Of the many postwar developments in Taiwan, one of the most ubiquitous yet least publicized is that of language studies. These began in 1945 with the islandwide study of Mandarin (or the Peiping dialect and standardized speech of China) when Taiwan was retroceded to the Republic of China after half a century of Japanese colonial rule. During the last 20 years, the scope of study has expanded from that single course in Mandarin to nearly a dozen foreign languages. In classrooms, audio-visual aids have replaced the conventional parrot-the-teacher method. Tens of thousands of people are studying English or other foreign languages preparatory to advanced studies abroad or to seek improved employment opportunities.
In a broad sense, most of the people of free China are bilingual. In addition to Mandarin, which is the official spoken language of the nation, they speak a dialect of their own. Intellectuals are usually polyglots. Islanders speak Japanese and mainlanders speak English.
The impetus behind the language study boom is twofold - academic requirement and economic necessity. English is taught beginning in the seventh grade and is compulsory for six years. In this academic year, more than 712,000 high school students (about 5.5 per cent of the population) are attending English classes. The number of hours per week ranges from three to four for vocational students to five or six for students preparing to go on to college. At academic high schools, Chinese, English and mathematics are regarded as the three most important subjects.
English is compulsory for all college freshmen. They usually have four hours of English class-work a week. Because many textbooks and especially those in the sciences are available only in English, some colleges require English as a compulsory subject for sophomores. Interestingly, students of Chinese literature study English translations of Chinese classics in their junior or senior year.
Language laboratories of the Republic of China are doing an outstanding job in teaching Chinese to foreigners and foreign languages to Chinese. They make full use of audio-visual aids and tape recorders. (File photo)
Because of the increasing interest in foreign study and the incentive of the high salaries offered by foreign firms, many college students continue to study English until graduation.
Of 79 institutions of higher learning in Taiwan, 16 have departments of English or such foreign languages as Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. Government scholarships are open to those majoring in Arabic, Korean, Russian, and Turkish. Graduates with outstanding academic records are sent to foreign schools on an exchange basis.
Second foreign languages are taught in the sophomore and junior year of college. Most medical, engineering and law students take German. Those majoring in English study French, German or Spanish. Many students of Chinese literature and international trade are interested in Japanese. Japan has had close cultural ties with China and has been Taiwan's most important trade partner.
At the graduate level, National Taiwan University has an Institute of Foreign Languages and Literature and National Taiwan Norma1 University has an English Research Institute. Both confer a Master of Arts degree.
To encourage college graduates to pursue advanced studies in Europe, the Ministry of Education set up a European Languages Training Center in 1963. Applicants must have a college background or have passed the civil service examination.
The Center has an enrollment of 300. The French and German classes have 95 students each and the Spanish 110. Each of the three classes has levels for beginners and intermediate and advanced students. Classes have both Chinese and foreign instructors. The Chinese teach reading and grammar, the foreigners conversation and composition. A term lasts six months. Three-hour lessons are given three times a week in the evening. Those who complete the advanced course are granted a certificate of proficiency and may go to Europe or Latin America for further study. Tuition per class is US$15 or less.
For government employees going abroad, the National Taiwan University has a Language Center. It is jointly sponsored by the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development, U.S. Embassy, U.S. Information Service and U.S. Educational Foundation in China.
Courses include English, French and German, all taught by native speakers. Gasses are divided into intensive, half-day, part-time, conversation and writing. A term lasts from 8 to 16 weeks with tuition of from US$15 to US$54. The number of students in each class is from 10 to 20.
Evening foreign language schools have been mushrooming. Of the more than 20 in Taipei, the oldest is the Y.M.C.A. English School established in 1946. The largest is the Milton English Institute. Founded 18 years ago, it has an enrollment of 2,000. Classes are held from 9 a.m. to noon and 7 to 10 in the evening. Tuition is US$11 for three months.
Native speakers usually teach conversation classes. Many of these teachers are themselves students of the Chinese language. For English, members of the U. S. community are generously giving their time. (File photo)
Since the American Embassy began to enforce the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) examination two years ago for those going to the United States for advanced study, language schools have sponsored special classes to prepare for the exam.
In order of popularity, other foreign languages offered by evening schools are Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. Students of Portuguese are mostly would-be-emigrants to Brazil and those of Italian are vocalists or artists.
Foreign languages also are taught on radio and TV. Most of the island's 80 radio stations offer English lessons. Taiwan has two TV stations. The commercial outlet has four 15-minute English lessons weekly. The educational station sponsors three 40 minute English lessons and 40-minutes each of French, German and Spanish weekly.
Many Protestant churches have English-language Bible classes for college students. Not all enrollees are Christians. Some are more interested in the language than in religion.
When the U.S. government sent a Military Assistance Advisory Group to Taiwan after outbreak of the Korean war, the Chinese armed forces did not have enough English-speaking liaison personnel. Interpreters were selected from among civilians and detailed to the various branches of service after four months of intensive training at the Interpreters' Training School. To raise the academic standard of ITS cadets, the Ministry of National Defense in 1952 began selection of some 60 college graduates each year. Several years later, ITS was renamed the Officers' Language School and then the National Defense Language School. In addition to English, the school offers two-year courses in French, German, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese. Enrollment is now limited to military personnel.
In terms of facilities, language teaching in the Republic of China lags behind that in the United States and some European countries. In high schools, the number of students in a class averages 60 and teachers cannot follow the progress of each student. In most schools, English lessons concentrate on reading and grammar. Conversation and writing are rarely taught. Influenced by the ideographic writing of China, many beginners tend to visualize words rather than to learn them by sound. Thus the word "boy" is memorized by repeating the three "bee-awe-wai" through the eye and not by the sound.
Students at the Stanford Center study the history and literature of China as well as the language. (File photo)
At institutions of higher learning, emphasis may be placed on the reading of the works of Chaucer and Shakespeare. Although English conversation is taught in the freshman or sophomore years, the results may not be satisfactory because the average student doesn't have sufficient opportunity to talk with native speakers. As a result of overemphasis on classical literature, the student frequently cannot distinguish obsolete from modern usage. A senior English major may not feel it improper to write "I have twain brethren" or "My wife begot a son yesternight".
To improve language teaching, Taiwan Normal University established an English Center in 1955 in cooperation with the Asia Foundation and the University of Texas. This was the first language laboratory in free China and half of Taiwan Normal's freshmen majoring in English had the advantage of its training. The other half followed conventional study methods without audio-visual aids. When the experiment proved to be a success, National Taiwan University, Fujen Catholic University and Tamkang College of Arts and Science alson installed language labs.
Class in the Chinese language at Taiwan Normal U. (File photo)
Taiwan has five Chinese language schools for foreigners - three in Taipei and one each in Hsinchu and Taichung. Of the three in Taipei, the oldest is the Mandarin Center established by Taiwan Normal University in 1956. Present enrollment is 63 and nearly half are from the United States. The rest come from Japan, England, West Germany, Switzerland, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. The Stanford Center, located at Taiwan University, is operated by nine American universities and the Taipei Language Institute by Protestant churches. The school in Hsinchu is sponsored by the Roman Catholic church, that in Taichung by the U.S. State Department.
With the establishment of more foreign languages departments and the increasing foreign interest in Chinese, the bridge linking East and West is growing steadily shorter.