Why Chinese Immigrants Struggle with English Fluency

I recently came across an interesting article in the Toronto Star that I think many of you might enjoy.

 As you can see by the title, the article focuses on a problem that is probably not just limited to Canada, but likely exists in other English speaking countries such as the England, Ireland, Scotland, the United States. Australia, New Zealand and others.  

The article has generated a lot of interest and a lot of comments, so I am posting the complete article so that you can read the whole thing before I add some of my own comments in a separate post. 

I suggest that you read the entire article, the links it sends you to, AND as many of the comments as you can so that you can get an idea of what other people think. It might provide you with some insight into what native speakers expect from you 

Why Chinese Immigrants Struggle with English Fluency 

Nicholas Keung

The Star Immigration Reporter

59 Comments

   Mandarin-speaking Zhenyong Li, who came to Canada in 1998, said he 

finds small talk in English more difficult than his engineering jargon.

  Zhenyong Li has no trouble speaking English in his engineering jargon, but the Chinese immigrant says it can still be challenging to carry on small talk.

And yet, casual conversation with native speakers around the water cooler is crucial to language development — and social integration — for those whose mother tongue is something else, especially Mandarin.

A new study found the Mandarin-speaking immigrants it tracked had made “no significant progress” in their English accent, fluency and comprehensibility seven years after their arrival here, compared with their Slavic-language (Russian and Ukrainian) speaking counterparts.

The study by the Montreal-based Institute for Research on Public Policy followed 25 immigrants each from Mandarin and Slavic groups, and assessed their listening and speaking skills at years 1, 2 and 7.

“Mandarin-speakers over time did not get much easier to understand when native listeners heard them speak,” said University of Alberta educational psychology professor Tracey Derwing, who co-authored the study with NorQuest College language instructor Erin Waugh.

Make Little Progress 

“They made very little progress in their pronunciation and fluency. They still had many pauses and hesitation.”

Participants in the study — all possessing the same overall language proficiency, well-educated and with similar language training here — were shown pictures and asked to describe them in their own words, while being evaluated by 30 listeners to eliminate any bias or subjectivity.

Researchers also found the Mandarin speakers had had significantly fewer conversations of 10 minutes or more with native and non-native English speakers than did the Slavic participants.

The Mandarin speakers were, as a whole, more reluctant to initiate conversation and appeared to be less aware of current local events than the Slavic speakers.

The Slavic speakers, as a group, the report said, were more assertive and more deliberate in their effort to learn English. They also had an advantage because of interests shared with the larger community (ice hockey, for example), which helped with conversations.

Li, who came here from Shanghai in 1998, said Mainland Chinese learn their English from

textbooks through reading and writing, and have no opportunity to drill their listening and speaking skills outside the classroom.

“If you cannot listen or speak proper English, you feel discouraged to participate in a conversation because you are afraid others don’t understand you,” said Li, 52, who has a master’s degree in engineering  from the California Institute of Technology and is a manager of a Markham consulting firm.

The Chinese Professionals Association of Canada in Toronto has introduced several programs to address the language gap, which focus on pronunciation and “soft skills” in communication.

“It’s vital to be able to carry small talk,” said its president, Hugh Zhao, who moved here from Shenyang in 1989. “Small talk leads to common understanding and other big topics. It’s not enough just to talk about the weather in Canada.”

Zhao, a computing manager at the University of Toronto, said the Chinese language is very different from the English alphabet, and so are the cultures attached to those language.

Also, silence, which for the Chinese is a virtue reflecting humbleness, is not valued in the West, where people tend to appreciate participation and outspokenness.

Not Active in Class 

“(Mainland) Chinese students are not active in class because, if they understand it, they don’t want to show off. And if they do not understand something, they don’t want to ask and show their ignorance,” Zhao said.

“Sometimes, people are just afraid to make mistakes and decide not to speak. We have to learn not to be afraid to embarrass and humiliate ourselves.”

Derwing said English-language training for immigrants must focus more on listening, speaking and pronunciation skills, as well as the so-called soft skill of engaging in casual conversation.

“Communication is a two-way street. The burden of communication should not be on immigrants’ shoulders only,” she added. “Canadians should not just zone out or shut down when they hear somebody speak with an accent.”

 Here are three of the first comments on the article:  

Cold Hard Truth

"...... Ms. Derwing Tracey Derwing paints a pretty cold picture of Canadians with her closing comments, which border the gratuitous. Given that the average "Joe" doesn't understand the finer points of culture models and the significant differences between Canadian and Chinese cultures, I'd say the people responsible for teaching English to (albeit desiring) immigrants are doing pretty well. It's up to the immigrating parties (Chinese in this case) to adapt to the culture they've joined, screw up their courage, put their narcisism  to rest, and just open their mouths so they can learn while talking, just as we do when we're children and learning English as our first language. After all, the immigrants chose to come: the lion's share of the burden ought to be theirs. If they feel ill-done-by, they know where the nearest airport is.

Lingo Steve 

"  Not surprised. As someone who speaks 11 languages, including Mandarin, and knows many Mandarin speakers here in Vancouver, i would say the main reason Mandarin speaking immigrants don't do well in English is that they are not very interested. I have, however, met motivated Mandarin speakers, who chose to immerse themselves in the local scene, interact with locals etc. and they learned to speak very well. Poor success in language learning is almost always because of the attitude of the learner."  

Rex Saigon 

SFH makes a great point: too often the language spoken at these CPAC ( Chinese Professional Association of Canada) is MANDARIN!!    NON-CHINESE should be the ones looking at volunteering to lead informal discussion groups — strictly in English — for Mandarin speakers (or any others!) who TRULY want to learn OUR country's native tongue. Such classes might not be for absolute beginners, but those with a rudimentary understanding looking to enhance casual communication skills. Having fellow Mandarin-speakers teach such classes is theoretically fine, so long as those teaching are ABSOLUTELY FLUENT in English, something I find far more likely among Cantonese speakers than Mandarin speakers in Canada at this point in time. Perhaps classes led my people fully fluent (meaning NO accent) in English are already provided, but I have to wonder, especially considering the culture's tendency toward like leading like.

To read  some of the other 53 comments go to” http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1205277--why-chinese-immigrants-struggle-with-english-fluency

Let me know what YOU think AFTER you have read the article and some of the comments. 

Here are some of the questions I would love to get your answers to: 

1.   Do  YOU agree with the results of the study? Why or why not?

2.   Do you agree with the reasons given for the problem? Why or why not ?  

3.   What is your reaction to some of the comments to the story? Do you agree or 

      disagree with them?  Why or why not:? 

4    Are you surprised about some of the comments? 

4.   What are some possible solutions to this problem? 

5.   Is it necessary for Chinese speakers to take steps, or is it all their teachers' fault? 

6.   Canadians and Canadian employers clearly think "soft " skills are important. What 

     is your opinion? 

7.    Do YOU think these "soft skills" are important, or should employers hire you even 

       if you don't have them? 

10 Tips to Improve your Pronunciation

Many of you speak English well enough to get a good job, but are being left behind, and don't really understand why. 


Sometimes it is because you don't have "local experience,"  or aren't the "right fit." Other times it is because you make too many grammar mistakes such as using the wrong verb tense  when you speak. But often the problem is people simply can't understand you because of your poor pronunciation. 

The issue of accuracy versus fluency is a huge one in ESL, but I will talk about this in a different post. Today, I want to tips on how to improve your pronunciation.   

What We Expect From You     

No one in an English speaking country expects you to sound like a native speaker.  That would be both impossible and ridiculous in a multicultural country where so many people have accents.

What employers and others DO expect is  for you to speak clearly enough so that they can understand you without having to make a major effort. The issue here is not being able to pronounce things perfectly, but pronouncing your words and sentences clearly enough to be completely understood.  

Native Speakers too Polite  

One problem is that most native speakers  in Canada, the U.S. Britain,  or Australia  are too polite to tell you they can't understand you. They don't want to hurt your feelings, so they ignore the problem, and pretend to understand. 

As a teacher, I have found that even in a "safe" classroom environment students from different countries don't tell their own classmates that they don't understand them. This results in a lose lose situation for both parties. The listener doesn't find out what the speaker wants to say. The speaker doesn't realize that he or she has a pronunciation problem, and continues speaking just as badly.

Make the Effort 

Improving the way you speak is difficult, but unless you do so you will continue to find yourself missing out on opportunities that you are qualified for. 

Here are a few strategies that will help you to improve your pronunciation and other people's ability to understand you. 

Develop some awareness  

 If you want to improve, you need to be aware of what kind of problems you have.  Although some people have a good ear, most people need to focus on specific areas of their speech. Otherwise they will continue to have the same problems no matter how long they live in an English speaking country.  This means you need to analyze your specific pronunciation problems, and work on improving them by doing a lot of practice.

Open Your Mouth  
  
Open and move your mouth when you speak. Show your teeth. Let your tongue both your teeth and the roof of your mouth. 

Many Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, German and Russian speakers don't open their mouth when they speak English.  This makes them sound like they are mumbling and makes their English very unclear. from countries where you do not need to open your mouth very wide to make sounds, or to speak clearly. However, English has many open sounds. Opening and moving your mouth can make a HUGE difference in your pronunciation. 


Click here  and watch Barak Obama speaking. He has excellent clear speech and pronunciation. Notice the way he opens his mouth when he speaks. You can even see his tongue.


How much do YOU open YOUR mouth?  Analyze yourself in a mirror. Then, decide to officially start opening and using your mouth much more. Watch as many native speakers as you can. Imitate them.

Slow Down 

Don't speak too fast. Many  English learners think they need to speak quickly in order to sound fluent.  This  is not true. Fluency is about how comfortably you can speak  English, not how fast.  

If you speak English too fast, you are likely to eat many of your syllables, as well as use the wrong stress and intonation. This makes it very difficult for people to understand you.  These days many young people speak too fast, but that does not mean you should imitate them. Even native speakers have trouble understanding them.  Instead, remember that  effective speakers  don't speak quickly. They pause and put a LOT of stress on their syllables. 


Also, try to speak up loudly enough to be clearly heard.  Help your listeners to absorb what you are saying, instead of struggling to understand. If you have problems controlling your speed, try  to 

• pause more, especially between phrases and sentences.
• use more stress to highlight the key words in your message 
• use gestures to help slow you down.    

Focus on stress and intonation  

Word and sentence stress are important in English. In fact, it is more likely  for someone to misunderstand you because of wrong word or sentence stress than because you are pronouncing a word incorrectly. 

Unlike other languages that stress every syllable equally, every English word has its own stress and intonation. As well, although many languages stress each word in a sentence, in English we only stress  "information" words such as nouns and verbs. All the little words  like pronouns, articles, adjectives and adverbs become shortened, and can sound completely different .

LISTEN to English speakers and focus on the way they STRESS syllables and words in sentences. Pay attention to the way their voice goes UP and DOWN. The rise and fall of our voice makes our speech clear and easy to understand. So, instead of just listening to WHAT people are saying, listen to HOW they are saying it. Try to imitate them, and put a lot of your effort on working on stress and intonation.


Work on difficult sounds 


Make a list of words that you find it hard to pronounce. Analyze which specific sounds are making these words difficult. Don't worry too much about sounds like "th", and r or l. Do, however focus on all your vowels, word endings and consonants that often get confused such as P and D, or K and H.


Learn the phonetic alphabet


Become familiar with the phonetic symbols or International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in your dictionary. Keep it handy so that you can understand what new words should sound like when you use your dictionary.

      Use a Mirror to Practice

   The shape of your mouth and the position  of your lips, teeth   and tongue are very  important in learning how to pronounce words and sounds correctly in English.  To find out what the correct mouth and shape looks like go to Rachelsenglish.com . When you practice, sit in front of a mirror top see if you are making the right shape correctly. Then watch to see if you are moving in the right way.  When you feel you've got it right, practice making the sound at least 20 times. You will feel silly, but it is the only way to improve.

Record yourself 


Most people don't like listening to the sound of their own voice but recording your speech is an excellent way of learning about your trouble spots, not only with specific sounds and words, but with stress, rhythm and intonation. Once you hear the parts that are incorrect or unclear, you can start working on improving them. You may find this uncomfortable at first, but you can't improve unless you know where to start.  
Keep working with a recorder. This could be your cell phone or any other device including your computer, but don't give up just because you don't like the sound. Focus on practicing and improving. Keep the old recordings so that you can compare and listen to your own improvement.


Imitate Native Speakers  


A parrot is a bird that copies the words of humans. It learns to imitate human sounds by repeating the sounds or phrases over and over. This is an excellent way for you to practice rhythm and stress. When you are listening to the news, watching a short video, or listening to a reading or a story on the radio or the computer, try to copy the exact rhythm of the speaker as he or she speaks. Does the voice go up and down? Does it sound happy, angry, surprised or sarcastic? Is it asking a YES NO or an information question or making a statement.  Copying native speakers will help you sound more natural and doing this a lot will make the process faster.

Listen to music and sing along

 In my previous post I discussed the benefits of English music and songs.  Listening to the singers helps you with the rhythm and stress of the language. Listening again and marking the areas where the singer pauses, goes up and down or stresses specific words and syllables can  also help you - especially if you then  sing along several times.  These days thee are also many karaoke sites that put the words on the screen along with the correct rhythm.   Many singers whose first language is not English have recorded English songs and sounded wonderful. Try the Music Page to listen to some of these international singers. 

Practice Practice Practice 

Practice as often as you can every day. Take a pronunciation class and practice outside of class. Focus on your own trouble spots. Find one or two pronunciation websites or programs online and use them regularly. There are many listed in the links on the right. You  can also go to the PRONUNCIATION page. 

DON'T jump around from exercise to exercise. Focus on one problem at a time and really work at it.  Develop a daily routine with a series of exercises. Then do some special activities such as shadow reading and listen and repeat when you have more time. Record yourself often. 

You can definitely improve your pronunciation if you want to, but you MUST do the work.. There is no magic. Only practice will  help you improve, so be patient with yourself. Don't expect miracles. Expect gradual improvement and accept that it will come if you try.

Here are two short sets of pronunciation exercises that you can every day to help yourself. At least it will force you to open your mouth - THE single most important thing you can do to speak English more clearly. 



Daily Pronunciation Exercise from John Keith Communications  

Daily Pronunciation Exercise from Many Things  

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