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Letter: `Talk fest' misses the point

I have been teaching in Taiwan for 14 years and I would like to add my two cents to this discussion. While I think Paul Rowe's comments (Letters, April 12, page 8) -- and my compliments to him on his work in creating a "Talk Fest" -- I feel that he has missed important points in the article he refers to ("Explaining silence in the English classrooms," April 4, page 8).

Those points are "classroom" and "peer pressure." Whilst his work centers on one-on-one meetings in a congenial atmosphere, I'm convinced that when these same students return to the classroom environment their English speaking skills will "dry up" and they will become the silent majority, as Kao Shin-fan (高士凡) quite rightly pointed out in his excellent article.

I am taking a WIDE World online course, developed by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, entitled "Differentiating Instruction: Strategies for Effective Classroom Practice," which actively helps teachers to develop methods of encouraging students to participate in classroom activities and discussions.

After reading Kao's letter, I decided to post it for the many course participants from around the world to read.

Their comments in the Open Forum area have been enlightening in view of the fact that most were not aware of this problem with students in our region, and indeed, in some of their classes in the US.

Michael Wise

Tamsui
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