On English Teaching

By Crystal Yao

This is an interview with Sydney, a graduate student from our English Department and an English teacher. She teaches English to kids from ages 8 -15. For her teenage students, she tries to incorporate literature, the news, arts in her curriculum. Here is a video about her job: https://youtu.be/ct9CViLDlxo. One day she shared something that caught our attention, so we decided to interview her.

1.       Can you tell me what happened on the day you wrote your feelings and put it on Facebook？

This is the original post if you need it for the reference:

每當在台灣外籍英語教師論壇上，聽一群只會說一種語言的人發表第二外語教學的高論就覺得很好笑 

台灣義務教育的英語教學固然有很多盲點需要突破、改善，但如果第二外語教學只需要母語這個需求，那太多人可以到處亂教外國人中文。（這不是太羞辱華語文教學的老師嗎？）

全英語授課的目的，無非是希望七歲以下的兒童在足夠的曝光率下，自然的吸收語言。大部分的兒童美語根本不可能提供足夠的時數來達到這個目標。也就是說，非得要仰賴一個母語是英文的外國人並沒有那麼必要。當然，教導初學者的第二外語教師本身對語言的掌握不能差，但有沒有到只能是「母語」才「合格」這個理論有待、討論商確。

要不是資源不足，較理想的是兩種語言都熟練的老師。所以我真的不明白這些不需要什麼厲害的學歷、能力就可以領高時薪的外國人（不包含哪些優秀、聰明、敬業的外國人），憑什麼認為自己可以一直針對部份第二外語教師「非母語」的語言程度大做文章？對，他的英文永遠不可能跟你一樣完美無暇（你騙誰，你就不會寫錯字、口誤？），但光他理解不同語系背後的邏輯、文化就足以讓他更清楚的掌握學生的問題，並加以解惑。

#翻白眼翻到火星去
#英文那麼好可以更新一下資訊嗎你山頂洞人喔
#護照藍色囂張什麼

As an English teacher in Taipei, I have access to a few online ‘Facebook groups’ where local and foreign ESL teachers use to post job listings or ask questions. Most of the members are foreigners who speak English as their first language. Most of the content posted and discussed in these groups are generally positive or just neutral and informative. However, there are cases where people often like to voice out their negativity with little attempt to aid those who’ve posted questions in the group. I’m quite often irritated by ‘native speakers’ of English who attack teachers that do not speak English as their first language. I’ve even heard comments asking them to ‘teach their own native language’. I understand that those who do not speak English as their first language may suffer from grammatical errors. But that is completely natural since it is, NOT their native language to begin with. Yet, one does not need to be a native speaker to teach English effectively. It is essential that an English instructor must be able to master the language, but to compare that mastery to a native speaker is uncalled-for. The trend in second language acquisition favors bilingual instructors because it is relatively easier for bilinguals to understand how two different languages tend to confuse each other due to the different natures of the target language and the student’s native tongue. It surprises me how native speakers just assume that they are more qualified when many monolinguals have little experience with learning a second language.

2.       What do you think about our English education system in Taiwan? Is there any chance to change something?

Oh! Don’t get me started! I’ll try to be concise.

I disagree with almost everything in our educational system. This is not to say that Western educational systems are better or perfect (that’s impossible). It simply means that we need to start changing things before we’ve drowned our own future in ignorance and fear.

For starters, a lot of the information we receive plays with our memory rather than helps us understand the material. Our memory mechanism works and expands when we’re young, but we need further learnings to enable ourselves to pass on what we hold in our memory. If we don’t, how can we pass on what we learn and remember to children and expect them to enjoy learning?

In terms of learning English as a second language, I detest the fact that they have the least experienced teachers teaching beginners. This is the stupidest thing yet! For Beginner’s English, vocabulary may be the least important; it should be course which introduces a foreign language and does so with experience and patience. That’s not something you expect from fresh graduates who have no idea how to apply theoretical training to field work.

3.       As an English graduate, what would you suggest undergraduates who want to be English teachers?

Be responsible and be creative. The former should be easy if you have a conscience and understand your power as a teacher over the next generation. The latter can be a hard road because society likes to play it safe. But progress can only be manifested through experimenting new things till better methods are discovered. We’re dealing with a generation consumed by technology. A generation with shorter attention spans and bigger appetites to satisfy. Be ready to try new things and endure backlashes from your predecessors. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s definitely going to be fun. Trust me, kids are much more interesting than the adults around us. Being a teacher guarantees a healthy dose of frustration and inspiration. It provides you the perfect environment to learn and reflect, which inevitably teaches you to become a better person in the long run.