President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said during a recent radio interview in Taichung that Taiwanese college and university students are not as competitive as they used to be.
This assertion is often made in the media, but when the accusation comes from the president, we need to look carefully and see whether it is based in truth.
A frequently cited example is the decline of Taiwanese students’ average Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores compared with students from other countries. Some take this as proof that Taiwanese students’ English proficiency is declining.
But is this the real cause of the lower scores?
Back in the days when the president and I were students, less than 20 percent of high school students moved on to college, and most of the best university students hoped to pursue advanced education abroad after graduation.
Most of those who took the TOEFL test in Taiwan, therefore, were students who performed well and who had relatively proficient English.
SHARP INCREASE
Over the past decade, however, the number of colleges and universities has sharply increased. At the same time, the number of top students who choose to study abroad has decreased as more of them choose to continue their education in Taiwan.
As a result, the English proficiency of those who take the TOEFL is now much closer to the proficiency of the average Taiwanese student.
Hence, it seems unfair to compare the average TOEFL score of past students, who were drawn from the top 20 percent of the high school population, with that of today’s broader-based student population and then claim that this demonstrates a decline in proficiency.
As society has evolved, ordinary families have placed more value on education. Universities are also evolving as schools pay greater attention to the quality of teaching.
In general, student proficiency has improved. The characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of different generations may vary, but in terms of academic training, the top students of this generation can be thought of as superior to those of previous generations. To compare the bulk of today’s students with their elite predecessors is not only unfair, but also misleading.
OPPORTUNITIES
These days people are under the impression that Taiwanese university students’ English proficiency is declining and that they can be admitted to college with extremely low scores. While there is some truth in this, it is a result of a marked increase in schooling opportunities, not a fall in the quality of higher education.
Providing more opportunities for students to go to college could be a good thing or a bad thing, and it is an issue that should be discussed. An increase in schooling opportunities, however, does not mean that schools do not take education seriously.
President Ma’s suggestion of improving students’ international understanding and overall competitiveness certainly has merit.
His suggestion that students and teachers work harder, however, is unfortunate, because even if it were to improve student proficiency by a slight degree, it would still fail to meaningfully address the problems in the education system.
Besides, such talk does nothing to stimulate the confidence and ambition of Taiwan’s next generation.
Chen Sinn-wen is dean of the Office of Student Affairs at National Tsing Hua University.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
On April 19, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) gave a public speech, his first in about 17 years. During the address at the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei, Chen’s words were vague and his tone was sour. He said that democracy should not be used as an echo chamber for a single politician, that people must be tolerant of other views, that the president should not act as a dictator and that the judiciary should not get involved in politics. He then went on to say that others with different opinions should not be criticized as “XX fellow travelers,” in reference to
RSS