A group of academics at National Taiwan Normal University is recommending that schools devote more time to English classes. They also say that changes need to be made to the existing English-language curriculum if Taiwan is to achieve its goal of becoming a bilingual nation by 2030.
A group of academics working on linguistic and cultural policy put forward the recommendations on Thursday.
The group tested the English ability of Taipei-area students just starting middle school. The students had graduated from over 1,900 different elementary schools around Taipei and New Taipei. They found that 75% of students had the 300-word vocabulary the current curriculum expects of them. 57% even had a vocabulary of greater than 400 words.
But the group also found that students need a vocabulary of at least 450 words in order to adequately understand the kind of material schools expect them to read. It is recommending raising the minimum vocabulary requirement to 450 words as a result.
Professor Chen Hao-jan noted that while Taiwanese children start learning English at around the same age as their peers in South Korea and China, they do not spend as many hours in English classes during elementary and middle school. He said that they also learn fewer vocabulary words. During high school, by contrast, they are expected to memorize 4,500 words.
Chen said that class hours must be increased and vocabulary words assigned more evenly. He also recommended learning from South Korea’s training system for spoken English, and applying technologies such as artificial intelligence to the process of teaching English.