Taiwanese society is not truly international, albeit not for want of trying. However, sometimes the preoccupation with presenting it as such can lead to rather misguided ideas.
For example, National Chengchi University (NCCU) president Edward Chow (周行一) recently announced that all new teachers, irrespective of school or department, should offer an English Taught Course (ETC) each semester. It was not a particularly popular move.
This initiative was proposed by the university’s personnel conference, which was formed to allocate professional staff quotas to the various schools and departments, and to decide on the number of chair professors, distinguished professors and researchers within the university. It was not decided by the official university affairs conference, leading some to question its legitimacy.
The ETC course offered by the NCCU College of Commerce is an important optional course. Students can enroll to help reinforce their English skills, which could be useful for them in international business or in their academic careers. However, it is an optional course, so the right to enroll resides with the student. It is good that the university wants to extend the provision of ETCs across the board, and it is something that should be encouraged, but with the proviso that it makes sense, that it is handled in the correct way, and that the rights of teaching staff and students are observed.
A university should aspire to be an international institution, and while English is indeed an international language, and is the closest there is to a truly international language, that is not to say that the two are directly equivalent.
The NCCU has many language departments other than English, including Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Japanese and Russian. To single out English above others is detrimental to international, pluralistic learning. Each school or department of the university is different. It makes little sense to demand that all teaching staff and students use English for their studies. Not all teaching staff are competent in English and not all students have been taught English. Therefore, this initiative would most likely cause more problems than benefits.
Chow’s administrative order requires teaching staff to offer an ETC. However, the failure to inform staff in advance has meant that what was originally conceived with the best intentions in mind appears to fly in the face of campus democracy and threatens academic freedom — hence the backlash. The situation could have been handled better.
University authorities should announce that the initiative has been put on hold for the time being, and Chow should enter into dialogue with the teaching staff and students to communicate the university’s educational goals and try to achieve a consensus on the issue. Should the university authorities, teaching staff and students agree on internationalization as a goal, then the policy should be passed by the university affairs conference and then each school or department can decide its student enrolment standards, teacher selection conditions, teaching methods and how the course content is to be taught. This is how the university should approach having ETCs taught in each school and department.
NCCU was originally established as the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central School of Party Affairs in China. Today, students and teachers enjoy democratic freedoms, and the will and courage to express themselves. When they are faced with unreasonable requests they stand up and protest against authoritarian behavior. This is the mark of striving for academic freedom, and a major link in the chain of achieving transitional justice in Taiwan and within the KMT. Developments of this kind are to be welcomed.
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