is because the modality is very academic-based. There are lots of textbooks about it, and while this makes for good reading, it’s hard to directly translate this into a tangible course of action for the classroom.

As with any other teaching method, CLIL requires adaptability.

It is, however, praised for its ability to address language conflicts, communication, competence, and confidence when used effectively.

CLIL is “treasured” as an instruction method, as it offers lots of support for the learner. It’s a helpful way to switch things up in bilingual teaching methods, which can be done in many ways.

Language for learning, language through learning, and language of learning are all emphasized through CLIL. The method also emphasizes Bloom’s Taxonomy, a hierarchy which places importance on creating, evaluating, and analyzing on the student’s part.

In a poll titled “Rate your awareness of CLIL”, attendees gave the following answers: 32% – “I think I saw that somewhere…”, 26% – “Familiar with it”, 17% – “uh, what?”, 16% – “I can tell you about it, but I’m not engaged in it”, and 9% – “I’m doing it right now.”

Attendees were also asked “Which method of bilingual education are you most familiar with?” 49% answered “Content-based instruction”, 17% answered “Full English Immersion (FMI)”, 13% answered CLIL, 11% answered “Other”, and 9% answered “Dual-Immersion”.

There are 5 C’s of CLIL, and each of them involve aspects that are important to be aware of as a teacher, even if you don’t use CLIL as your main instruction method. They are Content, Communication, Cognition (mental involvement), Competence, and Culture.

CLIL can be used with learners of any age, however, the content used in classes must match up with the student’s language level.

Brazil commonly uses CLIL in the primary school and lower secondary school levels, and Europe has been a CLIL leader for the past 3-5 years.

To create an effective CLIL lesson plan, you’ll want to have both content and language objectives, input from your student, and activities that allow students to organize and interact with content.

If you’re wondering what makes this different from immersion, the answer is that CLIL gives students more room for developing fluency in different aspects of general English and connection to their native languages. Switching between languages is important in CLIL, whereas an immersion environment has a goal of helping students speak English as much as possible.

I’m curious to hear what you think about CLIL. Do you use it yourself, or has a teacher ever used it with you? What do you think about it? I can’t wait to read in the comments!

Note: This article was originally osted to an earlier version of the site in October 2021.

Last week, my college hosted a webinar titled “Your ESL Students and You” to help staff members understand how to assist their ESL students.

I, of course, knew I had to attend because of my interest in ESL teaching. I don’t work at the college, though I do teach ESL online, and figured this would be a relevant and informative discussion to attend.

It was very informative, indeed.

The first point of discussion was about how students navigate a class that they’re unprepared for. Inadequate preparation could result in students copying and pasting just to get an assignment done if they don’t understand how to do it. Or, they could end up completing it incorrectly, leading to more frustration.

The college, to the frustration of the ESL department, no longer has an official ESL center. If a student needs tutoring, s/he could still receive tutoring from the English tutoring center. This, however, is not quite the same as receiving tutoring from a dedicated ESL center with specifically qualified ESL tutors.

Some students do not want to take ESL classes for varying reasons. Some want to save money, others time by hoping to transfer faster if less courses are taken. Some students lack immersion opportunities; for example, a student may live with a roommate who speaks their native language, making their only chance to practice in the classroom. In order to learn a language effectively, however, a language needs to be practiced in and outside of the classroom.

Professors also have the chance to refer students to the ESL department. Here, students have the chance to take credit as well as non-credit courses.

An interesting assessment method is used by the department: students are shown writing samples that represent five levels of proficiency, and the student must pick which level resembles his/her writing or writing level the most.

If a professor notices a student is starting to fall through the cracks, s/he could do several different things to help. (I consider these tips helpful, even if you’re not an ESL teacher specifically.)

Tip one is to scaffold, or to provide extra support and new information to help students learn in newer ways. A great time to do this would be during office hours, for example.

Other things that are helpful include writing on the whiteboard, speaking slowly, using signposts, or using key details to explain to students what they should be learning in a lesson. An example of a signpost would be “the first difference is”.

Giving students rubrics for grading and language components also gives them a chance to know what your expectations are in a clear way. Having understanding for ESL students is important also, as they may be used to writing in a different way depending on their native language/s or culture.

The panel also offered a “don’t” list of things to not do.

Don’t feel like you have to teach English learners the language points they need to know. This is what the ESL department is for. Don’t assume that they automatically understand everything you say, either. Check in and have students participate in class, instead of letting them sit in the back of the classroom.

Last, but certainly not least, do not just give students a passing grade because you feel sorry for them. This is only going to set them up for failure later on, which is certainly what nobody wants.

If you’re a teacher, I hope some of these tips have helped you, as they’ve definitely helped me.

Keep teaching, keep learning, and keep reading, my dear viewers. How do you teach? Do you have any other ideas you’d like to add? Leave a comment, I can’t wait to see what you write!

Note: This article was posted to an earlier version of the site in October 2021.

As teachers, helping students realize, understand, and grow from their mistakes is very important. When I saw that BridgeUniverse would be hosting a webinar titled “Oops, They Did It Again! Error Detection and Correction Strategies for the ESL Classroom,” I most definitely geeked out and knew I had to attend. Put simply, the title is about helping students understand and learn from the mistakes they make in the online English classroom.

The panel included speakers Erin Hernandez, owner of Selnate International School, Natasha Isadora, instructor at DEA Canadian College, a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) school, and Rachel Story, teacher and owner of Grateful Gypsies, a blog about lifestyle, teaching, and travelling.

The panelists discussed many helpful tips, and shared useful information that online English teachers will find very helpful for their own instruction.

One example is the difference between a mistake and an error. The biggest difference between a mistake and an error is that a mistake can be corrected by the student themselves, as they will have the language skills and competence to do so. If a student makes an error, they won’t know when to self-correct, because they won’t have the proficiency to do so. Mistakes happen when students forget, errors happen when students haven’t learned what they needed to, and then they don’t know what’s right or not right.

To break things down further, there are two kinds of errors teachers should be aware of: global and local. A global error is usually incomprehensible and interferes with communication, while a local error is usually self-comprehensible to the student and doesn’t interfere with communication.

An example of a global error would be “well, it’s a great hurry around.” (Brown, 2000).

An example of a local error would be “yesterday, I go to the park.” (Brown, 2000).

While correcting students’ mistakes is important to their success, the student shouldn’t start to over-rely on their teacher for corrections. Eventually, a student should be able to listen to themselves and correct their own mistakes, assuming their level of understanding is high enough.

It’s important to keep in mind that while correcting a student’s mistake is one way of helping them in the classroom, corrections need to be executed in a helpful way. You want your student’s affective filter to be as low as possible. This means that you want your student to feel safe and supported during class so they can effectively participate and learn.

Patience is a must while teaching in general, even more so for online teaching. If a student is experiencing fossilization, meaning they have a hard time unlearning a mistake they keep making, it’s important to take the appropriate steps to help them learn new language points.

The panel mentioned different strategies to try for error correction: you could ask your students about how they would like to be corrected, check in with them, don’t interrupt students, try different strategies, take notes, target repeated errors in a separate lesson, focus on errors that cause the most confusion, elicit correct responses for a large imprint on students’ memories, and highlight student wins as well as errors.

A helpful table listing immediate correction tips was shared, which I’ll include below.

Going forward, I now feel more confident in my ability to correct students’ errors while teaching, and if you’re a teacher reading this, I hope that you will, too.

Note: This article was originally posted to an earlier version of the site in October 2021.

Last week, BridgeUniverse, a company that shares resources for English Language Teachers, hosted a webinar to discuss the lessons that online English teachers have learned from the pandemic. Participants from Mongolia to Colombia and everywhere in between showed up to ask questions and share their thoughts.

The panel included Dr. Gabriel Diaz Maggioli, president of IATEFL, Rosa Aronson, Interim Executive Director of TESOL International Association, Gabriela Kleckova, TESOL International Association President, and Jon Burton, Chief Executive for IATEFL.

IATEFL and TESOL stand for International Association for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, or Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, respectively.

The panelists brought fruitful insights to the discussion.

Notably, teachers who have been innovative and translated the principals of in-person instruction to online instruction have seen promising results.

Working in the online English Language Teaching industry requires teachers to be innovative and flexible, and having creativity as both a skill and mindset is important to success, in my opinion. As a teacher, you have to be willing to learn twice by learning with your students, and to be “a student of teaching”, as one panelist noted.

Due to the rapid nature of change in this industry, before and during the pandemic, teachers find themselves in a unique situation, one that could be greatly benefitted from more research and case studies. As the profession pivots and rebuilds itself, the professionals involved will inevitably experience a lot of growth.

The ELT industry has undergone many changes due to the pandemic, and more recently, China’s new regulations that have sent shockwaves throughout the field.

One participant shared her frustrations about the per-hour pay rate, which has negatively affected many teachers. The amount that teachers charge on average per lesson has gone down due to different factors: some students aren’t able to afford higher-priced lessons, some companies have changed policies, and the nature of the ELT field is already competitive. This means that many teachers have been financially stressed; some have had to look for other jobs during the pandemic as their livelihoods crumbled.

Teaching English online is a “challenging yet rewarding” profession, one panelist shared. This is because we don’t get all the respect and pay that we as teachers want, however, the opportunities for creativity and flexibility make this work feel very refreshing.

Measuring quality of instruction and student progress is now more important than ever, especially now that online English teaching and online teaching in general have become more prevalent in the lives of students.

It’s even easier for quality and progress measurement to slip through the cracks during online teaching, which is why accountability and helpful support systems are both necessary.

“As educators, the service we provide is a better life,” one panelist shared.

The diversity of the ELT industry is one particular aspect that makes working in it so much fun. Meeting many people from all over the world is a very engaging experience, one that opens your eyes and helps you learn many new things.

But there’s one area that has left some ELT professionals with one question: why are native English speakers preferred over non-native English speakers who are still highly qualified, if not more qualified than some native speakers? (Some people also prefer to say “multi-lingual” instead of “non-native.”) With so much diversity and strength in the profession, why do we continue to have this collective problem?

While the past year-and-a-half hasn’t been easy, it’s good to try to remember the strengths we have shown as a collective community of educators and change-makers.

Dr. Gabriel Diaz Maggioli shared an important sentiment that all of us could benefit from taking to heart: “The pandemic has to be told in two stories: stories of resilience and stories of hope.”

(Note: The original version of this article was posted to an earlier version of the site in September 2021.)

When thousands of online ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers teaching for Chinese companies that cater and market lessons to children lost their jobs – in some cases, overnight due to China’s newest restrictions for online private tutoring to children, the online English teaching industry as a whole was quickly (and still is) devastated. There are other platforms in countries all around the world that hire online English teachers, but China’s market has been remarkably huge in this space – it’s worth billions of dollars (different sources will give you different numbers, but it’s still a vast amount,) which is why the effects have been so profoundly felt.

The effects aren’t just financial, they’re emotional as well – many teachers have become attached to teaching their students and watching them make progress over time. For some, it’s been a hard goodbye to make, if they’ve even been able to say one. I don’t specifically market myself as an EFL teacher to children, but I have taught some, and I’ve always found it to be extra rewarding in its own way. I can’t imagine how some of my fellow teachers feel knowing that they won’t see some of their students again. Even though these kids aren’t my children, I feel like in a way, they still are: I want what’s best for them and I enjoy watching them thrive and grow, even if that growth isn’t always specifically about English grammar or pronunciation. For some teachers, not having a chance to say goodbye is probably the hardest part. Many parents have also felt a sense of disconnection after finding out their child’s teacher may not be their teacher again.

Children in China will no longer be allowed to have private English lessons online from for-profit companies outside of school hours from foreign teachers outside of China. As of right now, adults will still be allowed to take private online English lessons, and according to this article on the BridgeUniverse blog, a foreign teacher may still teach children while living abroad in China, as long as they also meet other requirements, such as having necessary experience and having a valid work visa, to name 2 examples. 

Teachers have been scrambling to find new jobs, parents have been trying to find new ways to get tutoring for their children, and online English tutoring companies in China are trying to pivot. VIPKID, one of the most popular online platforms offering English classes to children, is now offering classes to adults as a way to still get some business and not shut down.

VIPKID has offered the following statement to onlineenglishteaching.com: “”First and foremost, let us be clear that we are confident that VIPKid’s business will remain operational. The business, however, will look different than it has to date.”

Magic Ears, another giant teaching company, issued this statement about the state of the company and ESL industry as a whole: “To be clear, the growth of the online ESL [English as a Second Language] industry is no longer being encouraged and it will not be permitted to expand,” the email said. “The new regulations set in place will restrict activity for all ESL companies based in China, it will shrink the industry and eventually it will be dissolved entirely. All companies, including Magic Ears, have downsized. We are now running on only a quarter of the staff that was initially supporting our students and teachers.”

All of this brings up two important questions: what’s next and how will this influence online English education in the future?

Bridge Education Group, an online education provider dedicated to offering high-quality TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certificates and credentials hosted 2 webinars that discussed this recent shift in China’s online Educational Technology industry. Attendees had the opportunity to share their concerns and opinions about this recent shift in the ESL world, ask questions to the panelists, and participate in live polls that opened up interesting discussions.

While this came as a shock to me, two of the panelists at the webinars said they had seen the writing on the wall for some time now. Other participants also responded saying the same thing.

In one poll, 53% of attendees said that they were surprised by the new regulations, while the remaining 47% at that time answered “No.”

One specific question that got brought up was “why did this happen?”

Different participants and panelists offered varying answers, some of which were that China wants to limit contact between foreign teachers and young students for political reasons, or that the online ESL industry in China had become poorly run and was due for an overhaul.

Many teachers were asked to do more work, parents had to pay lots of money for lessons, and the pressure on the young students wasn’t (and still isn’t) healthy at all. In a poll asking “do you agree that the sector needs more regulation of quality and price in China”, 59% of attendees said “Yes” and the remaining 41% at the time said “No.” As an online EFL teacher myself, I personally want all students, parents, and teachers to be in a fair and well-run education environment where learning and balance are prioritized, and in my opinion, the way online ESL schools have been run in China have not been prioritizing what is most needed for parents, students, or teachers. I, along with many others in the field, want this to change.

A poll was taken specifically asking “what do you think motivated this most” and the different results were slightly surprising, at least to me. At the time I wrote the poll numbers down, 42% of attendees said “distancing from Western culture”, 38% said “government exerting control over influential Chinese EdTech companies”, 11% said “reducing stress on “prospective” Chinese parents, 7% said “limiting study hours for Chinese children”, and 2% said “cracking down on illegal teachers.

Another suggestion that was made is that a “duo” or “double-reduction” policy is being enacted, which aims to give students less schoolwork and less spending for parents.

China’s official government website has listed these statements explaining the reduction on their website: “…focus on the healthy growth of students, protect students’ right to rest, improve the overall quality of school education and teaching, actively respond to social concerns and expectations, and reduce the burden on parents…”

“Work goals. The school’s education and teaching quality and service levels have been further improved, homework assignments have become more scientific and reasonable, the school’s after-school services have basically met the needs of students, student learning can better return to campus, and the training behavior of off-campus training institutions has been fully standardized. The burden of students’ excessive homework and off-campus training, family education expenditure and the corresponding energy burden of parents was effectively reduced within one year, and the results were significant within three years, and the education satisfaction of the people was significantly improved.”

“Reduce the total amount and duration of homework in an all-round way, and reduce the burden of heavy homework on students.”

“Individual students who are unable to complete written assignments after hard work should also go to bed on time.”

Hopefully what’s written above will go into practice effectively and students will have more time to have healthy, balanced schedules.

“How long do you expect the situation toward closing all private English instruction to remain in place” was met with varying answers: 72% of participants said “Medium term (between one and five years)”, 16% said “Long term (over five years)”, and 12% said “Short term (less than a year)”.

I’m personally expecting this situation to last at least several years as adjustments are made by everyone involved.

In terms of what’s next and how this will influence the online ESL/EFL industry as a whole, I’m expecting to see a noticeable increase in teachers moving to teach for platforms that aren’t based in China.

There is an extremely comprehensive and thorough list of online English teaching companies on Good Air Language that has been recently updated. Online English Teaching also has a very helpful list on their website.

Some teachers who have taught privately to children online have reported “black market” or “back-door” requests from parents to tutor their children through apps such as WeChat, where payments and video calls can be sent and received. Tencent, the company that owns WeChat, will have to make sure that no teaching is conducted this way in order to comply with China’s new laws, though some teachers speculate that this activity could be carried out elsewhere, therefore making it harder for the government to regulate.

“Others joked that teachers would now have to offer their services in the black market, like criminals. One tutor on the forum wrote that one of her teenage students called her a “gangster,” and told her that private tutors, similar to those engaged in organized crime, should be outlawed,” according to this article on Quartz explaining the situation. 

The fact that one student called his/her teacher a “gangster” is a telling sign that this new set of laws probably won’t be going away anytime soon, though it is possible that anything can happen. Teachers shouldn’t be treated as criminals, they should be treated with respect for the work they do. 

This change should have been communicated long before it recently happened. The fact that teachers got pretty much zero notice and woke up to find out they’d lost their jobs that morning or would be losing them very soon is like a punch in the gut to the people who already work so hard to help others every day.

As the saying goes, “the only constant in life is change.” This has been a massive change that has been felt by everyone in the online English teaching industry, and I hope all of us can stick together, support each other, and find more opportunities that will allow us to move forward in our careers. While this has been hard for many teachers around the world, I’m hoping there’s light at the end of the tunnels that many teachers find themselves looking at, and I’m hoping this will continue to spark important discussions about the EdTech industry in the future to ensure that teachers’ voices and concerns are continuously heard and listened to. It will definitely be interesting to see how this will continue to play out in the future.