There is still a predominance of audiolingual and grammar translation approaches in English language teaching in Taiwan. Thus, communicative activities and authentic language tasks that are meaningful for the students and create opportunities for them to engage in real communication and social interaction are not often planned for here. While the traditional teaching methodologies do help to prepare students for reading and writing English, they do not give students the opportunity to practice and develop their speaking and listening skills.
Little, if any, practice is provided to develop the students' communicative or pragmatic English competence. Researchers have pointed out that the grammar translation approach is continually reinforced. When some of the students who have been taught with the grammar translation method become English teachers, they are most likely to use the same method in their teaching.
Given the focus of traditional education in Taiwan on rote learning and recitation, the introduction of new methods of teaching and learning is something that many teachers -- especially older ones -- might be uncomfortable with. Such practices may be a cultural step that many senior teachers are unwilling to take too quickly.
For example, a three-year study of elementary school teachers' use of communicative language teaching in Taiwan states that some researchers question the appropriateness of communicative language teaching in Chinese classrooms. Many Taiwanese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers still believe that teaching should focus on the presentation of discrete grammatical points and that students should strive for high accuracy. These classrooms tend to be teacher-centered.
Task-oriented or problem-based learning is often not perceived as serious learning. So while researchers here have proposed the adoption of more communicative approaches to teaching EFL, the traditional grammar-translation and audiolingual methods continue to be the dominant methods.
The Cambridge Examinations Center published a study of English proficiency of Taiwanese children in 2004 and ranked them 11th among the 16 nations that took part in the study -- down from 9th in 2003.
The main reasons for this deterioration in English proficiency were that most English classes in schools focus primarily on reading and writing skills, and that the traditional grammar translation method remains the most common approach used by EFL teachers. Many children are thus not provided opportunities to use language for genuine communication, and their English communication ability remains at a low level.
Lin Wen-chi (
The Taipei Times article "Poor English skills are hurting nation's competitiveness" (July 5, 2005, page 10) reported that Taiwanese Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) test-takers have been gradually losing competitiveness in the finance and technology fields owing to poor English skills. According to Education Testing Services, Taiwanese students scored an average of 523 points on the TOEIC, ranking 8th among the 15 Asian nations that make up major Asian financial and technology markets.
English instruction is still too exam-oriented because teachers must prepare students for the Scholastic Aptitude Tests and tests administered to applicants for entry into particular university departments. Even though the Joint College Entrance Examination (JCEE) was abolished in 2001, it was replaced with the Diversified College Entrance Package in 2002.
The English components of the examinations are similar to the English tests on the JCEE exams: They focus primarily on testing grammatical knowledge, reading comprehension and vocabulary. Little change has actually occurred in elementary and high school English classrooms. Students are still not encouraged to use English in authentic communicative situations such as exchanging information, arranging meetings, solving problems, engaging in daily business and shopping transactions and other tasks.
Apart from the impact of the traditional method of teaching and learning, there are other constraints on teachers that might negatively impact on their ability or interest in using more communicative approaches in the classroom, such as a lack of funding for teacher training, staff shortages and large class sizes.
Another factor that might hinder communicative language teaching is the fact that teachers want to ensure that their students will pass the school entrance exams for admission to respected junior and senior high schools and universities. Given the large amount of information students need to retain for these exams, using a time-consuming communicative approach may not be a priority.
Thus, once they pass the university entrance exams, students find themselves unprepared for the communicative-based university EFL programs. Native English speaking EFL instructors often say that Taiwanese university students, who have had several years of English language education prior to university, are still unable to communicate effectively and lack the self-confidence to express themselves clearly.
Because public schools tend not to encourage creative thinking, open discussion, opinion-sharing or critical analysis, many students are not prepared to participate in communicative, problem-based EFL classes at university. University students who have studied English in the public school system using grammar translation and audio-lingual methods tend to have learning preferences that are more form-focused or grammar-oriented than communicative.
Native English speaking EFL instructors in universities meet many students who appear emotionally and academically unprepared for autonomous, cooperative and communicative learning. Many of these students prefer a teacher-centered, lecture-oriented and text-based pedagogy in which the teacher lectures and covers a blackboard with facts and information for students to record and then repeat in examinations. As a result, the motivation to use English communicatively is quite low among many students.
Despite many teachers' understanding of the new goals and policies prescribed by the Ministry of Education which emphasize a focus on meaningful language use and movement away from grammar translation instruction, communicative language teaching and strategy training do not seem to be a priority for instructors.
Teachers who operate within school cultures and belief systems that are not commensurate with the principles espoused by communicative language teaching are less likely to be in a position to abandon the traditional approaches to teaching.
Fred Shannon
Chinese Culture University
In the event of a war with China, Taiwan has some surprisingly tough defenses that could make it as difficult to tackle as a porcupine: A shoreline dotted with swamps, rocks and concrete barriers; conscription for all adult men; highways and airports that are built to double as hardened combat facilities. This porcupine has a soft underbelly, though, and the war in Iran is exposing it: energy. About 39,000 ships dock at Taiwan’s ports each year, more than the 30,000 that transit the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of their inbound tonnage is coal, oil, refined fuels and liquefied natural gas (LNG),
On Monday, the day before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) departed on her visit to China, the party released a promotional video titled “Only with peace can we ‘lie flat’” to highlight its desire to have peace across the Taiwan Strait. However, its use of the expression “lie flat” (tang ping, 躺平) drew sarcastic comments, with critics saying it sounded as if the party was “bowing down” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Amid the controversy over the opposition parties blocking proposed defense budgets, Cheng departed for China after receiving an invitation from the CCP, with a meeting with
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is leading a delegation to China through Sunday. She is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing tomorrow. That date coincides with the anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which marked a cornerstone of Taiwan-US relations. Staging their meeting on this date makes it clear that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intends to challenge the US and demonstrate its “authority” over Taiwan. Since the US severed official diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, it has relied on the TRA as a legal basis for all
To counter the CCP’s escalating threats, Taiwan must build a national consensus and demonstrate the capability and the will to fight. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) often leans on a seductive mantra to soften its threats, such as “Chinese do not kill Chinese.” The slogan is designed to frame territorial conquest (annexation) as a domestic family matter. A look at the historical ledger reveals a different truth. For the CCP, being labeled “family” has never been a guarantee of safety; it has been the primary prerequisite for state-sanctioned slaughter. From the forced starvation of 150,000 civilians at the Siege of Changchun
RSS