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.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS