NANJINGNOW

Two weeks ago, the topic of racist hiring practices by certain English schools in Nanjing was explored and heavily commented on by NanjingNow readers. Feeling that this article was received too well to simply let sit, today this writer would like to explore one aspect of this situation that was not adequately looked into: the impact that these hiring practices actually have on Chinese students. All things considered, they are the ones who are hurt most by this, and all because of some companies’ marketing techniques.

Recently, several foreign teachers at different institutions in Nanjing asked their students, mostly aged between 19 and 25, about this topic. Overwhelmingly, the response was that the ethnicity of the teacher does not matter, as long as they can effectively speak and teach English. This admittedly anecdotal evidence flies directly in the face of many comments posted in lieu of the previous article, some of which stated that many Chinese people only cared about the color of the face that was teaching them, not about the content of what is being taught. However, if one only pays attention to this then there is still a large part of the picture that is being missed.

Chinese society has changed drastically in the past ten years. The attitudes of young people and their elders have drifted apart so much in some areas as to be polar opposites. Therefore, just because a group of young people say that they are open to being taught by any race or ethnicity of English teacher, this outlook will almost certainly not be shared by their parents. Older Chinese people may not be racist, but they certainly do not have the level of foreign exposure that their children do. Why this matters so much is simple; the vast majority of students have their educations paid for by their parents. Therefore, what daddy says, goes. This is probably what creates the questionable attitudes of many English schools; they are simply following the money.

So what is the effect of this money trail? Primarily, parents are getting their children into the very situation which they sought to avoid by finding a foreign teacher in the first place: more lessons in English which may not be standard. It is not this writer’s intent to state that Africans, Europeans, or South Americans speak bad English, as the opposite is often true. The point is that it is not native, and it may have an effect on the class. Accents are different from Americans and Brits, grammar may not be as familiar (even if it is still workable), and vocabularies may not be as large or complex. Simply put, it’s just not native. To knowingly subject students to this merely for the appearance of a good school is hypocritical. There is no other way to put it.

It can be said, however, that the more foreign exchange, the better. If Frenchmen and Germans and Russians can speak English, why not have them teach a spoken English class? Surely not many people would advocate entirely excluding all non-native speakers from teaching positions, since they can often communicate in English just as well as Americans, Brits, and Aussies. But with this in mind, it is even more absurd to turn down native English speakers based solely on ethnicity. It denies that overseas Chinese have any culture other than the one demonstrated by their race, and favors a teacher who just may be suitable over a teacher who certainly is. Most importantly, if a school is actually hiring based on English communication ability, then ethnicity or nationality should not even matter to begin with.

It might just be simpler if greater numbers of older Chinese people came to understand more about foreign culture. For instance, not all foreigners speak English as a native language. There are thousands and thousands of languages spoken by all varieties, heights, and colors of laowai. With this in mind, the best person to teach a French, German, Polish, Arabic, or Afrikaans class would naturally be a native speaker. An Arabic man born in France still speaks fluent French, just as an American born Chinese speaks fluent English. It seems, though, that the foreign community in Nanjing will have to wait a while for this level of cultural awareness.

All things considered, English teaching is a business and therefore needs to work for profit. However, that is no excuse for Steven Yan and those like him to hide behind while pursuing what are ultimately racist and ignorant hiring practices. Learning a language is about cross cultural understanding, and how are Chinese students supposed to learn effectively when subjected to arbitrary hiring decisions? The answer is; they can’t.