Chau Nguyen
CMST & 101
Daniel Norton
False Studying Awareness: An Obstacle against Children Development
Specific purpose: After the speech, the audience will be able to list 3 fundamental features of a false awareness about studying which has a bad impact on Vietnamese children.
Central Ideas: The problem of false studying awareness exists due to a lack of proper understanding of how to educate children correctly.
Introduction
Let me ask you guys a question! What is studying to you? Basically, in my opinion, it is a process of instilling the thirst for knowledge and the eager to discover novel things by myself. However, do you know that for most of the grown-ups in Vietnam, studying means, “This is a desk which is covered with a bunch of textbooks on top of it. No computer or laptop. And you! Sit there at least 2 hours a day for me”. This is actually a quote from a newly famous video blogger called Nevermind on Youtube when he presented his points of view about studying in Vietnam. I really like this quote. Why? Because it depicts a precise picture of what exactly do studying mean to us Vietnamese students. So, today, I want to define 3 characteristics of a false studying awareness, which is a current obstacle against children development in Vietnam.
Body
A. Traditional teaching method – the lecture is read out loud, the students sit still and take notes the whole thing down– in school has injected a passive studying style in students. * This kind of teaching method has been facing the criticism from parents and radical educational experts.
* Students go to school mostly focusing on passing the exams while lacking the thirst for knowledge and plan for the future. * Most examinations only require students to remember what they take notes, no addition knowledge outside of class. This encourages kids to learn like parrots not human beings. * Hence, students tend to be passive and obey to everything the lecturers say without any courage to raise comments. * Needless to say, the obvious consequents are: kids are lack of public speaking skills. They don’t know how to stand up straight and give out a proper speech in front of public. On top of hat, what we learn in school is imitation, not creativeness. When we study abroad, the problem Vietnamese student usually make is plagiarism. We don’t know how to right what we think and how we feel since what we mostly learned as school was copying the samples from the reference.
Transition: So! That’s how we study at school. How about in families?
B. Asian parents, in general, and Vietnamese parents, in particular, are notorious for putting intense pressure on their children to excel academically * Many parents put extreme pressure on their kids to excel academically to the point that they ignore their kids’ dispositions and dreams. * We are forced to enroll in cram schools; prod to do extra homework on the weekend for reinforcement, prep for the university entrance exams many years prior to the testing date. * For what goal? To raise well-balanced, mature and ethical young adults? To prepare us to succeed in the professional world? NO! The only end goal is to get us to top-ranked colleges like Harvard, MIT, Yale, or Boston etc. * Here is what their thoughts going: If you get into a top-ranked college, you will graduate with a shiny name-brand diploma. Employers will then chase you down and offer a high-paid job. Eventually, you will live happily ever after and raise your kids to do the same thing. * They neglect one crucial factor is the child’s abilities and capacities. If your child is not academically inclined but excels