Taiwan is serious about English learning. There are compulsory English language classes from elementary school up to universities, and for an increasing number of local jobs diplomas certifying English language skills are required. For this purpose, a variety of English proficiency tests are available, some of them designed for specific demands. What they all have in common is that without them, rien ne va plus in terms of career. This helps explain why young people flock into language schools preparing them for such tests. The teaching of language-test-passing skills has become a veritable industry in this country, indeed. And academic English language departments, attended by students who believe that the main job there is the teaching of a foreign language, design their curricula accordingly, thereby competing with high-schools and buxibans, sometimes even at a similar academic level.
臺灣還蠻重視英文教育的，從國小到大學每個階段都必須上英文課，越來越多的國內企業也開始要求英文能力，所以開始有英語認證測驗出現，有些測驗是為特別目的設計的，如果沒有檢定證書就很難找到工作，因此年輕人紛紛到語言學校上課或是補習、準備考試檢定，教導如何通過考試拿高分在臺灣已經是一個行業了，學生進入所謂的英語系就讀認為他們主要的工作就是教英文，英語系的課程也依照教英文這條路設計，他們跟高中還有補習班競爭，有時候連學術水平也跟高中、補習班差不多。
This national craze in Taiwan, however, does not translate into results when it comes to international comparison. A recent study has shown that English proficiency among high school students lags behind that of most other Asian countries, a result which, by the way, can be easily verified by asking young people anything in English.
可是臺灣社會重視英文程度的狀況卻無法真正反映在跟他國比較的時候，研究顯示台灣高中生的英文程度遠落後於其他亞洲國家，最簡單印證的方法就是在路上抓一個高中生用英文問他任何東西。
So: What is the problem with people who hardly speak any English but who learned it in school for many years? Are Taiwanese infected with spiteful viruses specialized in paralyzing the various regions of the brain responsible for mastering the Anglo-Saxon language? Probably not. Genetic defects with similar consequences can, we dare to conclude, be excluded likewise. If nature is ruled out as a potential cause for such a verbal inhibition, then the culprit must be culture or, to be more precise, the local culture of foreign language learning and teaching. And indeed: Something is wrong here on the language front.
所以：到底出了什麼問題讓大家很少講英文卻在學校裡面學英文學了好久？ 難道是有邪惡病毒入侵臺灣人的大腦，攻擊專門負責講英文的區域嗎？應該不是吧。我們可以排除可能會導致類似情況的基因缺陷，如果天生因素不是講話有障礙的原因，那麼罪魁禍首應該是文化，或者更精確地說是臺灣人學英文還有教英文的方法，而事實上也真的是這樣。
In a letter to the editor of the Taipei Times (Nov. 13, 2013), one of the most eminent scholars on Second Language Acquisition, S. Krashen, commented an article related to the above-mentioned study, saying that what would help improve language skills in Taiwan is a stronger focus on teachers guiding students toward 'self-selected' or 'pleasure' reading which would yield "gains that are far superior to those achieved by those taking traditional classes." Freely interpreted, this means: If you want to improve your English, you have to do it yourself; teachers are mere facilitators.
研究第二外語學習的傑出學者Stephen Krashen針對上述的研究結果投書到Taipei Times，他認為如果要讓英文進步，在台灣最重要的事情是要老師帶領學生自我閱讀，選擇自己有興趣的主題、閱讀相關書籍，如此一來成效會比坐在教室裡念教科書上的東西來的大，解釋地更寬一點就是：如果想要英文進步要自己來，老師只是輔助者的角色。
This is probably indeed the best advice one could give on this subject, at least to advanced learners who wish to improve. I myself – without being particularly talented in this aspect - have learned two foreign languages including English in this way - despite my teachers, I wish to add. When I was in my mid-teens, I profited most from reading or translating texts of songs by the Beatles, B. Dylan, the Doors and of many others because I wanted to understand what they sang. At that time I also discussed, in English, with my foreign friends ways how to save the world; admittedly, I wasn't very helpful in this point, but it helped improve my English dramatically. This, however, was not even my intent. My intent was to communicate something I was interested in, no matter in which language. And in order to better understand this 'something', I needed to talk and read in English. Instead of doing my English homework I began to read English newspapers.
這應該是對這件事最好的建議，尤其針對那些學語言已經有一段時間、想要更精進的人。拿我自己當例子好了，我並不是一個語言學習專家，但是我學習兩個外語（包括英文）的方式都是用閱讀來精進，當然我也有向老師討教。用這個方法進步最快的時候應該是中學，我聽披頭四、鮑伯狄倫、門戶樂團（The Doors）的歌，然後讀歌詞並試著翻譯，因為我想要搞懂他們在唱些什麼。
那時候我也會用英文跟朋友討論怎麼拯救世界，我承認自己並沒有在這塊有所貢獻，但是它卻幫助我的英文進步神速，完全都不是我當初預期到的。我的初衷就只是想要表達自己有興趣的東西，不管是用什麼語言，為了要達到這個目的我必須用英文讀寫，開始閱讀英文報紙而不是寫英文功課。
Why would one need an expert and a whole academic discipline supporting such 'expertise' if common sense can easily reach the same conclusion?
為什麼需要老師專家還要設一個學科來學習這項「專業技能」呢？明明生活中很一般的方法就可以達到。
Language learning is a skill that needs practice, practice and practice; what it needs to a far lesser extent is related knowledge.Grammar, one of the knowledge-related contents of language learning, is somehow important, it’s true. But one could learn all the grammatical essentials needed for a meaningful conversation within a few months, refining them as you go along during your practice sessions. The purpose of language learning is to communicate in that language; it is not to 'know' how it works.
語言學習是一樣要練習、練習、再練習的技能，它所需要的不只是相關的知識。文法跟語言學習的知識內容有關係，某種程度上有其重要性，這是事實。可是如果要學會所有重要的文法規則或概念，從有意義的對話裡只需要幾個月，學習語言的目的是用那種語言溝通，而不是知道它如何運作。
Practice is efficient if you write, read or talk in the target language about topics of your interest. You are on the right track once you wish to communicate something in that language to someone else; or when you try to retrieve interesting information which is only available in that language. You are on a less efficient track if your efforts are focusing on learning a foreign language. It sounds paradoxical, but it seems evident for advanced learners: The best way to learn English is not to learn English.
更有效的練習是用想要學會的語言書寫、閱讀或是談論有興趣的主題或話題，如果想要用該語言和他人溝通，或是想要接受一些只有用該語言寫成的資訊，這兩種方法都會讓你使用該語言的能力進步飛快，相反地如果只專注在提升語言「技巧」上，學習成效不大，聽起來自相矛盾但對非初學者來說是明白的事實：最好學英文的方法就是不要「學」英文。
Teaching a new language must focus on communication: Once you communicate, you are drawn into a process in which you can find out how the foreign language really works: If your interlocutors understand, then communication works. Reaction from the others responding to your contribution serves as a feed-back: You can learn from their replies what you need to improve, what went wrong or what else needs to be checked. This is all part of a process called language learning: It needs application; it takes time, and it can only be achieved individually. This is common sense for anybody who has ever learned a foreign language!
教一個新的語言一定要把重點放在溝通：一旦開始跟其他人對話，就會開始了解語言真正運作的方式，完全投入過程，如果跟你對話的人知道你想要表達什麼，那麼對話就成功了，他們的反應能夠幫助你了解自己使用語言的方式對錯，從他們的回答中去學到自己哪方面還需要加強、哪些用法錯了、哪些地方需要注意，這才是學習語言的方法。要真的應用在生活中，可能會需要時間，也只有自己可以做到。這是每個學習外語的人都有的常識。
Traditional English teaching, however, treats English learning nearly exclusively as knowledge or as content, but not as a skill, with the fatal consequence that the memorization of contents (grammar, vocabulary) is considered to be the adequate way of learning it; such is the prevailing ELT method in Taiwan. This approach, however, is only good for producing distinct test results easily to be evaluated by incompetent teachers, but bad for speaking English; just look at the results. Teachers focusing on such test-oriented methods should rather clean classrooms than standing in front of students.
傳統上教英文就是把英文認為是一種學科知識、或是具體的內容，而不是溝通的技巧，背誦記憶文法、單字也就成了學習語言的不二法門。台灣教英文的方法主要就是叫學生背誦還有記憶，這種方法只對檢定考試有用，程度沒那麼好的老師可以簡單地測出學生的程度，但對講英文就沒什麼用，看看結果就知道了。教學生怎麼通過考試的老師與其站在講台上教書，還不如去打掃教室環境。
I also wonder what is going on at the so-called Normal universities, where professors also educate educators to teach English. It seems this job is being done by so-called professors in a similar way as described above. Again: How else would one explain the obvious poor results? Those ‘professors’ – not the majority, as I hope - should assist their former students in doing the cleaning job properly.
我一直很納悶所謂的師範大學是怎麼運作的，裡面有教授教導未來的老師們怎麼教英文，但是這些教授也是教學生用上面背誦、記憶的方法來學習，有什麼還可以來解釋台灣學生英文程度落後的原因？那些「教授」 （我相信應該只是少數）也應該幫他們之前的學生打掃教室還差不多。
And I also wonder how long national or institutional funds continue to sponsor related research projects that treat language-learning as a matter of applying the right techniques, their successful application being measured only in figures and numbers. How refreshing – and 'far superior' – is the true expertise when simply prompting English learning students to do it themselves. Indeed, autonomous learning (of course, experts have made a 'theory' out of it), or, as it was also defined decades ago as 'the ability to take charge of one's own learning' (H. Holec), is the way it works best! Why, I wonder again, isn't a large part of the education community in Taiwan drawing practical conclusions from this evident insight? As long as this doesn't happen, it can be guaranteed that rien ne va plus in terms of improving English skills at a broad level here!
我也很納悶政府、組織的資金到底投入在相關研究多久了，這些研究將語言學習當作是應用技能，衡量成功與否的依據只是數據資料還有數字。鼓勵學生自己學習英文的點子令人耳目一新，自主學習，或者說幾十年前由Henri Holect定義的「自我主導管理學習的能力」確實是學習一種語言的最佳方法。我一直覺得很奇怪明明這個方法的成效大家都看得見，為什麼教育圈裡還沒有實際的結論來支持它？如果大家都當作它不存在，要讓英文提升到更高一個層次是不可能的。
Classroom realities present a double handicap for modern teaching: First, teaching and study attitudes are still infested with mind-killing traditional thinking which never had 'communication' in its methodological vocabulary. Until this day, being in an English class where communication is vital feels like being in a performance of a polyphonic piece of music written for one voice (the teacher) and a silent choir (the students) and composed by John Cage.
教室裡真實的狀況反映著現代教育的兩項缺失：第一，教英文跟學英文都還受到傳統思維的影響，教導很多的單字卻沒有實際的溝通，上英文會話課就像是聽一場約翰凱吉的音樂會，只有一個聲音（老師）還有一團沉默的合唱團（學生們），聲音單調沒有變化。
The other problem is that most students have difficulties in developing any intellectual interest that would drive them to further explore a subject on their own in a foreign language. Unfortunately, a host of impending exams simply leave them no time for that, thereby transforming intellectual curiosity into a luxurious attitude that, as many students are made to think, can – and should - be easily disposed of.
第二個問題是大部份的學生在找尋自己有興趣的主題時會遇到困難，他們找不到一個可以驅使他們用英文去學習的東西，接踵而來的考試也讓他們沒有時間做這件事，所以要將對知識的興趣還有好奇轉換成學習動機及態度根本不可能。
In both cases it is the local culture ('tradition') which is in the way of a more competitive study attitude. The job, therefore, of a serious teacher also includes the fight against local cultural features that inhibit autonomous learning and thinking.
兩個問題中傳統文化思維是主要的學習態度，一個認真的老師它的工作應該是對抗傳統學習思維，將自我學習、思考帶入課程中。
Whenever saying this in public, people wish me good luck; I wonder why.
每次我在公眾場合討論這些事情時，大家都拍拍我的肩祝我好運，我很想知道為什麼。
作者：Herbert Hanreich
譯者：Wendy Chang
原文：http://www.thenewslens.com/post/15856/
