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Personal Statement

 Applied Program: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

In November 2003, having completed the first three years of my undergraduate program at XX Normal University, I transferred to the XX College in XX to continue my study in the specialty of Business Administration. Prior to my arrival in XX, in order to prepare for an English-speaking academic environment, I had been attending an oral English class at XX University taught by an Italian and by the end of the training I presumed that I had achieved considerable proficiency in English communication. However, the first week I attended the classes at XX College, I found myself almost “deaf and mute”— I experienced not so much of a cultural shock as a language shock. I was so discouraged that I wanted to flee back to China. In the following week, I kept watching HBO in my last attempt to get out of my language dilemma. I cried during those parts that I could not understand and with teas in my eyes I continued watching, in frustration and in hope. When I attended ELC (ENGLISH LANGUAGE CENTER) in the third week, my instructor commented in surprise that I must have had considerable training in China and were sufficiently prepared! Only I knew the underlying answer— perseverance in tears.

This painful experience marked a turning point in my English language acquisition. Once the initial language barriers were dismantled, I gradually adapted myself to the English-speaking environment. I picked up bits and pieces of native English language from my instructors, from my classmates, from the campus environment, from TV, and, most importantly, from the American culture. Now, I am very proud to report that except for B+ in one course, I achieved straight A’s in all the other courses and, among many important factors, my rapid improvement in English has played an indispensable role.

Compared with my peers who are still in China, I have enjoyed many unique privileges in learning English. In coming to the United States, I have plunged myself into a native English-speaking environment and my language acquisition has happened on levels far beyond language itself. It has involved basic cognitive process, to be sure,  but emotive and cultural factors have also been at work, and perhaps playing a prevailing impact. In building up my language competence, I have also been assimilating the mode of thinking and the way of life represented by the language of American English. In cutting across two cultures in my language learning, I feel that there are certain forces, and sometimes mysterious forces, that govern the effect of language learning. How to unravel those forces and translate my experience of language learning into universal paradigms for English learners in China have become two intriguing issues for me right now, at this crucial stage of my intellectual development.

My continuous pondering over those issues makes me determined to pursue a TESOL program, a subject of study that promises to answer the questions that I am interested in. Because those questions ensue from my own experience and I believe they are very vital, I am willing to relinquish my specialization in business administration and switch to a field which in many important aspects overlaps with my past educational background. It is those overlappings that convinces me that I am a worthy candidate for your program.

My first three years of undergraduate program at XX Normal University in China did allow me to acquire specialized knowledge in business administration (concentrating on management). Nevertheless, as a normal university, it required all students to be trained in the profession of teaching. As a result, I did extensive coursework in many instruction-related subjects like Public Education, Teaching Methodology, General Psychology, Calligraphy, etc. I was exposed to the basic principles of teaching and the factors involved in an effective teaching-learning process. This has ensured a solid pedagogical foundation for me to take up an academic program and a career in education.

My study at XX College over the past one year has ended up in complete success, my GPA being 3.875. Apart from typical courses in business administration like Operation Management and Strategic Management, I have taken English Composition and Intercultural Communication, both of which are crucial in a TESOL program. Most importantly, my coursework required me to do quite a lot of presentation and I learned how to organize group activities on such occasions. This ability to organize a learning and/or teaching event will also be essential.

A point that I deem of paramount importance is the degree of participation in learning process. This is a lesson that I drew from the Contemporary American History course I did at XX. When I found that I only achieved a B+, I went to argue with my instructor who told me that I did fairly well in the exam and the thesis, but I failed to be fully involved in group project. This could be attributed to the lingering influence of my Chinese education which emphasized passive reception of knowledge instead of active questioning of accepted ideas. I believe that active participation is of special significance in English learning, and I will pay special attention to the issue of how to exercise students’ initiative in their English learning activities.

I am well motivated toward a TESOL program because, as China becomes increasingly receptive to western culture and education, English language becomes the most influential media. Beijing’s hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games has already ignited the “English Learning Craze” across the country. However, coming from the Chinese background myself, I know that most English teaching and learning activities are deprived of an intercultural context, thus resulting in many “deaf & mute cases” of Chinese learners, who might be very proficient in reading. An integrated and culture-oriented approach of English teaching might be the best solution.

I would like to pursue a TESOL program at the XX Graduate School of Education, which is one of the best graduate schools of education in the United States, ranked #6 by U.S. News and World Report in their 2004 Guide to the Best Graduate Schools. Your program focuses on both the practical and theoretical aspects of the field. Classroom oriented, it has a strong emphasis on intercultural communication and the interaction of language learning and use. Your curriculum design is closely geared to a number of issues that I myself am interested in exploring as both as an English learner and a potential English instructor.

Another important qualification I have acquired for a TESOL program is my management knowledge and skills. After completing my TESOL program, I intend to go back to China to set up an English training organization to offer training programs to the eager learners in China. In my future career, I will be able to apply both educational and administrative expertise, a perfect combination of the knowledge across two fields. Being well-motivated and soundly qualified, I am convinced that a TESOL program is most appropriate for me at this very stage of my academic development.