"The foreign teacher is an idiot"

Despite the rather provocative title this is actually a pretty balanced academic discussion of the role of NSTs in China, particularly those teaching 'Oral English' courses at universities.  The idea of 'othering' both 'oriental' and 'occidental' cultures by both sides I thought was particularly interesting.

http://teachinfuxin.org/uploads/Stanley.pdf

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Thanks for putting this up MK. I've saved a download as it fits in with what I'm currently writing.
I remember last year coming across a publisher blurb for Phiona Stanley's book, and put it onto a thread someone had started at The Spoon. There were howls of outrage [based on the title only] from those who saw themselves as "the idiot" in question, led by one Lobster. Someone found her website and heaped derision on her based on her appearance, which kind of tells you where these morons are intellectually! This ultimately led to Lobster and I both being banned; nothing new for moi, but apparently a huge shock for him, as he regarded himself as King of Dave's Dung Heap.

The almost complete lack of Venn Diagram overlap when comparing Chinese student learner beliefs with those of their "Western" teachers is something we all encounter, be it in China or back home, where I work largely with Chinese students. Your work on contrastive rhetoric also fits in here.

The Stanley article is worth a read, and she's a local Adelaidean to boot!

This has been reprinted and expanded in a text edited by Cortazzi and Jin: she's also written a book about the "function" of foreign teachers in China and a hilarious article about how some guys think they have sexual powers when they come here. 

I think that she overcooks things a bit sometimes but at core most of what she says has a strong foundation in current reality.  Of course we can escape the binds which she describes, but the first step towards doing so is recognising them. 

She read her undergraduate degree at the University of Edinburgh, which means she's alright in my book.

...a hilarious article about how some guys think they have sexual powers when they come here.

I saw links to that article, and immediately thought of this, based on EFL teachers in Japan in the 90s:

http://www.charismaman.com/CMweb_2.98.jpg

(also interesting when you consider the attacks on her appearance Gonzo mentions..)

...a hilarious article about how some guys think they have sexual powers when they come here.

Well, sometimes if you THINK you have sexual powers.....you do.

This has been reprinted and expanded in a text edited by Cortazzi and Jin: she's also written a book about the "function" of foreign teachers in China

I've got the book "Researching Chinese Learners" (2011). Same writer, same subject, participants and setting [PSU], but they are different pieces.

thanks, MK. Gotta give the author a wink; that's a cool title for an academic paper.
As for the contents, I've got some reading to do.

Made some time for myself this evening and went through it. On the face of it, i don't see anything particularly contentious. If anything, she seems to be telling us what most of us have been saying for years.
(That's the level of discourse at the spoon? Well, forget about the losers, we have better quality dregs here.)
Super powers! Yessss! Gotta get back my super powers!(damn I miss my wife)