Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has advised the Department of Education that the city’s elementary schools should teach physical education, arts, natural sciences and social studies courses in both English and Mandarin.
Ko said students’ English-language capabilities are falling behind that of Hong Kong and Singapore.
However, Taipei Teachers’ Association chairman Yang Yi-feng (楊益風) and Taipei Elementary Parent Union Advisory Council president Wu Yi-lun (吳宜倫) both said that the overall environment must be changed to improve children’s knowledge and use of English-language.
They said the city government’s policy is to set up only one English center — staffed with two or three foreign instructors — in each of the 12 administrative districts.
District schools have classes one day per week at the center on a rotating schedule, which is not an effective use of resources, the two said, adding that if the city government were to set up centers at each school, students would have more time to learn grammar, vocabulary and Western culture in general.
Yang suggested alternative methods to create a friendlier environment in which to use English in Taipei if the department is lacking funds, adding the department might consider a teacher exchange program with Singapore.
“While we should not praise Singapore’s English too much, they do have better a English-speaking environment,” Yang said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said that while she agreed with the general direction of the English-teaching policy, the crux of the issue was the available teachers.
“We cannot expect every physical education teacher to be able to teach English, and it would not benefit the students if they were learning non-standard English,” Wang said, adding the execution of the policy might see severe setbacks in practice.
According to the department, teachers meeting the Ministry of Education standards — individuals graduating with English-related majors, have completed at least 20 credits of English-teaching courses or have a score above the B2 level of English proficiency tests — number only in the thousands, with 700 of them actually teaching English-related courses, while the rest teach other courses.
The ministry standard is that at least 70 percent of a 40-minute English class must be taught in English, with Mandarin or other native languages taking up 30 percent, the department said.
The department said that it would be asking for volunteers to hold a trial of the program before general implementation.
Yang said that even if schools were fully staffed with teachers meeting the ministry’s standards, it would still not make much of a difference.
“These teachers probably do not have the courage to speak in English in foreign countries, and even if they find it comfortable speaking in front of the students, their pronunciation and grammar are still worrying factors,” Yang said, adding those who know the language are not necessarily able to immerse their students in Western culture.
Meanwhile, the private Wego Elementary School was tapped as an example of creating an environment that is beneficial for learning English.
According to the school’s foreign language center director, You Yu-fen (游玉芬), the school’s English courses were taught entirely by foreign staff and every Wednesday is a school-wide English-speaking day.
Sciences, mathematics and Mandarin are taught in Mandarin, but daily communication and greetings are all conducted in English, You said.
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