Last Wednesday I attended a meeting at Kang Le Elementary. The subject of the meeting was the county government's plans for English instruction. In attendance were English teachers from Da Wu, teachers from Cheng Gong, and even a teacher from Green Island. Besides these Taiwanese English teachers, there were also four Foreign English teachers on hand. It was a crowded room.上星期三我到康樂國小參加一場會議, 主題是關於台東縣政府對於英語教學的計畫. 出席的英文老師有的從大武 , 成功, 甚至遠從綠島而來, 除了本土的英文老師之外, 也有四位外籍教師到場, 場面顯得很熱鬧.
The meeting began and ended with a speech. I will not comment on the content of this speech. Suffice to say, we were encouraged to believe in ourselves, and in all of the possibilities that each day brings.會議開始前, 後都有一場演說, 在這裡我就不詳述內容了, 大體上是鼓勵老師們要對自己的教學有信心, 每一天都是好的開始.
Between the two speeches, the principal from Hot Spring Elementary talked about the county's plans for English-language instruction. He mentioned the addition of more Foreign English Teachers (FETs) in the near future, and the county's utilization of the Fulbright Program to cull these teachers from American universities. He talked about the English competitions that come along every semester, and more specifically about this semester's Reader's Theater competition. He also discussed the fact that many Taiwanese English teachers from other areas try to avoid working in Taitung, and also some of the peculiarities of teaching (and learning) English in Taitung County. I agreed with the statements he made, particularly with regard to FETs in Taitung County.會議當中, 溫泉國小的校長談到台東縣政府對英語教學的計畫方針, 他提到未來將徵聘更多的外籍教師, 計畫從美國大學招攬更多人才來臺任教, 也提到每學期的英語比賽 , 尤其是這學期的"讀者劇場". 也討論一些現實狀況: 很多臺灣的英語老師不喜歡到台東任教, 而台東在英語教學及學習上也有些特殊差異, 我贊同他的見解, 尤其是他對於外籍英語教師的意見.
Afterward there was a discussion period, and this was where the meeting broke down. We were separated into area groups, with people from the Rift Valley in the back, people around Taitung City in the front, people from south Taitung County to the left, and people from the northern coastal areas to the right. Each group was charged with answering a question about local English instruction, and they had about twenty minutes to formulate their answers.之後有一部分的討論時間, 我們大家分成幾個小組, 鹿野,關山及池上來的人在後, 台東市區的在前面, 臺東縣南部的人在左邊, 北海岸線的人在右邊, 每一組回答一個關於英語教學的問題, 並且在二十分鐘內討論他們的答案.
The trouble was that we were all sitting in an auditorium, and it is really difficult for anyone to have a group discussion when they are facing forward, and the seats don't move. A lot of people didn't want to join the discussion, and I can't really blame them for that. In the end, a few people from each group tended to monopolize this activity, and what most people thought about the questions remained a mystery.問題是我們是在會議室裡, 很難有小組討論的感覺, 因為所有的椅子都朝向同一邊, 根本不可能搬動, 因此很多人不想參與討論, 我可以了解他們的感覺, 最後, 只有每組中的少數幾個發表意見, 大部分的人的意見仍是個秘密.
What struck me about the meeting was how little we discussed WHY our students need to learn English. You would think this would have come up somewhere, but maybe it was taken for granted. Or maybe the issue is too contentious.讓我覺得不可思議的昰: 我們幾乎沒有談到為什麼我們的學生需要學英文, 我以為這問題應該會有人提出來, 也許這是大家都知道的事, 也或許這個問題太具爭議性了.
It just seems to me that there are many different reasons to learn (or to teach) English, and identifying these reasons would be the first step towards setting goals and trying to reach them. For example, are we teaching English for purely academic purposes? Or are we also teaching English for aesthetic reasons related to personal development? And what about local economic factors? Would a broader English-language base help open up Taitung County to tourism opportunities? Would it help students in their later careers?對我來說, 學習英語或是教授英語有許多的原因, 了解學習或教授的目的有助於設定目標及達成. 例如: 我們教授英文昰為了學術需求? 或是自我能力的充實? 還是當地經濟因素? 好的英語能力是否能幫助臺東縣發展觀光? 是否能幫助學生就業?
These would have been valid questions to ask, but there didn't seem to be any forum in which to ask them. As it was, we were presented with a list of questions to answer, and it was hard to address other issues. It just seems to me that before we get to the HOW of local English instruction, we first need to define the WHY. 這些會是很好的問題, 但那裡似乎不是個很好的討論場所, 因為我們手上已經有一堆問題等著我們回答, 所以很難再提出任何的問題, 對我來說, 在討論到"如何做"之前, 應該先需要知道"為什麼做"!
Anyway, those are my thoughts on last Wednesday's meeting. There are other points I might raise, but I have raised them elsewhere in this blog. Hope you have a happy Double Ten Day next Wednesday. I know we could all use the break! 無論如何, 這些昰我對上星期三會議的一些想法. 我也對英語教學提出一些其他的想法, 這些都在我的部落格裡, 祝你有個愉快的雙十節, 啊! 我們都需要休息一下.
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