Monday, January 29, 2007
Tina's learners in Taiwan
My learners are primary school students from seven to twelve years old. They study in a school which is located in Nan-Ke Science-based Industrial Park in southern part of Taiwan. Because of school-based curriculum, learners’ study background, and their parents’ educational background, all the learners start to learn English when they are first grade student. Mandarin is the native language and official language for Taiwanese people. For learners in Taiwan, as EFL learners, it is important to learn this foreign language in order to enter higher level education when they graduate from high schools. Besides, English makes learners to widen their knowledge toward the world and to communicate with other people since there are more and more foreign people choose to work or live in Taiwan, and online communication becomes very popular in recent years. As an English teacher, though I was major in English in the university, I believe that there are still many things for me to learn to teach. In addition to use the textbooks provided by school, I am still looking for any possible resources to motivate my learners and make English learning become enjoyable to them.
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2 comments:
Sounds like there are very strong social reasons for learning English - but how much of that filters down to young learners is another question? ['m not sure whatage they are at first grade - is that 7? The pull of learning English for Higher education is bound to have an influence - does that mean a lot of learners are focussed on written skills (are these more favoured in exams)? The "greater good" aspect of learning English is great when it works - but in practice, it's often not very real for young learners. Howegver, that could be one of the real advantages of the Internet? The possibilities for authentic communication are termendous - maybe that's the kind of area that would motivate your learners?
Students in my school have to learn English when they are first grade students(7 years old). They learn Phonics when they are at beginners' level(first and second grade). Listening, reading, and speaking are the three main skills to be emphasised. In the process of learning Phonics, students accumulate words and simple sentence patterns that they can feel more comfortable to study in the intermediate level when these components become the main focus in class.
Because of the prevalence of cram school in Taiwan, lots of students learn English before they start to learn it in school. However, still some students are not able to attend this kind of cram school, and they may feel stress when they start to learn this foreign language in class since many other students perform better. To solve this problem, our team of English teaching aims to reduce this kind of inequality in learning; thus, we design the curriculum that all the students can learn English when they enter primary school.
Students in primary school do not have to do entrance exam for public junior high school education. As a result, students can learn English without much pressure. We English teachers try to enhance learners' motivation and interests in various ways. Because of the convenience of using computer equipments in my school, students have chance to learn through multimedia program.
Most of students can be motivated in this way, however, students may feel bored more easily when they are back to learn in regular class.
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