全英語通識課程教學之困境與突破

General Education Courses in Taiwan Taught in English: Challenges and Opportunities

胡全威(Chuan-wei Hu)

《全人教育集刊》 1期 (2014/10) Pp. 137-156

https://doi.org/10.6689/BHE.2014.1.1

摘要

英語作為世界溝通語言，其重要性日趨重要。許多學校甚至提供全英語課程，教授專業與通識課程。但是，全英語教學並非只有優點，還可能降低學生學習意願、讓教師無法成為適格的教育者而自我挫折，以及只是更惡化文化殖民的處境。這對於侈言提升國家競爭力、培育世界人才云云，似乎南轅北轍、相互違背，似乎只是創造了更多的挫折、不安與自我矮化。對於如何適當地教授全英語課程，本文提出「破英文，好溝通」（Poor English, Good Communication）的觀點，鼓勵學生勇於發言，同時教師也可以降低自身的焦慮，並正視英語作為世界語的意義。在可見的未來，教育政策趨勢似乎仍將十分重視英語教學。筆者認為倘若有適當的教學觀引領，將可使教學與學習更為健全。

關鍵字

全英文授課 ； 協同學習 ； 世界語言 ； 學習方法

並列摘要

A goal of Taiwanese higher education is to increase the English ability of students. This is being done as English is the lingua franca or common language in the world. Most universities in Taiwan not only require students to obtain a minimum score on an English test, they also require them to take a number of courses, usually in general education, that are taught in English. One important item in the discussion is the main difference between an English class and a class taught in English. The former focuses on the structure of English (e.g., grammar; pronunciation; accents); with the latter focusing on the content of the subject, with English as the means of delivering the content. There are three main issues involved with these courses: (1) Some scholars criticize courses taught in English as being frustrating for students, along with the fact that non-native English speakers might be unqualified to teach them, and thus worsen the problem of cultural hegemony already being seen in Taiwan. (2) It is difficult to teach a course that uses English as the medium of instruction (MOI) without also having to deal with grammar or pronunciation. (3) Even though English is the common language today, the majority of its speakers are non-native speakers. It is neither necessary nor possible for Taiwanese students to speak perfect English. Instead, we should feel comfortable speaking Taiwanese/Chinese English to anyone. The purpose of this paper is to deal with these challenges through the development of a teaching philosophy that has been named “Poor English, Good Communication.” This philosophy comes from practical experience and believes: (1) good communication can be achieved with poor English; along with (2) the emphasis of using poor English can encourage shy students to talk. It is also connected to the idea that students must focus on the subject matter (e.g., Taiwan politics) and not on the MOI (i.e. English). This last point will be difficult, as students have a long history of studying English as a subject. They must be made aware however, that in an English MOI course the most important thing is not English, but the content. This paper will show that “Poor English, Good Communication” can solve the three challenges discussed above and as a results will improve: (a) the learning ability of students; (b) their knowledge of the subject; and also (c) their capacity to communicate with foreigners in English.

並列關鍵字

English-Only Instruction ； General Education ； Collaborative learning ； Common language