Curriculum Reform at NCCU

Seminar on Research Methodology and Design

Introduction

The role of English language education is changing in the 21st centuryEducation reform in Taiwan is changing the core requirements for universitiesResulting in a decrease in the graduation requirements for attaining a major in EnglishIs it time to reevaluate the English language teaching curriculum to better suit the needs of our students?

The Role of English in the 21st Century

Global Trends in English Language Education

Region

Japan

Hong Kong

Other

Taiwan Trends in English Language Education

Desire for globalization

Reasons for globalization

(Put the stuff that Joe found here. II.1.i-ii)

The changing education environment at NCCU

Reduced teaching hours

Fewer hours needed to attain major

Consequence for NCCU English Department- What needs to be done

Need to cut hours

Other Comparable English Departments in Taiwan

NTU

NTNU

?

?

Other options: Content vs. Skill based

Support for having more content based language classes

Can students learn better?

Increase academic standing of faculty

Complex Issue

Most change focuses on views of administrators and faculty without looking at viewpoint of studentChange often purports to be for the benefit of the students and to comply with the requests of students.No large scale survey of student opinions of the language training program since 1993

Research questions

1. What are the students' attitudes toward the current language-skill courses?2. What are the students' attitudes toward the proposed course reform (content vs. skills)?3. For the students, what is an ideal language program (or language-skill program?)?

a) what the best design will be in terms of the students’ perceived needs and beliefs based on their own experience of having already taken some or all of the skills-based courses;b) the underlying connections and conflicts between (new) alternative course designs and the students’ needs and beliefs; are there significant/pressing concerns voiced by a significant number of students that need urgent attention from faculty and administrators;c) how the new course designs fit in (or don’t fit in) the current debate of the content-based approach versus skills-based approach; andd) based on student responses, how the alternative designs might (or might not) help the students reach the general goal(s) of learning English in Taiwan.

Methodology

Findings

Discussion

Barriers to change

Politics

Faculty doesn’t want to change

Lack of communication among those who are involved in change

Barriers to change info