Citing a lack of resources, finances, and certified teachers and materials, teachers of the country’s native languages — including Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese), Hakka and Aboriginal languages — yesterday accused the government of not putting enough efforts into native-language education.
“It’s been 10 years since we started the nationwide mother-tongue education program, but I don’t see it getting any better. Instead, it’s moving backwards,” Taiwan Mother Language Teachers’ Association chairman Huang Hsiu-jen (黃修仁) said at a public hearing hosted by Democratic Progressive Party legislators Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) and Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) on native-language education at the Legislative Yuan yesterday.
“Ten years ago, there was a budget of NT$40,000 to NT$50,000 [US$1,335 to US$1,669] per month per school, but the money has been cut to a little more than NT$20,000,” he added. “How can we hire well-trained language teachers with that little money?”
As a result, many schools have asked for non-professional language teachers to teach native-language classes, Huang said.
“For example, the teacher who teaches the Hoklo class at my child’s school does not speak Hoklo at home and he barely knows the language,” he said. “What can we expect from such classes?”
Taiwanese Language Association of Taipei City chairman Lee Po-tung (李柏桐) said that many teachers who do not speak Hoklo well, but are assigned to teach the language, have complained to him.
“This is difficult for both students and teachers,” Lee said. “Some teachers don’t know how to teach such classes, so all they do is play the language instruction CDs out loud in class, that’s it.”
Lee said that according to regulations, a teacher may teach a beginner’s level mother-tongue class after completing 36 hours of training, and a higher-level class after a 72-hour training course.
“You don’t learn to speak a language in 36 or 72 hours,” Lee said.
Taiwan Hakka Teachers’ Association chairwoman Chuang Chen Yueh-hsiu (莊陳月琇) said that whenever her daughter-in-law, a Hakka, is to teach a Hoklo class, “I have to give her a lesson before she gives a lesson to her students — this is ridiculous.”
National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of Taiwanese Culture, Languages and Literature chairman Li Khin-huann (李勤岸) urged the government to reinstate the mother-tongue teacher certification system.
“In 2009, the government voided a regulation that requires teachers to obtain certification in the target language before teaching it. I don’t think this makes any sense,” Li said. “I strongly urge the government to reinstate the regulation, so that the quality of language teachers could be guaranteed.”
Indigenous Teachers’ Association of Taipei City chairman Upah Yuki said the situation is even worse for Aboriginal languages.
“We simply don’t have any resources,” he said. “I’m always jealous to see stacks of printed Hakka or Hoklo vocabulary cards at school, while we Aboriginal-language teachers have to make our own.”
Upah said the education authorities seem to think that there is only one Aboriginal tribe, because most schools provide only Amis classes.
“I’m an Atayal and when a relative sent his kid to Aboriginal language class at Taishan Elementary School in New Taipei City (新北市), he came home and only knew to say ngaiho,” Upah said, adding that ngaiho is Amis for “hello.”
Li said that language education is too complicated for the National Languages Committee to handle.
“We need a Cabinet-level ministry or council to handle mother-tongue affairs,” he said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
RSS