The Taiwan Higher Education Union on Monday accused Ming Chuan University (MCU) of sacrificing its students’ right to education by altering the English-language instruction for first-year students.
The university, which has long emphasized the value that it places on English-language education, in the 2019-2020 academic year changed its English program for first-year students to a combination of self-learning through online videos and weekly lab sessions, during which students would take online tests, the union said.
The change has deprived more than 3,000 students of in-person instruction and of interaction with their teachers, the union added.
Photo courtesy of THE Union via CNA
The online program drew much criticism from students online, the union said, adding that it undermined students' to education, as well as quality of education.
Clifton Hoyt, assistant professor at the MCU English Language Center (ELC) and president of the union’s MCU branch, said that the best way for the center to improve the English program would be to drastically reduce class sizes so that in-person contact can take priority.
“Replacing that kind of face-to-face interaction is going exactly in the wrong direction,” he added.
About 84.7 percent of the 287 MCU students who participated in a survey conducted by the union from Nov. 14 to Dec. 5 last year said they disagreed that the online English program could help enhance their English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.
About 81.5 percent of respondents agreed that it would be more accurate to call the online English program an “online testing system,” rather than an “online course,” the union said.
The results also showed that about 89.9 percent of respondents supported a “change to a digital course where teachers instruct students with technology support,” while the other 10.1 percent of respondents preferred to “keep the current test-based online program.”
The university said that years of experience have shown the center that students in traditional instruction can overlook English oral practice.
The use of customized, online teaching materials can make up for shortcomings in traditional instruction and provide students with the opportunity to learn repeatedly without being limited by time or space, it said, adding that face-to-face instruction was taking place at the center, alongside the online courses.
Additional reporting by CNA
This story has been amended since it was first published.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as