After reading the news report "Most students say they lack English skills, study shows," (Nov. 12, page 2), I feel that the story is incomplete. To complete the story, a survey of college English instructors needs to be conducted.
That the quality of college students in Taiwan is below par is not news. Several longstanding factors make Taiwanese students what they are today. One reason is that students are not as diligent as those in the 1960s through the 1990s. Could another reason be that the quality of English instructors is not up to par? With enrollment increasing rapidly in colleges and universities, there may be a shortage of qualified instructors and professors, especially in English.
Here is an example. Recently, the book Talking About the 228 Incident was translated into an English-language version called Comic 228 Incident, which was proposed by an English instructor at a Taiwanese college. The 228 Incident is not comical. The college English instructor obviously lacks both English skills and common sense.
Why do we expect Taiwanese students to be on par with those elsewhere, when some English instructors are so far off track?
Ken S. Huang
Memphis, Tennessee
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