Tue, Aug 19, 2003 page2

• Poll asks English teachers about policy

  • By Jewel Huang / STAFF REPORTER
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  Although the Ministry of Education has mandated that all public elementary schools start English courses in the fifth grade, a survey showed that nearly 90 percent of elementary schools began teaching English earlier and 76 percent of the teachers polled said that there is a serious knowledge gap among students, the National Teacher's Association (全國教師會) and Citigroup (花旗集團) announced yesterday.

  The survey, which was sponsored by Citigroup and polled the English teachers of 1,004 elementary schools about the English-teaching situation, accurately reflects the situation survey participant Jenny Lu (盧貞穎), an English teacher of Taipei Municipal Wan-fang Elementary Schools (台北萬芳國小), said.

  "We have to ask whether it is necessary to mandate English-language education as early as the first grade," Lu said. She said that the knowledge absorbed by students was limited, but the course load for teachers and students is heavy according to her experience.

  "To be frank, one English class per week is not enough for kids to learn English well," Lu said.

  The survey showed about 80 percent of schools started English courses in the first grade and about 57.4 percent of schools arranged one 40-minute-class per week from the first grade to the fourth grade.

  As a teacher on the English-education frontlines, Lu said she disagrees with a Chinese-language catchphrase that says "pick up English very early to gain an edge," although 48.6 percent of the polled teachers agreed with the catchphrase, according to the survey.

  "Personally I think the third grade is the most appropriate time," Lu said.

  Chief representative of the Parents' Association Hsiao Hui-ying (蕭慧英) said that it needs to be investigated whether schools starting the classes earlier than the education ministry mandate is the result of market demand or collective pressure.

  "The parents are anxious that their kids may lag behind others and are distrustful of ministry educational policy," she added.

  It was found in the survey that about one third of pupils started learning English before formal English courses. This has widened the knowledge gap, said 76 percent of the polled teachers.

  "It is difficult for teachers to teach kids in the same class with different levels of English ability," associate professor of the English Department of National Taiwan Normal University Chu Hui-mei (朱惠美) said.

  It is, however also unfair to classify children according to their English ability, which might harm their confidence, Chu said. She suggested classifying the learning groups according to the teaching materials rather than students' English ability.

  The survey showed that the discontinuity of English courses between elementary schools and secondary schools worried teachers. About 78.9 percent of teachers worried that English education in elementary schools couldn't connect well to that of junior high schools because of inconsistencies of teaching materials and methods.

  About 62.2 percent of teachers polled were required to teach other subjects and 48.8 percent of teachers thought the number of English teachers is insufficient.

  PFP Legislator Lee Yung-ping (李永萍) said that the shortage of English teachers in elementary schools has forced parents to send their children to cram schools, which increased their burden. "The vicious circle will mire parents in problems if the education ministry does not take further measures," she said.
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