How difficult is it for university English departments to attract students? The results of a survey on college and university English-related departments nationwide showed that eight departments have closed down or stopped recruitment over the past eight years. Meanwhile, nine applied foreign languages or English departments transformed into tourism or some other department just to find a way out.
The Global Education Association in Taiwan (GEAT) held a forum on the afternoon of Sept. 12. The GEAT sent a survey to all English departments and received responses from 74 departments. About 31.5 percent of them admitted that they are facing the challenge of student shortage. According to Chen Chao-ming, the results show that English departments are no longer popular when senior high school students and their parents are choosing a university.
Chen is chief executive officer (CEO) of the association and a professor of English at Shih Chien University. He said that since the English proficiency of other majors is equally good or even better than that of English majors, the enrollment numbers for the prospects for English majors are extremely worrying, as are their employment prospects.
Photo: Lin Hsiao-yun, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者林曉雲
Chen said that English departments should be redefined and should no longer limit themselves to cultivating English teachers, secretaries or writers. With an advantage in English language, they should provide cross-cultural training and enhance students’ management knowledge and cross-disciplinary specialization. They should cooperate with industries under the major trend of “transnational management” in the future, so as to train students with cross-disciplinary skills and strong English ability.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Eddy Chang)
大學英文系所招不到學生？一份針對全國大專校院英語文相關系所的調查指出，八年來已有八個系所廢系或停招，另有九所學校的應用外文系或應用英文系改名成觀光系等，轉型找出路。
台灣全球化教育推廣協會九月十二日下午舉辦座談會，該會針對大專校院英文系所發出問卷，共回收七十四份問卷，百分之三十一點五受訪系所表示已面臨招生人數不足的挑戰，陳超明表示，問卷結果顯示高中生或家長選擇大學時，不少人對英語文系卻步。
台灣全球化教育推廣協會執行長、實踐大學教授陳超明表示，當其他系所學生的英文能力和英文系學生一樣好，甚至更好時，英語文系招生和就業狀況，讓人焦慮、恐懼。
陳超明表示，英語文系應重新定位，不能再侷限在培育英語教師、英文秘書、文學家等人才，而應善用英語文優勢，置入跨文化訓練、補強管理智識及跨領域專業，配合產業未來跨國界管理的大趨勢，以培育學生成為跨界英語人才。
（自由時報記者林曉雲）
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