The last activity held by the Advisory Group this year was to take a number of teachers to pay a visit to Yingpei English Village in Nantou County, hoping to gain a more vivid understanding of what Yingpei Junior High School boasts for reference. We were all deeply inspired by the dedicated and professional briefing and instructions of the principal and staff.
According to the principal, who indeed is not only visionary but humorous, the school is proud to come up with the idea of combining morals and English as their very core foundation to develop many kinds of innovative activities. For example, they held a English drama publicly and attracted a total of one thousand and seven hundred audience to watch the show this summer. Also, to cultivate students’ global vision, they took a trip to Australia and glimpsed its culture by attending classes there and mingling with their fellow Australian classmates, who all became their friends later on.
Most important of all, we were able to visit the Wonderland of Knowledge, featuring such a wide range of different kinds of situation rooms, like the mock cabin, security, clothing store, police station, restaurant and so on. Corresponding dialogues and tasks are devised to suit the needs of each authentic application of the language, and students will be much more motivated to speak when they’re exposed to an English speaking environment like this. Also, a Taiwanese English teacher gave us a grand tour totally in English, graciously demonstrating how each room works.
After so many years of learning, no one can deny the fact that our students still cannot speak English, and then I have to wonder what exactly the purpose of learning the language is. Therefore, unlike regular English class, English villages can provide an environment for them to feel the need to speak. It’s not the ultimate solution, but it’s a start.
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