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| 教 育 專 題 深 入 報 導《2005-04-15》 |
| 本期內容 | |
| ◎ 國際專題：學一樣的語文 不一樣的風景 | |
| ◎ 台灣立報徵文啟事 | |
| 國際專題：學一樣的語文 不一樣的風景 | |
| 策劃、編譯■李淑菁 | |
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有人說21世紀是中國人的世紀，是中文擅場的時代。我們看到的是亞洲地區英文熱，世界各國似乎也在瘋中文。細究其中，卻看到了迥然不同的風景：在台灣，學英文幾乎成了全民運動；在南韓，首都首爾學童出國留學人數再創新高，並大量召募以英文為母語的老師到中小學任教；但在英國，連把中文推到課程之一，都還有很長的路要走，學校老師與學生都覺得中文實在太難了。這個差異隱隱透露出一種不平衡的權力關係──英國想搶攻中國市場大餅，許多人卻還在期待用自己的語言跟別人作生意…… 首爾召募母語英文教師 Seoul City to recruit 920 native English speakers 摘要?搟?搟?搟 南韓首都首爾市教育局近日宣佈，將在2009年之前召募920名外籍教師，在中小學任教。 作為強化英語教育4年計劃的一部份，首爾市教育局破天荒將在2006年中之前，把一百位外籍教師放到校園之中。 目前只有一些學校因首爾市政府的經費補助或學校本身的預算，才有外籍教師進駐。一位教育官員表示，目前的情況無法讓所有學校都有機會得到外籍教師的教導，也有學校自行召募資格不符的老師，使部份家長開始關注這個問題。 市政府將確認外籍教師必須要有大學學歷以及教學經驗。成功申請到教職的外籍人士將必須要參加新手訓練課程，內容包含一週的韓文課程或一年一次的研習會。 依據南韓政府召募計劃，外籍教師的薪水依其個人工作經驗與學位而定，此與南韓境內英語課程外籍教師薪水標準一樣。 首爾也將試辦一項提升學生英文能力計劃，內容包括在各個區域擴辦英國營隊活動，也鼓勵各級學校成立「英文角落區域」。（資料來源／韓國先驅報） 再窮也要出去念 首爾學童出國留學創新高 摘要?搟?搟?搟 南韓出國人數履創新高，首都首爾去年就有5,928名學童到國外留學，達歷史新高，也顯示出儘管南韓經濟情勢萎靡不振，父母親對於孩子的教育絲毫不吝嗇。 據首爾市政府教育局統計，從去年3月到今年2月間，首爾市總共有5,928個學童到海外去，比起去年同期的4, 427人，成長33.9％。 自從2000年南韓政府通過高中生出國留學法令，出國留學生數目一直在增加中。在這之前，想出國念書的高中生要通過地方教育局層層認可。根據南韓教育部公布的資料，在2002年正在國外念書的學生總數達10,300人。 隨著與父母出國念書的學生增加，去年就有12,317名學生出國，換句話說，平均每天有34名學生離開首爾。教育部官員說：「父母們希望他們的孩子在年輕的時候就可以精通英文，好像因此他們的小孩未來的發展就會有保證似的！」 她說目前南韓陷入膠著經濟局勢，稍微影響到一些父母的決定，例如去年前往亞洲國家的學生數目劇升了50％，達855人；到紐澳地區的學生則變少，「亞洲的消費便宜多了，而且也比較近。」 據統計，大約40％的學生到美國去，第二目的地是加拿大，佔15％，接著是中國大陸的14％。 （資料來源／韓國先驅報） 原文?搟?搟?搟 The number of schoolchildren in Seoul who went abroad for study hit a record high of 5,928 last year, an indication that parents are spending on their children's education despite the nation's sluggish economy. A total of 5,928 schoolchildren went overseas between March 2004 and February 2005, up 33.9 percent from 4,427 in 2003, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education yesterday. The figure has been rising since 2000 when the government allowed high school children to study overseas. Prior to that, those students had to go through checks with their local education authority. The total number of students nationwide who went overseas for study reached 10,300 in 2002, according to the Education Ministry. When the number of students living overseas with their family is added, a total of 12,317 students from Seoul went abroad last year. In other words, an average of 34 students left Seoul per day. "Parents think they would like their children to master English at a young age. It's like their children being insured," said education official Lee Eun-suk. She said the struggling economy slightly affected some parents as the number of students heading for Asian countries surged 50 percent to 855 last year while students for Australia and New Zealand are decreasing. "The expenses are a lot cheaper and those countries (Asian countries) are closer," said Lee. About 40 percent of students went to the United States, followed by 15 percent for Canada and 14 percent for China, according to the statistics. 英國不學中文要法文 Chinese revolution 摘要?搟?搟?搟 中國將成為世界主要經濟體之一，為何我們的學生還在學法文，而不是中文呢？卡洛琳‧海頓問。 你希望你的孩子說哪一種外語？對大部份的學生而言，他們幾乎沒什麼選擇或完全沒有選擇。儘管有人預測法文將消失作為一種國際語言的優勢，但法文依然在學生課表上獨領風騷，其後是德文與西班牙文。那麼中文呢？英國財務大臣布朗不是曾說中國將崛起成為世界主要經濟體嗎？我們的學生有在學中文，為2010年作準備嗎？布朗大臣認為在2010之前，英國外銷到中國出口值將增加4倍。 當然，這答案是否定的。英國大學學力測驗選考中文（廣東話或普通話）人數雖然緩步上升，但去年也還在4千人以下。雖然法文普遍性沒有以前高，但選考人數依然達到32萬人。史勞中學校長瑪格麗特說，我們對多佛海峽對岸鄰居語文的喜愛與在法國小鎮度假沒什麼太大關係，那只是一種自我實現的預示。瑪格麗特決定她的學生將有機會去了解世界5分之1人口說的語文（中文），也是網路上的強勢語文。她說：「我們在學校教法文，我們有來自法國的畢業生，然後他們繼續教法文。然而，當這些7年級的學生上了大學，中國那時將成為一個很重要的國家，我們對於未來的世界版圖必須看的更遠！」 史勞中學現在已經有大約150個學生在學中文，在潘助教的協助下，也開始揮著毛筆寫字。潘助教從兩百位競爭者中脫穎而出，非常符合條件，也很樂意到這個學校任教。 英國境內中小學總共約有30位教中文的老師，但不止教中文而已，他們也藉著語言教學，把中華文化的介紹融入 到課程裏面去。積極的學生也有機會到中國走走，英國文化協會每年都提供機會給8到12年級的學生，讓他們有兩週的時間到中國主要城市學語文，也順道觀光。 史勞中學跟上海師範大學附屬中學締為姐妹校。財務大臣布朗上個月在中國的演講中曾明白指出，他希望在5年之內，每一個學校、學院或大學，都能與在中國相當等級的學校締為姐妹校關係。然而，布朗比較在意的其實是在中國發展英語教學事業。預估有超過3億的中國人必須要學會說英文，這以任何一個標準來看，都是一個龐大的市場。不過任特中學校長覺得這應是一個雙邊的過程，她認為我們也應該要學中文，「在商業協商中，你必須要學會他們的語言；不能倚賴別人要你去聽的那些東西！」 英國匯豐銀行教育部門總經理理查森長久以來鼓勵中文學習活動，包括籌備競賽及演講等。她認為英語教育是一項很好的出口事業，但不是要去「英國化這個世界」，「語言是進入文化的一種方式，而你也應該適當的了解文化對貿易的關係，因此我們必須做更多。假如我們不尊重我們的消費者及客戶，他們將不再是我們的消費者及客戶！」專校老師威克史迪也說，學校內增加外語教學的範圍是很健康的，對學生而言也能引發學習動機。當歐洲語言對學生不再是一種新鮮的玩意兒，中國及其語言，因為學生對其一無所知，反而對他們來講是充滿刺激的領域。中文學習英國聯合會秘書雷妮堅定的說，在把中文引入課程的同時，需在教師訓練及專業發展上投以更多資金，「我們將必須先對課程內容提供者進行游說工作。」 更多的學校當局必須先能被說服，選考中文這科目能讓他們在大學學力測驗上獲得好成績。以史勞中學來講，它就不太希望學生選考中文，因為他們覺得中文對英國學生來講太難了，而且許多老師也有一樣的看法。 中文測驗主席瓦蕾瑞‧波拉特說她自己很清楚這樣的困難，「我們正努力的跟老師們溝通，過程中也跟他們見面談談。」她希望大學學力測驗的中文問題能夠解決。她指出，中文文法沒有那麼難，因為在中文裏面沒有時態、也沒有複數型，不過學中文字確實是個挑戰，因此對英國人來講，「讀」與「寫」顯得比「說」還要困難。 對雷妮來講，中文教學的引進很像是一個改變英國態度的方式。她說：「英國文化協會在歷史上的地位一直以來是要在中國推銷英國；現在我們都必須要確認英國已經準備好跟中國打交道，至少在50年之內，我們將可以很滿足的說我們過去的決定是對的。」（資料來源／英國獨立報） 原文?搟?搟?搟 China is expected to become one of the world's leading economies. So why are pupils still learning French rather than Mandarin, asks Caroline Haydon Which foreign language would you like your child to speak? For most stu-dents,there is little or no choice. French, despite predictions that it will disappear as an international language, dominates the timetables, followed by German and Spanish. And what of China, the country that Gordon Brown says is emerging as a leading world economy? Are our children learning Mandarin, ready for 2010, by which time Brown expects our exports to China to quadruple? The answer, of course, is no, not really. GCSE entries for the Chinese lan-guages of Cantonese and Mandarin crept up to just under 4,000 last year. Even with its falling popularity, however, the number of entries in French still hit 320,000. Our obsession with the language of our neighbours over the Channel must have a little to do with the chattering classes' liking for holidays in the Dordogne. But it is also a self-fulfilling prophecy, says Margaret Lenton, headteacher of Slough Grammar School, who is determined that her pupils will have an oppor-tunity to get to grips with the language spoken by one-fifth of the world's popula-tion, and one that already dominates the web. "We teach French in schools, we have French graduates, and they go on to teach French," she says. "But by the time my year sevens reach university, China will be a very important country indeed, and we ought to be looking more at the world picture." About 150 students in Lenton's school now learn some Mandarin, wielding their calligraphy brushes under the tuition of the fourth Chinese language assis-tant that Lenton has brought to the school, Linzi Pan. The Chinese assistants who make it to this country are fearsomely well qualified - Pan saw off competition from about 200 of her compatriots equally keen to come here. There are about 30 assistants working in primaries and secondaries across the country, who not only contribute to language classes but also help to inject some idea of Chinese culture in the curriculum. Slough students also get a chance to visit China, thanks to the British Council's annual immersion courses for students in Years 8 to 12, which give those travelling at least two weeks in a major Chi-nese city, learning the language as well as seeing the sights. Slough Grammar is twinned with the middle school attached to Shanghai Teachers' University. Brown made it clear in a speech he delivered in China last month that he wants every school, college and university to be twinned with an equivalent in China within the next five years. Mostly, however, he concentrated on promoting the export of English-lan-guage teaching: more than 300 million Chinese are estimated to speak English, a big market by anyone's standards. But Lenton and others like her feel that this has to be a two-way process - we need to learn Mandarin, too. "If you are in a business negotiation you need to speak the language," says Lenton, "not just rely on what people want you to hear." Dame Mary Richardson, the chief executive of the HSBC Education Trust, which helps to organise competitions and seminars to promote the language, and supports Chinese assistants in this country, has long campaigned on this issue. She argues that English-language education is a good export but that we don't want to "anglicise the world". "If we understand the language, it is a way into the culture, and you need to understand the culture to trade properly," she says. "We must do more. If we don't respect our customers and clients, they won't remain customers and clients." Added to that, says Kathy Wicksteed of the Specialist Schools Trust, it's healthy to increase the range of languages in schools, as well as being motiva-tional for pupils. And, while learning a European language no longer seems exot-ic, China - and its language - is unknown and therefore exciting territory. Carol Rennie, the secretary of the British Association for Chinese Studies, is adamant that we need much more investment (including in teacher training and professional development) before we can introduce Chinese studies across the curriculum. "We will be lobbying curriculum content providers about this," she says. More schools will have to be persuaded that non-native speakers of Chinese will get good grades at GCSE-level and above. At Slough, Lenton is reluctant to enter her pupils for Mandarin at GCSE because she feels the exams are too diffi-cult for English learners, and many teachers agree. Dr Valerie Pellatt, the chair of examiners of Chinese at Edexcel, says that she's aware there have been problems. "We're doing our best to talk to teachers about this and meet them in the middle," she says, adding that she hopes the problems with GCSE-level Mandarin are now ironed out, Mandarin grammar, she points out, is not so difficult - there are no tenses or plurals - but learning Chinese char-acters is testing, so reading and writing becomes more challenging than speak-ing. For Rennie, it is very much about shifting British attitudes. "The British Coun-cil has historically promoted Britain in China," she says. "Now, we all ought to be making sure Britain is equipped to deal with China. At least in 50 years' time we will have the satisfaction of saying we were right." |
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