ELT World » taiwan Your local friendly TEFL blog Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:32:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 MOE donates textbooks to N.Y. bilingual center /2008/09/moe-donates-textbooks-to-ny-bilingual-center/ /2008/09/moe-donates-textbooks-to-ny-bilingual-center/#comments Tue, 16 Sep 2008 06:01:39 +0000 david /news/?p=125 Taiwan, New York: Taiwan’s Ministry of Education donated Friday Taiwan elementary school natural sciences and math textbooks to a bilingual center under the jurisdiction of the New York State and New York City education departments.

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]]> /2008/09/moe-donates-textbooks-to-ny-bilingual-center/feed/ 0 Taiwan: English teaching should go ‘glocal’ /2008/08/taiwan-english-teaching-should-go-%e2%80%98glocal%e2%80%99/ /2008/08/taiwan-english-teaching-should-go-%e2%80%98glocal%e2%80%99/#comments Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:37:18 +0000 david /news/?p=91 Today and for the foreseeable future, English is the global language and a necessary means to enhance one’s competitiveness in many job or school markets. The problem is that there is a lack of connection between the role of public education to prepare students for these markets and the actual abilities that students have when they leave school. There are two solutions to this problem: Change the education system or change the approach to teaching English in schools. Ideally, the most effective solution is a combination of the two.

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]]> /2008/08/taiwan-english-teaching-should-go-%e2%80%98glocal%e2%80%99/feed/ 1 South Korea to hire unqualified hacks, Taiwan to blame teachers for failures /2008/06/south-korea-to-hire-unqualified-hacks-taiwan-to-blame-teachers-for-failures/ /2008/06/south-korea-to-hire-unqualified-hacks-taiwan-to-blame-teachers-for-failures/#comments Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:10:27 +0000 david /news/?p=40 South Korea: Hagwon Seek to Block Unqualified Foreign Teachers

In a move that makes a frightening amount of sense, the association of foreign language institutes (hagwon) said recently that the government should block the inflow of unqualified native English teachers, making clear its opposition to a policy to increase the number of “questionable instructors.”

The Korea Association of Foreign Language Academies (KAFLA) complained that the government was ‘recklessly’ opening the door to foreigners without building any safeguard against unqualified teachers (duh). Native English speakers who have no teaching experience in their 20s receive the same salaries as Koreans who have taught English for more than 10 years, she said.

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Malaysia: Changes for Better English Teaching Soon

Changes may be made to the teaching of English, especially in primary schools, to ensure that students get a better grasp on the language.

‘We may stretch the English lesson period by shortening the time for other subjects, or train and outsource more teachers to teach English,’ Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said yesterday. ‘We will make an effort to ensure that the usage of English language is strengthened.’

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Taiwan: TOEFL Scores Reflect Poor Teaching Methods

Blame the teacher, that’s what I say. Nowadays, it is commonly recognized in Taiwan that the ability to use English is an important skill. In many government organizations as well as private ones, proficiency in English is necessary for promotions or appointments to supervisory positions. With all the enthusiasm for English among the Taiwanese, and the enormous stock of resources spent in this area, it would seem that the average level of English ability in Taiwan should be outstanding as compared with the people in neighboring countries.

The contrary is true, however, if the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is a fairly accurate measurement of how successful one can be in using English. It must be admitted that the level of English proficiency of the Taiwanese is embarrassingly poor. Can’t possibly be the students to blame, could it?

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]]> /2008/06/south-korea-to-hire-unqualified-hacks-taiwan-to-blame-teachers-for-failures/feed/ 0 Asia Pacific in the Spotlight /2008/03/asia-pacific-in-the-spotlight/ /2008/03/asia-pacific-in-the-spotlight/#comments Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:19:45 +0000 david /news/?p=8 I myself have never had the dubious pleasure of teaching English in Asia. For those of you who have, or are, or will, here’s the latest lowdown on TEFL in the Asia Pacific region:

Vietnam: Teaching English: TOEIC Suitable to Vietnam?

Many, ahem, ‘experts’ say that TOEIC (Test of English International Communication) will not be suitable to Vietnam, warning that the application of TOEIC on a large scale in Vietnam will repeat the bitter lessons of the A-B-C certificate-based English teaching movement several years ago. Sure that advice will be followed, then.

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TEFL Vietnam
Look where you’re going for God’s sake

Singapore: She Puts the Fun in English Lessons

Mrs Whiston, co-managing director and chairman of Lorna Whiston Schools, has come a long way since setting up the school in 1980.The Lorna Whiston English as an Acquired Language (EAL) School received a Singapore Education Award for Best Enrichment Programme. The EAL school was formed in 2005 for foreign students who do not speak English as their first language and are seeking to get into schools here. Since it started, it has seen over 200students pass through its doors. For Mrs Whiston, the school was formed simply because there was a need for it. It was the same reason she had set up her first study centre 28 years ago. Good old Mrs Whiston, eh.

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New Zealand: School Highlights Language Barriers

The happy sound of children in primary schools around Queenstown these days is beginning to resemble more of a United Nations assembly than a school one. About 30 percent of pupils at Queenstown’s 160-pupil St Joseph’s School do not speak English as their first language and at nearby Queenstown Primary School that figure is 77 out of 598 pupils.St Joseph’s School principal Phil O’Connell-Cooper said it was an increasing challenge to find the resources to help some of these children, who could arrive at the school speaking no English or a moderate amount. Welcome to the 21st century.

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Taiwan: The Best Time for Learning English

Taiwan has been awash with ‘English fever’, apparently. Sounds a bit painful if you ask me. Learning English as a foreign language (EFL) has been a national craze for years. Parents want their children to learn English as early as possible — preferably before elementary school — as evidenced by the ubiquity of language schools. More than 30 percent of all elementary school students study English at some form of language school.This phenomenon is largely based on the ‘assumption’ that kids naturally pick up languages more effortlessly than adults do. Although having children start to learn English at an early age seems to be the sole means of enhancing the nation’s English proficiency, many English teachers might still feel that younger learners do not necessarily perform better than others. Research has also shown no significant difference between the two groups in terms of final ability. I’m losing the will to live…

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]]> /2008/03/asia-pacific-in-the-spotlight/feed/ 0 Asia Pacific TEFL Headlines /2008/03/asia-pacific-tefl-headlines/ /2008/03/asia-pacific-tefl-headlines/#comments Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:13:00 +0000 david /2008/03/asia-pacific-tefl-headlines/ I myself have never had the dubious pleasure of teaching English in Asia. For those of you who have, or are, or will, here’s the latest lowdown on TEFL in the Asia Pacific region:

Vietnam: Teaching English: TOEIC Suitable to Vietnam?

Many, ahem, ‘experts’ say that TOEIC (Test of English International Communication) will not be suitable to Vietnam, warning that the application of TOEIC on a large scale in Vietnam will repeat the bitter lessons of the A-B-C certificate-based English teaching movement several years ago. Sure that advice will be followed, then.

Read the full story…

TEFL Vietnam
Look where you’re going for God’s sake

Singapore: She Puts the Fun in English Lessons

Mrs Whiston, co-managing director and chairman of Lorna Whiston Schools, has come a long way since setting up the school in 1980.The Lorna Whiston English as an Acquired Language (EAL) School received a Singapore Education Award for Best Enrichment Programme. The EAL school was formed in 2005 for foreign students who do not speak English as their first language and are seeking to get into schools here. Since it started, it has seen over 200students pass through its doors. For Mrs Whiston, the school was formed simply because there was a need for it. It was the same reason she had set up her first study centre 28 years ago. Good old Mrs Whiston, eh.

Read the full story…

New Zealand: School Highlights Language Barriers

The happy sound of children in primary schools around Queenstown these days is beginning to resemble more of a United Nations assembly than a school one. About 30 percent of pupils at Queenstown’s 160-pupil St Joseph’s School do not speak English as their first language and at nearby Queenstown Primary School that figure is 77 out of 598 pupils.

St Joseph’s School principal Phil O’Connell-Cooper said it was an increasing challenge to find the resources to help some of these children, who could arrive at the school speaking no English or a moderate amount. Welcome to the 21st century.

Read the full story…

Taiwan: The Best Time for Learning English

Taiwan has been awash with ‘English fever’, apparently. Sounds a bit painful if you ask me. Learning English as a foreign language (EFL) has been a national craze for years. Parents want their children to learn English as early as possible — preferably before elementary school — as evidenced by the ubiquity of language schools. More than 30 percent of all elementary school students study English at some form of language school.

This phenomenon is largely based on the ‘assumption’ that kids naturally pick up languages more effortlessly than adults do. Although having children start to learn English at an early age seems to be the sole means of enhancing the nation’s English proficiency, many English teachers might still feel that younger learners do not necessarily perform better than others. Research has also shown no significant difference between the two groups in terms of final ability. I’m losing the will to live…

Read the full story…

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]]> /2008/03/asia-pacific-tefl-headlines/feed/ 0 Asia TEFL Headlines /2008/03/asia-tefl-headlines/ /2008/03/asia-tefl-headlines/#comments Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:30:00 +0000 david /2008/03/asia-tefl-headlines/ Korea: Korean Students Undaunted by Body English Brouhaha

Koreans studying here find the conditions ideal for them to learn English as a second language, said a top official of the Bureau of Immigration. “The country’s cost of quality education and its foreigner-friendly immigration policies are attracting more Koreans to visit and enroll in Philippine schools,” Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said yesterday, amid the furor involving a beauty pageant winner caught on television recently over a slip of the tongue.

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Taiwan: MOE denies endorsing any English certification system

The Ministry of Education (MOE) denied yesterday that it has endorsed any particular language learning and certification programs in Taiwan. The officials made the statements in response to advertisements placed in local newspapers by an institution claiming its “global English certification program” has the recognition and endorsement of the MOE.

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India: Agra moving to English via Hinglish

People are queuing up to enrol their children in English medium schools and Hinglish tabloids are flying off the newsstands in the city of the Taj as society here – like in much of India’s cities – undergoes a transition from having a minority of English speakers to a large number of those keen on learning the world’s most spoken language.

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Japan: Making English Work:Study a ‘Hobby’ for Shin-Idemitsu Boss

This column features interviews with professionals who use English in their jobs, experts and others interested in the language in the hope of offering insights into learning the language. Company Chairman Yutaka Idemitsu starts his day by studying English for an hour after rising at 5 a.m.–a practice that he has maintained for nearly two decades.

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]]> /2008/03/asia-tefl-headlines/feed/ 0 English villages in Taiwan /2007/12/english-villages-in-taiwan/ /2007/12/english-villages-in-taiwan/#comments Fri, 07 Dec 2007 10:47:00 +0000 david /2007/12/english-villages-in-taiwan/ Taiwan’s first English language village has recently opened in Taiwan, where Taiwanese children go twice a week for English immersion classes.

English Village

The Happy English Village features themed classrooms: a bank, a hotel, an airport waiting room and a coffee bar amongst others, and attracts 120 students. It was the idea of a non-profit organisation called the King Car Education Foundation.

The idea came to General Director Morgan Sun after visiting similar immersion villages in Korea. Concerned about the relatively poor ranking of Taiwanese students on the IELTS exam, compared to Japanese, South Korean and Vietnamese students, he decided it was time for an immersion village in Taiwan.

He hopes that the emphasis on speaking with the volunteer foreign teachers at the village, will shift the emphasis away from rote-learning and exams in the Taiwanese education system, towards communicative learning through real-life experiences.

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]]> /2007/12/english-villages-in-taiwan/feed/ 0 One day teaching in Taiwan /2007/08/one-day-teaching-in-taiwan/ /2007/08/one-day-teaching-in-taiwan/#comments Fri, 10 Aug 2007 09:31:00 +0000 david /2007/08/one-day-teaching-in-taiwan/
If you’ve ever thought about making a major move and trying something drastic like going to South East Asia to teach English, video clips such as these will give you a valuable insight into what kind of lifestyle you could expect. Although I’ve been teaching English for many years, I’ve never done so in this part of the world, and learned a lot from spending a few minutes looking at an average day of a teacher in Taiwan.




David’s guide to the DELTA



Teaching English in Asia



These clips are the hard work of MooseDiggler, a New Zealander working in Taiwan.







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]]> /2007/08/one-day-teaching-in-taiwan/feed/ 0 Teaching kids in Taiwan /2007/08/teaching-kids-in-taiwan/ /2007/08/teaching-kids-in-taiwan/#comments Tue, 07 Aug 2007 10:34:00 +0000 david /2007/08/teaching-kids-in-taiwan/
How do you rate this teacher? It looks to me like the kids are having a really fun time, plus the repetition drills are probably driving home the language to some extent.

Do they look comfortable with the ‘you will die’ threat? How about being pointed at? I’ve never experienced this culture, but I’d be interested to know how those with experience feel.








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