为什么英语课上人们不爱发言？

　　Going back to school after working for a long time has not been easy. What makes it extra difficult is the Western liberal arts style of teaching. It emphasizes discussions, which is not compatible with my disposition and different from the Chinese style of teaching that I am used to.

　　工作一段时间后再回到学校并不是一件简单的事情。而使得这件事格外困难的是西方文科式教学。这种教学方式强调讨论，而这和我的性格，还有我所熟悉的中式教学方式格格不入。

　　Most of my classes are small, about a dozen people. Most students who frequently speak up are from English-speaking countries. Being shy and especially aversive to confrontation, I am usually quiet. However, I’m not the only one. In my corner of silence are students from Asia or other non-English speaking areas.

　　我的课大多都是小班，只有十几个人。那些经常发言的学生都来自讲英语的国家。由于很害羞和讨厌跟别人对抗，我一般都很安静。但是，我并不是唯一这样做的人。和我一样沉默的还有来自亚洲或者其他不讲英语的国家的学生。

　　People are reluctant to speak up for different reasons. Not being able to speak fluent English, or at least worried about embarrassing oneself for grammatical errors, might be an important one, especially in an English-taught program.

　　人们不愿意发言的理由各有不同。不能说一口流利的英语、或者害怕语法错误使得自己很尴尬可能就是一些重要的原因，尤其在英语教学项目中，

　　For me, not being sure of whether I am making a convincing and fresh point is the biggest factor. Having survived and thrived in the exam-oriented, right/wrong-answer-focused Chinese education system, I feel insecure not knowing the "correct answer."

　　对我来说，不愿意发言的最大因素在于我不确定我的观点是否有说服力、是否够新颖。在以考试为导向、只关注答案对错的中国教育系统摸爬滚打这么多年后，如果不知道“正确答案”我会感到很没安全感。

　　Moreover, this insecurity turns into frustration. I feel uneasy in my seat while listening to my classmates speak. On one hand, I’m angry at myself for not being brave; at the same time I dismiss what the others are saying. But in truth, it’s just an excuse to mask my feeling of inferiority over feeling like others know so much about so many things.

　　另外，这种不安全感会变成沮丧。坐在座位上听我同学发言的时候，我会浑身难受。一方面，我对自己的不勇敢感到愤怒;同时我也不在乎其他人在说些什么。但是事实上，这只是一个借口，掩盖我因为别人如此博闻强识而产生的自卑感。

　　Of course, over time I learned the merits of this style of teaching and learning. The biggest advantage of being in a program with people from all over the world is that everybody brings in something new. What’s obvious to me, a Chinese, might not be so obvious to them. Sometimes it’s important to state the obvious.

　　当然，随着时间的推移，我了解到了这种教学风格的优点。和来自世界各地的人们同处一个项目有一个最大的好处——每个人都带来了一些新东西。对于我这个中国人来说显而易见的东西，对他们可能不是这样。有时候将这种“显而易见”表述出来也很重要。

　　Still it is hard for me to participate in class discussions. However, just because someone does not like speaking up in public, doesn’t mean one cannot think. Just because someone cannot think on their feet, doesn’t mean they can’t do good research. Just because someone is always speaking, doesn’t mean they always make good points.

　　我仍然很难以参加课堂上的讨论。但是，并不是说一个人不喜欢在公共场合讲话，就意味着他不能思考;并不是说一个人不能自己思考，就意味着他不能做很好的研究;并不是说一个人一直在发言，就意味着他总是言之有理!