Education in America and in China

As a Fulbright scholar at Yale, I wanted very much to get some individual help from some famous professors, but their office-hours were only once a week and there were always students waiting outside. At first, I was too polite to get their help. Then I realized that Chinese politeness didn't work in this society. I needed to be aggressive to get what I wanted. I also noticed that Chinese students or Asian students were very polite in class while American students often interrupted the professor, asking questions and dominated the discussion. The Chinese students were not as aggressive as American students.

I was impressed by the role of the professor in the seminar. The professor didn't act as an authority, giving final conclusions, but as a researcher looking for answers to questions together with the students. One linguistic feature of his interacting with his students was that he used many modal verbs—far more than I did in Beiwai. When answering questions, he usually said: "This is my personal opinion and it could be wrong. It would be a good idea if you could read the book I mentioned the other day." Or, "You may find the book I recommended helpful." Or,"You could be right, but you might find this point of view also interesting." When making comments on students' performances, the professor usually said: "There might have been greater clarity if you had incorporated some of the ideas we discussed earlier this semester."

In China, authorities are always supposed to give wise decisions and correct directions. Therefore students always expect the professor to give an answer to the question. I still remember how frustrated they were when foreign teachers did not provide such an answer. Their expectations from authorities are much higher than those of American students. Once the Chinese students got the answer, they were sure about it. That is why they make far more assertions than American students. That is why Chinese students find it difficult to use modal verbs because the function of modal verbs is to provide room for negotiation and different ideas.