When an additional language is brought in as a medium of instruction for a course (whether partially or fully), the first reaction of teachers is often this: “I don’t have enough time to teach everything.” In many classrooms around the world, teachers implement a coverage curriculum—that is, where the goal is to cover all of…
A Response to “The Best Bilingual Education Starts Early”
On December 27, 2021, the Taipei Times published an editorial written by Professor Rongwen Huang of National Changhua University of Education titled “The Best Bilingual Education Starts Early.” Commenting on the implementation of bilingual education in Taiwan, Professor Huang’s suggestion is as follows: “Tsai’s bilingual education plan should start from the roots and focus on…
A Response to “Tsai Mulling English Test Update for Entrance Exams”
On Monday, November 1, 2021, the Taipei Times reported in an article titled “Tsai Mulling English Test Update for Entrance Exams” that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) suggested replacing the English part of university entrance exams with proficiency tests. I am cautiously in favor of such a change. On the surface, separating English classes from the…
SFL Genre Pedagogy: The Key to Integrating Language and Content
When I conduct bilingual education training for teachers in Taiwan, I usually have the participants discuss their feelings about this statement: It is the job of the bilingual teacher to teach the English language. Since my audience is typically content teachers, most disagree. When asked why they disagree, they answer, “That’s the English teacher’s job!”…