北外老师介绍的英语阅读佳篇To Ask or Not to Ask

To Ask or Not to Ask, That Is the Question!1“Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” This joke is frequently directed against members of the teaching profession. It’s not a very kind comment–but jokes are seldom friendly! It’s probably not intended (usually) to be interpreted literally, however; the speaker is, very likely, making a rather tongue-in-cheek1 comment about the profession, in much the same way that cutting comments are often made about bank managers, lawyers, car salesmen and the like!2At least, such unkind comments are fairly commonplace in many countries of the English-speaking world; we teachers are fair game2 in the eyes of the general public. We’re fair game too, very often, in the eyes of our students when we teach in schools, colleges or universities in The United Kingdom, The United States, and other countries where English is the first language of the majority of the population. Students and school children frequently behave very disrespectfully towards their teachers in secondary schools; sometimes this disrespect escalates into verbal abuse or even, in extreme cases, physical violence. Some parents even behave in the same way, and support the non-cooperative, sometimes even offensive, behaviour of their offspring towards teachers.3This type of disrespectful behaviour towards teachers–and, indeed, towards other members of society such as police officers, shopkeepers and the elderly–is a relatively recent phenomenon. Certainly, respect for “figures of authority”as well as for fellow citizens, used to be the norm rather than the exception just a few years ago in my own country, but in recent years it seems that selfish behaviour and arrogant disregard for the rights and the well-being of others is of little or no concern to a sizable number of people who live in the English-speaking world. Fortunately it’s not a case of disrespect and disregard being now the norm, but it does appear nowadays to be less of an exception.4What about in countries such as this one, where English is not the first language? Have patterns of behaviour changed over the past few years in these countries? Have traditional values been adapted to meet the conditions and challenges of the late twentieth and the just-beginning twenty-first centuries? Have some of these traditional values been eroded3, even? Are they perhaps seen now as irrelevant?5Here in China, for example, to the outside observer it probably appears that the fundamentals of Chinese behaviour have not changed significantly over the past two or three decades, despite the changes that are clearly visible in the outward appearance of towns and cities in China as a result of massive building and infrastructure projects. Certainly the outside observer who is not Chinese would not be able to detect subtleties of change in, for example, traditional courtesies and forms of respect exhibited between people in their day-to-day exchanges: few foreigners would understand the full significance of such courtesies in the first place, so subtle changes would not even be noticed, let alone understood. But Chinese people themselves would, presumably, be acutely aware of any such changes. Certainly the older generation–the grandfathers and grandmothers–would both notice and understand if the underlying and essential nature and character of today’s youngsters were radically changed.1tongue-in-cheek: intended to be humorous and not meant seriously2 fair game: if someone or something is fair game, it is acceptable, reasonable, or right to criticize them3 erode: to gradually reduce the strength or importance of something, or to be gradually reduced in this way6It is precisely the character of the younger generation that I wish to discuss here–not the lifestyle or the standard of living or the career prospects. And, more specifically, it is the way that the younger generation behaves towards teachers and figures of authority in general that is of particular concern. Even more specifically, it is the post-schooling young people that we are thinking about; those smart enough and fortunate enough to be able to experience the life of university undergraduates; in short, yourselves. How do these people behave towards their teachers and tutors, their lecturers and their academic supervisors? Is there a “general pattern” of behaviour that can be observed and commented on? Do most undergraduates behave in more or less the same way towards those who teach them? And, if the answer to this question is “yes”, or even “probably yes”, is it possible to identify specific features of such behaviour?7No one can answer the above question with complete certainty, of course. “Behaviour” can only be described, not measured in the way that distance, weight, levels of radiation etc. can be measured. But it’s possible that many experienced teachers would answer that there are, indeed, very similar patterns of behaviour clearly shared by very large numbers of undergraduates. Most teachers in China, for example, would tend to agree that one identifiable feature of undergraduates is the respect shown, at least outwardly, by the students to their mentors4. This, we can safely assume, is welcomed by the teachers. It is possible that the outward display of respect conceals a less than respectful inner attitude towards individual teachers or aspects of the education system in general. Let us assume, however, that this is not the case and that the students’ outward behaviour and inner thoughts run parallel. This seems to be an ideal situation for genuine learning to take place, especially when we compare it to the situation of the Western counterparts who are not always so certain of being shown this level of respect.8However, it is now necessary to ask ourselves some rather thought-provoking questions, based on the above, perhaps imprecise, delineation5 of possible differences between different types of attitudes and behaviour exhibited by different groups of undergraduate students. The most fundamental question that might be asked is, “Is respect, in fact, always a virtue?”. Should we respect a teacher’s views to the point of never questioning them, even though we feel strongly–or perhaps can even produce evidence–that the teaching is based on erroneous6 interpretations or information? Can we assume that a teacher is always correct? Let us not forget that teachers and scholars once did tell the younger generation that the world was flat! The idea that mankind would master the art and science of flight would surely have been laughed at had any imaginative undergraduate proposed such a hypothesis not so very long ago.9Let us ask ourselves other questions: How old was Albert Einstein when he came up with some of his most challenging questions and ideas? It is quite possible that his teachers at the time felt they were under attack when their suggestions were challenged by Einstein. Can this be interpreted as a form of disrespect? How on earth would parachutes, wheelbarrows, motorcars…or any of the marvelous inventions of mankind ever have been invented if the inventors had not challenged traditional thoughts and beliefs, especially those related to scientific principles?4mentor: an experienced person who advises and helps a less experienced person5 delineation: description6 erroneous: not correct10What I am suggesting here is not that respect for mentors, for figures of authority, for our elders…is in any way wrong. Far from it, in fact. What is being suggested is that it is a further sign of respect to question the views of our teachers. Questioning is not the same as dismissing as incorrect or worthless. To question is to show interest in the ideas, to follow them through to a conclusion–and the conclusion should be the student’s, arrived at by understanding all the relevant concepts, supported by information and reason, and not simply the one provided by the teacher. If the student comes to a different conclusion to the one given by the teacher, then either one of the differing conclusions is weak or one of the processes by which it was arrived at is faulty. In either case, it is the conclusion, the idea, the information that is being questioned, and not the teacher. Progress and achievement develops from academic argument and dispute, not passive acceptance of other’s ideas.11It goes without saying that teachers are perfectly aware of the above. It is often a source of great frustration among teachers that undergraduates do not challenge their ideas more. They enjoy challenging questions from their students–this shows the students understand and are interested in the topic and it also makes the teachers think about the topic more closely. However, teachers cannot “enjoy” questions unless they are directed at them. They cannot converse, exchange ideas, defend opinions…if their students are too shy, too timid, too “respectful”, to ever engage their teacher in debate or, at least, in challenging conversation. So what is being proposed here is that the teacher needs the student almost as much as the student needs the teacher. Education is a two-way process. The exchange of ideas is a crucial element in academic development.12Of course, to be able to be involved in this two-way process, the student needs the basic knowledge, the facts, the relevant information, to support any ideas he or she might have. This is the role of a lecture.A lecture, given the number of participants, can never be conducive to an exchange of ideas. This is the stage of the process where the students gain the basic knowledge to give them the raw materials for intellectual discussion. A tutorial7, however, does provide the environment for this process to take place; and this is the primary function of a tutorial. It is not a place for further one-way delivery of information to take place. It is a place for experiment, for testing out ideas, for challenging concepts delivered during the lecture and subsequently carefully considered and worked through. It is also a place to clarify any confusion or misunderstanding a student may have been left with after the lecture. Again, it is not a sign of weakness to admit to confusion–it is a sign of academic strength, of a student being aware of his or her own thought processes. It is likely that your fellow students may also have been under the same misunderstanding and will benefit from your question as much as you will. Your teacher will be grateful to you, too. He or she will be delighted to get a positive response, and even challenging information given during the lecture will be regarded as “positive”, as long as it shows you have considered the information carefully and come to your own conclusion, albeit8 a different conclusion to the teacher’s.13Ironically, then, in many cases, the most disrespectful thing you can do in class is to remain silent, to refuse to ask questions, to accept, without question, information delivered to you. Listen, think, consider options, develop your own ideas, then either check your ideas or challenge those of your teacher’s if they differ from your own. In this way, academic development will be encouraged.7tutorial: a period of teaching and discussion with a tutor, especially in a British university8 albeit: although。