Have I mentioned recently that linguistics is the final degeneration of human progress? The lowest form of education possible? It's upsetting that it is so wildly popular: everyone wants to learn English. So they get a bunch of white people and train them in linguistics and TESOL, because there is an assumption (which I disagree with) that learning a lot of little symbols about all the various forms of mistakes non-native speakers can make and studying students not-yet-perfect accent will somehow get them to learn how to speak English well. It's absolutely ridiculous.
1) It's teacher-centered rather than student centered
2) It focuses on the mistakes and gives them power as autonomous modes of communication
3) It produces English teachers who know everything about the linguistic production of English but nothing of any value
Universities like to hire MA's or PHD's in linguistics to teach English to their students. This is a severely flawed notion. While linguistics or TESOL might be helpful to native-speaking ESL teachers, it is emphatically not helpful, nor useful, to any non-native student's wanting to learn how to speak English. Rather than read great English literature, study English grammar, or improve their fluency, they learn linguistics and do linguistic studies of their own "Meta-Language" (read: bad pronunciation).
There are thousands of these students, all over the world, studying Linguistics and TESOL simply because, the MA's and PhD's studied Linguistics and TESOL. They don't know anything else. So what you get is whole countries of academics studying the linguistic composition of a foreign language, their non-native English. And yet often their speaking and writing is terrible. And they will go on to teach "English" to others - by teaching linguistics and TESOL.
It almost makes me furious. It's so futile and self-defeating and inane and bureaucratic, absolutely senseless in every way. Brilliant minds solving problems that DO NOT NEED to be solved.
People have been learning languages since we began speaking them. People CAN learn 2 or 3 languages, and learn them well. They did it long before there was ever such a thing as TESOL or Linguistics. Without a doubt, my students studying Literature will learn to use English, not to dissect it and ruin it. And yet, I see myself having trouble finding work because the emphasis is so much on linguistics rather than literature.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Spanish test and Taiwan's friendly people
What a day. I have a cold and am always irritable when my nose is stuffed up. My girlfriend woke me up early for a ride to the train station and I missed out on several hours of sleep I had been counting on; today was a very important Spanish exam day.
Tangent: I've been trying to convince my university to let me test out of my language requirements. They finally were persuaded, and I spent the last two days trying to re-learn the Spanish that I picked up in Argentina over 10 years ago. All things considered, I think I did pretty well, but a lot can go wrong with language tests. What if I got all the words right but the accents wrong? What if I got the verbs right but used past preterite instead of past imperfect tense? We'll see how they choose to grade it.
Anyway...I'm sick and its cold and its a sunny day - back to my morning story about Taiwan's friendly people. On a OCD infatuation I felt I needed a bigger TV, and last night I found a used one (huge) for $150. Did I need it? No. But it seemed like such a good deal! So, today I was trying to figure out how to buy speakers for it. This is something people do. They buy speakers for TV's. I have a set of old speakers, but I was willing to buy new ones.
I went to RT mart, the nearest supermarket, and asked in my passable Chinese. "I have this (TV) and I have that (Speaker) I want use together, how can I use together? What do I have to buy? The first guy in the electronics department answered my question and I said OK, but then he said "Wait" and he went to ask a co-worker. (The problem is that TV speakers don't plug into TV's, they plug into sound-boxes that plug into TV's. Or - they have a little green audio plug like computers, but I didn't think my TV has that. So the answer I got was "impossible. Can't do it." That's a silly answer. Of course I can find a way to connect speakers to a TV. And he read the incredulous look on my face as incomprehension - so he went to find someone who spoke ENGLISH.)
First, he brought a loud, sociable co-worker whose English was much worse than my Chinese and I ignored her. Then he brought a woman who was married to a man who lived in California and spoke some English. (I think they used the broadcast system to say "will anyone who speaks English please come to the electronics department?")
I explained to her, in Chinese, (but slower this time) what I wanted, and she passed that along in Chinese, to the crowd of employees gathering. They gave her answers (the same ones that I heard before) in Chinese (which I understood) and then she translated into English (how helpful.)
Then her husband came along who spoke English very well. At this point it would be rude to refuse his help so I spoke to him in English. We chatted for awhile about the USA, I asked my questions again but more specifically, and got the same answers (but was directed to another store at least) and thanked everybody for the help and left.
YES - Taiwanese people are extremely HELPFUL. They want to FIND HELP FOR YOU. But they often lack the confidence, self-esteem and competence to listen to you and help you themselves. To be fair, my Chinese isn't great. Even at the other store, the employees kept saying "Maybe this...but I'm don't understand what you want." However....the problem was simple and pretty clear. I had two physical objects to point to and gesture with, as well as lots of cords to dangle emphatically. Anyway....
Tangent: I've been trying to convince my university to let me test out of my language requirements. They finally were persuaded, and I spent the last two days trying to re-learn the Spanish that I picked up in Argentina over 10 years ago. All things considered, I think I did pretty well, but a lot can go wrong with language tests. What if I got all the words right but the accents wrong? What if I got the verbs right but used past preterite instead of past imperfect tense? We'll see how they choose to grade it.
Anyway...I'm sick and its cold and its a sunny day - back to my morning story about Taiwan's friendly people. On a OCD infatuation I felt I needed a bigger TV, and last night I found a used one (huge) for $150. Did I need it? No. But it seemed like such a good deal! So, today I was trying to figure out how to buy speakers for it. This is something people do. They buy speakers for TV's. I have a set of old speakers, but I was willing to buy new ones.
I went to RT mart, the nearest supermarket, and asked in my passable Chinese. "I have this (TV) and I have that (Speaker) I want use together, how can I use together? What do I have to buy? The first guy in the electronics department answered my question and I said OK, but then he said "Wait" and he went to ask a co-worker. (The problem is that TV speakers don't plug into TV's, they plug into sound-boxes that plug into TV's. Or - they have a little green audio plug like computers, but I didn't think my TV has that. So the answer I got was "impossible. Can't do it." That's a silly answer. Of course I can find a way to connect speakers to a TV. And he read the incredulous look on my face as incomprehension - so he went to find someone who spoke ENGLISH.)
First, he brought a loud, sociable co-worker whose English was much worse than my Chinese and I ignored her. Then he brought a woman who was married to a man who lived in California and spoke some English. (I think they used the broadcast system to say "will anyone who speaks English please come to the electronics department?")
I explained to her, in Chinese, (but slower this time) what I wanted, and she passed that along in Chinese, to the crowd of employees gathering. They gave her answers (the same ones that I heard before) in Chinese (which I understood) and then she translated into English (how helpful.)
Then her husband came along who spoke English very well. At this point it would be rude to refuse his help so I spoke to him in English. We chatted for awhile about the USA, I asked my questions again but more specifically, and got the same answers (but was directed to another store at least) and thanked everybody for the help and left.
YES - Taiwanese people are extremely HELPFUL. They want to FIND HELP FOR YOU. But they often lack the confidence, self-esteem and competence to listen to you and help you themselves. To be fair, my Chinese isn't great. Even at the other store, the employees kept saying "Maybe this...but I'm don't understand what you want." However....the problem was simple and pretty clear. I had two physical objects to point to and gesture with, as well as lots of cords to dangle emphatically. Anyway....
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Studying abroad in Taiwan.
I've started using "squidoo", yet another blog page. Don't know much about it except it's supposed to be a way to share practical information...my first post is about studying abroad in Taiwan with the Taiwan scholarship
http://www.squidoo.com/studyintaiwan/
Since this blog is about Taiwan, I'll post the whole thing here, too.
During my first several years teaching English in Taiwan I heard rumors about an amazing scholarship program run by Taiwan's Ministry of Education. Free tuition, a generous stipend, and a post-graduate degree in only two to four years. Specific details were hard to come by, but nearly everybody had met someone who, when asked what they did in Taiwan, kind of giggled and said "Oh, nothing. I'm not working right now." However, finding relevant information about studying in Taiwan under the Taiwan Scholarship can be elusive and overwhelming. This article is a user's guide to getting accepted into the graduate school of your choice, and federally funded during your stay.
The Taiwan Scholarship is a program designed to increase the number of foreign students in Taiwanese Universities, so that Taiwanese students will have a multi-national, bilingual university education. In my opinion, it's a smart move by Taiwan's Ministry of Education, who recognize that the increasing number of graduates may soon overwhelm Taiwan's workforce. This is great news for foreigners who like Taiwan but are tired of teaching English and would like to further their education. That's not to suggest that the programs in Taiwan aren't challenging. Nor can you assume that getting accepted is a piece of cake - a mistake I made applying to NCKU the first time in 2006. But with the right information and a little hard work, the Taiwan Scholarship can be a dream come true.
How do I apply?
The application process is two-fold:
You can apply for the Taiwan scholarship from February to March each year. You must mail the application and the required documents to a Taiwan Embassy in your home country. Part of the application is a "study plan", so you should already have an idea of what you want to study. For a post-graduate degree, this implies doing academic research on a problem in your field that you'd like to solve. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the studies being done internationally, as well as the research being pursued at the Taiwanese university you'd like to attend. You will also be asked for a list of the universities that you are applying to.
The application processes and deadlines for Taiwanese universities vary. Go into their website and download all the necessary materials. You will probably need a prior degree, transcripts, letters of reference, pictures, a statement of purpose and a study plan. Universities only accept a limited number of foreign students each year, so make sure you have a strong application. Let them know you are genuinely interested in the field by doing some research and getting yourself up-to-date. Don't go in as a clean plate asking for a free ride.
If they like your application material, you may be called in for an interview around May or June. This can be grueling. You'll most likely sit down in front of half a dozen Professors and asked challenging questions like "Why don't you get a degree from your own country?" They are just trying to rattle you and test your ability to think and speak clearly under pressure.
Once you get accepted, you can notify the Taiwan Embassy that you sent your Taiwan Scholarship Application to, and then they will decide whether or not you will receive the scholarship.
How much do I get?
If you get the Taiwan Scholarship, you will get 25,000NT a month for an undergraduate degree, or 30,000NT for MA and PH.D students. (30,000nt is about $1,000 USD) The money will be deposited into a Post Office bank account. However, you may still have to pay tuition, which ranges from 60,000NT - 100,000NT a year.
Even if you don't get the Taiwan scholarship, most universities offer their own financial assistance, which generally includes free tuition and roughly 10,000NT a month to help with living expenses.
This money relieves you of the necessity to work for a living, but you'll have to budget your time and be self-motivated enough to do the work, which can be challenging. Some foreigners manage to teach English as well and can save up some extra money.
What programs are offered?
You can apply for any program at the University. Keep in mind, as you infiltrate classrooms that have never been visited by a foreigner, you might at first be a distraction. Some professors are not thrilled, after teaching the same material for 30 years, to have a spotlight cast on their rusty English abilities. The programs that specifically target foreign students, such as Linguistics or the MBA, and larger universities with many international applicants, will be better equipped to handle foreign students. This isn't to say that being the only foreigner at a smaller University wouldn't be a great experience - only that you'll have to go with the flow and not lose your cool when the inane bureaucracy of Taiwanese Universities seems crippling.
My Chinese isn't so good, can I study in English?
Taiwan's National Universities are striving towards a full English curriculum, but in reality the level of English will depend upon the professor, the students and the course. In most classes, the reading and material may be in English, but the explanations and lectures could be in Chinese. (However, if you're sitting in the front row looking confused, they may make a concerted effort to speak English, which is precisely what you're there for.)
If you are studying the "Full English MBA" offered by many Universities, or Linguistics or English Literature in a Foreign Language department, chances are good that you'll be pretty comfortable. If you want to study Art or Engineering or Gastroenterology, you may need to take Chinese classes on the side to keep up.
Will a post-graduate degree from Taiwan be recognized abroad?
If you want to use a graduate degree from Taiwan to get a job teaching in a Western country like Canada or America, you may have some trouble. America in particular has been loathe to accept degrees from abroad. However, times are changing. The world is becoming smaller and some Western countries are starting to become aware of the outside world, including countries like Taiwan, whose students consistently score higher on aptitude tests than their Western counterparts. The degree itself is fading in importance to factors like personality, international experience and teaching methods, and a degree from Taiwan may be just the sparkle that sets your application apart and lands you the job.
On the other hand, if you want to use your degree to keep teach overseas, it's a mixed bag. The very finest Universities often want the best, and at present that stereotype is consistently Western. A post-graduate degree from America or Canada may open doors that a degree from Taiwan will not. However, Before decide where to study your undergraduate or postgraduate degree, evaluate the pro's and con's carefully. Do you need to be the number one professor at the World's Best University, solving the complex questions of the Universe, or would you be just as happy working at a mid-range University? Also think about what you want to use your degree for - an MBA from Taiwan for example (learning Chinese on the side) could significantly boost your career opportunities.
Regardless of where you choose to study in Taiwan, you can expect the warm hospitality of the Taiwanese to make your life easier. Teachers are patient and understanding, and your classmates will be exceedingly helpful.
Taiwan Ministry of Education's Website is http://www.edu.tw/. Click on "English", and then "Scholarships".
A lot of Taiwanese universities also advertise on http://www.tealit.com
http://www.squidoo.com/studyintaiwan/
Since this blog is about Taiwan, I'll post the whole thing here, too.
If you want to get an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in an exciting, beautiful country - without paying for it, this article is for you!
Discover why thousands of students from all over the world are flocking to Taiwan, and how you can get involved before the opportunity is gone.
The Taiwan Scholarship
Get your undergraduate or graduate degree in Taiwan for less
During my first several years teaching English in Taiwan I heard rumors about an amazing scholarship program run by Taiwan's Ministry of Education. Free tuition, a generous stipend, and a post-graduate degree in only two to four years. Specific details were hard to come by, but nearly everybody had met someone who, when asked what they did in Taiwan, kind of giggled and said "Oh, nothing. I'm not working right now." However, finding relevant information about studying in Taiwan under the Taiwan Scholarship can be elusive and overwhelming. This article is a user's guide to getting accepted into the graduate school of your choice, and federally funded during your stay.The Taiwan Scholarship is a program designed to increase the number of foreign students in Taiwanese Universities, so that Taiwanese students will have a multi-national, bilingual university education. In my opinion, it's a smart move by Taiwan's Ministry of Education, who recognize that the increasing number of graduates may soon overwhelm Taiwan's workforce. This is great news for foreigners who like Taiwan but are tired of teaching English and would like to further their education. That's not to suggest that the programs in Taiwan aren't challenging. Nor can you assume that getting accepted is a piece of cake - a mistake I made applying to NCKU the first time in 2006. But with the right information and a little hard work, the Taiwan Scholarship can be a dream come true.
How do I apply?
The application process is two-fold:
You can apply for the Taiwan scholarship from February to March each year. You must mail the application and the required documents to a Taiwan Embassy in your home country. Part of the application is a "study plan", so you should already have an idea of what you want to study. For a post-graduate degree, this implies doing academic research on a problem in your field that you'd like to solve. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the studies being done internationally, as well as the research being pursued at the Taiwanese university you'd like to attend. You will also be asked for a list of the universities that you are applying to.
The application processes and deadlines for Taiwanese universities vary. Go into their website and download all the necessary materials. You will probably need a prior degree, transcripts, letters of reference, pictures, a statement of purpose and a study plan. Universities only accept a limited number of foreign students each year, so make sure you have a strong application. Let them know you are genuinely interested in the field by doing some research and getting yourself up-to-date. Don't go in as a clean plate asking for a free ride.
If they like your application material, you may be called in for an interview around May or June. This can be grueling. You'll most likely sit down in front of half a dozen Professors and asked challenging questions like "Why don't you get a degree from your own country?" They are just trying to rattle you and test your ability to think and speak clearly under pressure.
Once you get accepted, you can notify the Taiwan Embassy that you sent your Taiwan Scholarship Application to, and then they will decide whether or not you will receive the scholarship.
How much do I get?
If you get the Taiwan Scholarship, you will get 25,000NT a month for an undergraduate degree, or 30,000NT for MA and PH.D students. (30,000nt is about $1,000 USD) The money will be deposited into a Post Office bank account. However, you may still have to pay tuition, which ranges from 60,000NT - 100,000NT a year.
Even if you don't get the Taiwan scholarship, most universities offer their own financial assistance, which generally includes free tuition and roughly 10,000NT a month to help with living expenses.
This money relieves you of the necessity to work for a living, but you'll have to budget your time and be self-motivated enough to do the work, which can be challenging. Some foreigners manage to teach English as well and can save up some extra money.
What programs are offered?
You can apply for any program at the University. Keep in mind, as you infiltrate classrooms that have never been visited by a foreigner, you might at first be a distraction. Some professors are not thrilled, after teaching the same material for 30 years, to have a spotlight cast on their rusty English abilities. The programs that specifically target foreign students, such as Linguistics or the MBA, and larger universities with many international applicants, will be better equipped to handle foreign students. This isn't to say that being the only foreigner at a smaller University wouldn't be a great experience - only that you'll have to go with the flow and not lose your cool when the inane bureaucracy of Taiwanese Universities seems crippling.
My Chinese isn't so good, can I study in English?
Taiwan's National Universities are striving towards a full English curriculum, but in reality the level of English will depend upon the professor, the students and the course. In most classes, the reading and material may be in English, but the explanations and lectures could be in Chinese. (However, if you're sitting in the front row looking confused, they may make a concerted effort to speak English, which is precisely what you're there for.)
If you are studying the "Full English MBA" offered by many Universities, or Linguistics or English Literature in a Foreign Language department, chances are good that you'll be pretty comfortable. If you want to study Art or Engineering or Gastroenterology, you may need to take Chinese classes on the side to keep up.
Will a post-graduate degree from Taiwan be recognized abroad?
If you want to use a graduate degree from Taiwan to get a job teaching in a Western country like Canada or America, you may have some trouble. America in particular has been loathe to accept degrees from abroad. However, times are changing. The world is becoming smaller and some Western countries are starting to become aware of the outside world, including countries like Taiwan, whose students consistently score higher on aptitude tests than their Western counterparts. The degree itself is fading in importance to factors like personality, international experience and teaching methods, and a degree from Taiwan may be just the sparkle that sets your application apart and lands you the job.
On the other hand, if you want to use your degree to keep teach overseas, it's a mixed bag. The very finest Universities often want the best, and at present that stereotype is consistently Western. A post-graduate degree from America or Canada may open doors that a degree from Taiwan will not. However, Before decide where to study your undergraduate or postgraduate degree, evaluate the pro's and con's carefully. Do you need to be the number one professor at the World's Best University, solving the complex questions of the Universe, or would you be just as happy working at a mid-range University? Also think about what you want to use your degree for - an MBA from Taiwan for example (learning Chinese on the side) could significantly boost your career opportunities.
Regardless of where you choose to study in Taiwan, you can expect the warm hospitality of the Taiwanese to make your life easier. Teachers are patient and understanding, and your classmates will be exceedingly helpful.
Taiwan Ministry of Education's Website is http://www.edu.tw/. Click on "English", and then "Scholarships".
A lot of Taiwanese universities also advertise on http://www.tealit.com
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