Improving English in Taiwan
Steven Krashen
Sent to the China Post, March 26, 2005
The Post is right, and the Post is wrong in their
recent editorial about English language instruction in
Taiwan. (“English teaching in Taiwan needs a complete
reform,” March 25).
The Post is wrong when it claims that English
proficiency is low based on test scores. Low scores on
exams do not necessarily mean there is a problem. Exam
scores are based on arbitrary levels. Committees can
raise the standard and make test-takers look worse or
lower the standard and make test-takers look better.
But if it is demonstrated that “most high school
graduates, having learned English for six years or
more, can hardly speak with a foreigner and are unable
to write a simple letter in the language,” then there
really is a problem.
English proficiency can and should be improved. The
Post is right when it condemns English classes that
“do not teach students how to use the language as a
means of daily communication. Instead, the lessons are
designed to help students answer multiple questions on
fine points of grammar.” Study after study shows the
limitations of teaching grammar, and many people have
acquired high levels of proficiency without an
extensive knowledge of grammar.
The Post is right to recommend a more communicative
approach. The Post, however, is wrong when it states
that getting English teachers to use more English in
class is the “only way” to make classes helpful.
Current research and theory says that we acquire
language when we hear and read messages we understand,
when we obtain “comprehensible input.” The teacher is
not the only source of comprehensible input.
Video-tapes, films and audiotapes can also provide a
great deal of aural comprehensible input, and comics,
magazines and books are obvious sources of written
comprehensible input.
The research on reading, especially recreational
reading done in school in the form of “sustained
silent reading” is especially impressive: English
students who spend a modest amount of class-time
reading English books and magazines, reading material
that students choose themselves, make very good
progress in English, doing at least as well as
students who spend the same amount of time in doing
traditional instruction, and often do better. In
addition, students who participate in sustained silent
reading programs are more likely to continue reading
on their own, and are thus more likely to continue to
improve.
Taiwan has become a leader in research in this area. A
considerable amount of research on sustained silent
reading in English as a foreign language has been done
in Taiwan, including studies by James Sims (Tung Hai
University), Thomas Nash and Yun-Pi Yuan (Fu Jen
University), and Syying Lee (National Taipei
University).
Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus, University of Southern California
English teaching in Taiwan needs a complete reform
2005/3/25
In recent years, the government has been making a
spate of efforts to promote the use of English on this
island. For example, it has pushed for the display of
English road signs island-wide. And it has urged
government employees to improve their English or face
the possibility of being denied promotions. All this
has been done for the purpose of giving momentum to
the movement to internationalize the island.
The initiatives are steps in the right direction.
But, despite these efforts, the levels of English
proficiency in this country remain shamefully low. One
indication is the disastrous performance of those who
took this year's university entrance exam.
The testing center that administered the entrance
examination said that more than 10 percent of the exam
candidates received a zero on the composition section
of the English test and that 30 percent of the
examinees scored a zero on the translation section of
the test.
The revelations have aroused widespread concern and
criticism. The examinees' low scores are a
condemnation of the way English is taught on this
island.
The root cause of the exam candidates' poor English
is the way English is taught in the island's high
schools. The English classes at most schools do not
teach students how to use the language as a means of
daily communication. Instead, the lessons are designed
to help students answer multiple questions on fine
points of grammar.
The result is that most high school graduates, having
learned English for six years or more, can hardly
speak with a foreigner and are unable to write a
simple letter in the language.
The outdated teaching methods based on grammar
analysis must be replaced with an approach that
emphasizes the use of English for communication.
Toward this purpose, the textbooks that are currently
used should all be rewritten or abandoned, and English
teachers should be encouraged to speak English with
their students in class. Doing so may be a challenge
for many of the teachers, but it is the only way to
make the classes helpful to the students.
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