Dear Editor,
I'd like to express my opinion about the article 'why Taiwan students' English skills are embarrassingly poor' posted on Dec 23rd, 2006.
Sincerely,
Wang Yi-Ping
Name: Wang Yi-Ping (Rita)
Address: No.260, Ming Tzu Rd., North District, Taichung City 404, Taiwan
What happened to our students' English?
There is a fact that our students' scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) are inferior to those achieved by those from most other Asian countries. Among them, some were colonized by English countries; some have fewer test-takers than Taiwan. The accuracy of Taiwanese students' English proficiency hasn't yet to be seriously taken. Despite the accuracy, what we need to pay attention to is our poor English proficiency.
Reading, writing, speaking, and listening are the four ways to master English. Unfortunately, our education of English only focuses on reading and writing. When it comes to speaking and listening, it is said by some foreigners in Taiwan that our ability to communicate in English is inadequate. There must be something wrong with it. At school, what students learn about English is reading and memorizing grammar and vocabulary. The chance to speak out and listen to English is poor. Moreover, the pronunciation of some teachers of English is really awkward and the teaching method makes students sleepy. When they face with unfamiliar words or sentences, they always ask the teachers to translate. As a matter of course, the teachers translate for the students but their translation weakens students' solution-finding ability. This is the common failing between students and teachers of English which results students in becoming passive learners of English.
As far as I am concerned, our students just lose the motivation and enthusiasm for learning English. They have to know English is more than an academic subject, a tool to enter a prominent school or an international company. They have to know English is the lingua franca of the world and the instrument to see the world. At the same time, our government and teachers of English have to create an English learning environment for students. If possible, I think having conversation classes is the easiest way to make students practice and speak out their English. No more than ten students in a class, the teacher can talk in English with students on one hand. One the other hand, the teacher can take the opportunity to teach students to how to apply their English to daily conversation. With the chance to speak English, students may start to confront and manage to deal with their English proficiency.
No matter what educational system we have now, what chaos it is in, English is the production of globalization. Our students should know globalization makes English becomes the passport to the world. Without good English proficiency, our students cannot go anywhere. Cheer up! Our painstaking students!
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