Social Issues

 

In both China and the United States, social issues are a very real part of everyday conversations. Ranging from racism to holidays, ticket scalpers to college entrance exams, Chinese students and their American study abroad roommates engage in a variety of discussions on social problems and phenomenon in the contexts of both China and the United States.

Student Conversations

Friends 1: 理想的男朋友 The Ideal Boyfriend

Background Information When it comes to topics surrounding gender in China, few are more heavily discussed than marriage. Chinese parents are often described as being greatly concerned with their children finding partners to marry. However, women often receive more...

Friends 2: 关于女朋友 About Girlfriends

Background Information Dating in China can be very different from the United States. While many American students begin dating in high school and even middle school, dating in China tends to only begin after high school. Mainly, this is due to pressure to prepare for...

Exercises

Task 1 Sharing Personal Experiences Task (Racial Discrimination)

Objectives:

Students will be able to familiarize themselves with the vocabulary and topics related to issues concerning social equality. This task could be used as a warm-up task at the beginning of this module. Suggested time for this task: 8-10 minutes.

Directions:

Listen/Read the dialogues between Ted and 韩 (Social Issue 6 dialogue). In groups of 3-4, summarize the key terms of their discussion. Discuss what you’ve experienced, learned, heard of, or read about about social inequality.

Discussion questions: What are Ted and 韩 talking about? What does “歧视” mean? Is our society/country an equal society in the past/now? What aspects of our society are not equal? What has changed through the years? What do you hope our society can improve on in the future?

Directions in Chinese:

  1. 你认为我们的社会平等吗?我们的社会哪些方面还不够平等?你经历过/听过/知道哪些不平等的现象?现在跟以前比,有了什么变化? 你希望我们的社会以后会有什么变化?

Sample answers for instructors:

  1. 他们在讨论美国种族歧视的问题。“歧视”的意思是看不起,或者不公平地对待。
  2. 今天的美国社会总的来说是个平等的社会,可是在很多方面还是不太平等,比如社会上还是有种族歧视/不平等、性别歧视/不平等和年龄歧视/不平等的问题。

(亲身经历)

我知道在历史上,美国曾经是一个重男轻女的社会,妇女不能投票,1920年以后,情况才逐渐有了变化,妇女可以投票了,也有了更多受教育和工作的机会。我希望以后有更多女性可以对社会有更大的影响,比如有更多女性可以从政或者担任以男性主导的职务。

Task 2 Sharing Personal Experience Task & Comparing Task (Gaokao)

 

Objectives:

Students will be able to familiarize themselves with vocabulary and topics related to issues concerning education. Students will also be able to distinguish the differences of college application between China and the US. This task could be used as a warm-up task at the beginning of this module, such as used with Task 1 or by itself. Suggested time for this task: 8-10 minutes.

 

Directions:

Listen/Read the dialogues between Ted and 韩 (Social Issue 7 dialogue). In groups of 3-4, summarize the key terms of their discussion. Discuss what you’ve learned, heard of, or read about about Gaokao in China, and your own experience when you applied for college.

Discussion questions: What are Ted and 韩 talking about in this dialogue? Have you heard about Gaokao in China? What do you know about it? What was your college application like? Share your thoughts and story with your group. Use the table below to help with your group discussions.

 

Directions in Chinese:

2.1 听/读Ted和韩 (Social Issue 7 dialogue)的对话,他们在讨论什么问题?你听说过“高考”吗?你对高考有什么了解?

2.2 Download Student Worksheet

Task 3 Project and Creative Task (Social Issues 1 & 2: social equality & higher education)

 

Objectives:

Students will be able to evaluate and analyze specific issues related to ethnic inequality in higher education in the US. Students will also be able to cooperate with group members, and practice reading, writing and speaking skills upon completing this task. This task could be divided into two class hours, for instance, first using it as a main activity of a regular class to practice reading skills, and then as a homework assignment to prepare for group presentations. Suggested time for this task: 45 min for the reading for the first class + 100 min for presentation or assigned as homework + 8-10 min per group presentation in the following class.

3.1 Reading comprehension and discussions (45 min, may only use this article partially)

 

Directions:

Read this article: “他们离开中国追逐美国梦,如今为何反对教育平权”

Simplified character version: They Left China to Chase the American Dream. Now They’re Fighting Affirmative Action. (New York Times)

Traditional character version:They Left China to Chase the American Dream. Now They’re Fighting Affirmative Action. (New York Times)

In groups of 3-4, summarize the main point of this article in the flowing chart below

Directions in Chinese: 阅读文章,“他们离开中国追逐美国梦,如今为何反对教育平权”。三到四人一组,完成下面的图表

3.2 Worksheet

Download Student Worksheet

3.3 Presentation task (100 min in class or assigned as homework)

 

Directions:

Now you’ve learned more about social equality and higher education in both China and the US, present as a group concerning the following issues. In your opinion, what is the most striking education inequality problems today in either China/USA? First define the problem you’d like to discuss and then introduce how the problem began in history, and how it evolved. Then give at least two examples to illustrate why this problem is serious. Use the examples from the dialogues/readings/personal experiences. Finally, summarize your presentation and provide solutions to this problem, and how our society can improve in the future

Directions in Chinese:

这一课我们了解了中美教育和社会平等方面的问题。3-4人一组,准备一个8-10分钟的报告,包含以下内容。你认为现在教育平等方面最大的问题是什么?介绍这个问题是怎么产生的,后来是怎么变化的。然后至少用两个例子说说为什么这个问题很严重,你可以参考对话、阅读资料,或者亲身经历。最后总结,说说你希望我们的社会需要作出哪些方面的改变。

Task 4 Additional reading and comprehension question