Willie Said:

Has teaching and learning the English language in Taiwn been a success or failure?

We Answered:

Define "Success". ???
What has developed is certainly better than what would have happened in the absence of any effort. A small percentage of greatly motivated students do extremely well under the current system. I suggest the lack of a more widespread success is due to the lack of clear goals and maintainable achievement levels. Within the smaller market where I teach, I frequently see the conglomeration of dissimilar students under one instructor. It might be better for foreign language instruction if the students underwent valid assessments at the end of each semester, and were then assigned to appropriate ESL instruction levels, regardless of their age-based grade level.

Matt's opinion is well founded, and I agree with him, even though he misspelled "phalanx"... yet can surely count to twenty without a need to use his phalanges. Nyuck, nyuck.

There exists a need for the government to address a few shortcomings in the current "system":

1) Students have for generations been taught MANDARIN CHINESE AS A SECOND LANGUAGE. Thus, it has not been easy for Taiwanese to see English as a "second language." For many, it is in fact a "third language" to be learned and applied. The KMT-led government needs to accept this fact.

2) The number of ESL instructors hired is based primarily on the market, with a lesser emphasis placed on instructor quality. This is akin to the "throw a few warm (caucasian/born in an English-speaking country) bodies at the problem, and we'll make some sort of headway" philosophy. Instructors should have to pass a standard Taiwan-developed English competency test PRIOR to being offered a job or an ARC. This will certainly cut down on the number of nefarious "transient/backpacker/dope-smoking/just here for a paid vacation in an exotic place" ESL "teachers" who come here to abuse the misguided buxiban proprietors and vulnerable students.

3) There should be some standardized instruction manuals or guidebooks required, rather than relying on the current, willy-nilly purchase of whatever suits the instructors' or buxiban owners' whims.

4) Public school classrooms should be open to (paid) regular visitations from qualified native-speakers. Some TESOL-certified person should be "making the rounds" and presenting general assessments of instructor performance and student achievement/engagement.

5) Parents tend to focus on failure and punishment, rather than success and positive reinforcement. This has a tendency to undermine student performance. Regular parent-teacher conferencing should be encouraged to avoid this culturally ingrained pitfall.

6) Competitions involving "applied English" should be developed and distributed widely; e.g., more "Treasure Hunts" using English clue cards, rather than simple speech competitions.

I've run out of time here.

GREAT QUESTION!