I would like to respond to Stephen Krashen's letter (Letters, Aug. 8, page 8).
He questions my support of so-called "Super High Schools" with English immersion programs that are being set up in Japan. I recommended this approach for Taiwan, with the specific aim of producing competent future teachers of English.
His chief complaint appears to be the expense that such an approach would incur. I cannot see in what way such schools, which should encompass both elementary and secondary levels, would be any more costly to run than regular schools, except for the expense of buying English-language textbooks. Having Taiwanese students undertaking their entire primary and secondary levels of education in an English immersion program and environment, with guidance from competent teachers, would produce students with much higher levels of English-language skills than is possible today.
As every teacher in Taiwan knows, the students who show greater ability in English are inevitably those who have lived abroad. In spite of all the research, the statistics and the experts, the low level of competency exhibited by Taiwan's English teachers is an inescapable and ubiquitous problem. Until it is solved, we will continue to need to import foreigners to do the job, although many of them have also proven to be less than truly competent at teaching.
I do, however, agree fully with Krashen when he promotes more reading of English books. As a professor of English literature, I more than appreciate the power of books to help improve language skills, and also support the idea -- the more reading the better. The issue that he does not address is why this is not the case, after all the research attesting to its validity.
The answer could be found in the facts that; too few hours are devoted to teaching English; classes are over-crowded and many teachers feel uncomfortable with students reading books that they themselves might have difficulty in reading or explaining.
Since the problem of low English language skills is both perennial and seemingly intractable in Taiwan, why not try a whole new approach? Specialized programs in specialized departments have long been the norm in tertiary education. Those who wish to become electrical engineers are trained in specific facilities to produce competent graduates. Why can't we do the same by setting up a series of elementary schools (and eventually secondary schools, as the students progress through the system) geared particularly for future teachers of English?
When these students graduate, they will be ready to serve as future teachers of English in Taiwan who are both Taiwanese natives and truly competent. Competent teachers will help to produce competent students. This is logical and long overdue. Otherwise, we may end up hiring Japanese graduates instead.
Chaim Melamed
Pingtung
KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) recent visit to Beijing and her upcoming visit to Washington will serve as a high-level test of her diplomatic mettle. In Beijing, Cheng was received with symbolic gestures, a warm reception, and high-level access. In Washington, she will receive far less pomp and far sharper questions about the KMT’s vision for the future of Taiwan. Her challenge will be to persuade Washington that the KMT’s engagement with China can coexist with strong deterrence. Cheng’s April 7-12 visit to mainland China coincided with an intense period of conflict in Iran. Despite the strategic significance of Cheng’s trip,
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent the vast Asian chemicals industry into a tailspin. Deprived of the likes of Qatari natural gas and Saudi Arabian oil, the region’s fertilizer and plastics plants are slowing production or even shutting down. Everywhere except China, that is. In petrochemicals, China is unique. As well as a traditional industry that uses oil and gas as feedstock, it has parallel output that relies on its abundant domestic coal. Unsurprisingly, India and other regional powers want to copy and paste the Chinese method. This would not be easy — or climate friendly. The
US President Donald Trump recently repeated his claim that “Taiwan stole America’s chip industry,” reigniting public debate on the issue. As a former Taiwanese minister of economic affairs and an entrepreneur deeply involved in semiconductor supply chain development, I feel a responsibility to clarify this misunderstanding. From the perspective of global industrial evolution and the economic principle of comparative advantage, such a statement appears overly simplistic and risks obscuring the essence of the issue. The rise of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry was not built on “replacing America,” but rather emerged as a result of countries pursuing different development paths within the
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto says he knows how to fix the problems facing Indonesia. Yet his economic mismanagement and authoritarian tendencies are steering the nation toward a familiar mix of currency instability and political chaos. The world’s fourth-most populous nation risks reversing the hard-won democratic and business reforms that came after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. At that time, the rupiah collapsed and the political upheaval that followed forced former president Haji Mohamed Suharto from power. Prabowo’s administration is ignoring similar warning signs. That disconnect was apparent in a national address on Wednesday, when Prabowo projected the swagger that has
RSS