My Fulbright Year in Taiwan

Every two weeks, the ETAs assemble at the Teacher Training Center (where my office is located) for a three-hour workshop. Today was the first such workshop. The ETAs spent the time working with their LETs (Local English Teachers), planning lessons and activities. We talked about several issues that have arisen, the most important being the “No Chinese” rule that we imposed on the ETAs.

Many (perhaps most) of the ETAs had studied Chinese before coming to Taiwan, and many of them came to Taiwan with the intention of continuing studying Chinese while here. Of course they all recognize that while teaching,they are not to practice their Chinese. However, our policy has taken a further step. Not only are the ETAs not to speak Chinese, but they are not to reveal to the children that they can speak Chinese. If the children speak to them in Chinese, the ETAs are to tell the children that they do not understand.

The purpose of this policy is to encourage the children to try to use their emerging English to communicate with the ETA. The motivation to communicate is very high. The children are very curious about the ETAs, and want to ask them countless questions. So why do we put this barrier between the children and the ETAs? Why not just let the ETAs speak to the children in Chinese?

This was the topic of intense discussion during today’s workshop. Some ETAs have expressed the feeling that since the LET can speak to the children in Chinese, that the LET is developing a closer relationship with the children than the ETA can. I expressed my sympathy to the ETAs. It seems almost cruel to prohibit communication. But there is a method to this madness. It has to do with the “teachable moment.” When children are motivated, and need to learn something new in order to accomplish a goal, that is an opportunity to teach. I encouraged the ETA to work with the LET to help the children learn to communicate with the ETA. The LET can serve as the language teacher, teaching the children how to say what they want to express in English. The children can then say what they want to say to the ETA, who will respond. Some LETs who have tried this in the past backed me up on this approach. So we’ll try it, and see how far we get with it.

Some ETAs also shared some strategies that they stumbled upon. One ETA likes to walk around the school grounds during the breaks. Students follow him around, and he maintains a running monologue as he walks, telling the children the English words for things that he sees on campus: “that’s a rock, that’s a tree, that’s Confucius” (a statue of The Sage is an obligatory fixture in every school in Taiwan). Another ETA, whose Chinese is actually pretty good, is “learning” Chinese from the children. They’re teaching him words in Chinese, and he’s teaching them the words in English.

Eventually, the children will discover that the ETAs can speak Chinese. But I hope to delay that, and in the meantime, foster in the children the habit of trying to use English to communicate with the ETAs.