Letters

English teaching woes

The Taipei Times points out that the problems of English language teaching in Taiwan have to do with methodology and suggests that foreign teachers might be helpful to "train local teachers" and "compile teaching materials" ("A lot to learn about teaching English," Jan. 7, page 8).

I am very familiar with Taiwanese scholarship in foreign language teaching. I have attended the last two meetings of the English Teachers' Association of Taiwan and have read the proceedings of all meetings held since 1993. There is just as much expertise in language teaching in Taiwan as there is anywhere in the world. There is no need to bring in foreigners, often from monolingual countries that do not support bilingualism, with little knowledge of the local situation. I agree with the Taipei Times that methodology can be improved, but I suggest that the Ministry of Education first take advantage of its own experts.

Stephen Krashen
University of Southern California, CA

Your editorial made several excellent points concerning English-language education in Taiwan ("A lot to learn about teaching English," Jan. 7, page 8). You placed the blame, for example, squarely on the teaching methods and the emphasis on memorization. You also made a good suggestion as to how to use foreign teachers to train our local teachers. I would like to add a few cents of my own.

Firstly, the memorization problem is driven by our archaic notions about learning, which have been carried over from the old test-centered mandarin examination system. It really can't be effectively applied to evaluate language skills and functional competency.

Secondly, teaching methods are also driven by testing requirements, which are by and large a static approach to language acquisition.

Thirdly, we really need to change this teaching approach from static to dynamic. By dynamic, I mean that we need to learn to use the language instead of studying it solely to pass tests.

To be able to use the language we need to learn to speak the language first. From my own teaching experience, I disagree with your view that English-language acquisition can't be achieved through English without the aid of explanations in another language. As a matter of fact, we all learned our mother tongue through our mother tongue. It is the method that counts. (Using real objects in live situations initially will resolve the problem of guesswork, as you contended.)

Yes, if our teaching methods and preoccupation with testing remain unchanged, what would be the point of hiring foreign teachers at a high salary? It might be a waste of time and would deplete our national treasury which is not so full at this point in time.

Chang Yen-chung
Taoyuan, Taoyuan County