On Monday, February 10th, students studying English education at Taiwan Normal University held a research class for 1st-year students at the school. We welcomed six students, and they were paired to give a lesson at TT. Each pair designed a different topic. In 1A, the subject was “Taiwan – China Relations,” while in 1B, the subject was “The Merits and Demerits of the Internet Society.” “Home Exchange,” was the topic in 1C.
All the lessons involved group work, and students actively took part in the tasks despite feeling some frustration that they could not convey what they wanted to say using English alone.
Although English is the most widely used international language, it is said that 80% of English speakers are non-native speakers of the language. Even though they were learning English as a second language, like we are, the Taiwanese students spoke the language fluently. We can see their free and easy use in speaking English as one ideal model to pursue in order to be an “International person.”
We hope that more students will be encouraged to learn English by imagining themselves walking along and speaking comfortably in English with people from all around the world.