我國大學英語畢業門檻政策之檢討   免費試閱

A Critical Review of the English Benchmark Policy for Graduation in Taiwan’s Universities

在教育部的政策鼓勵下，上百所的大學設有英語畢業門檻，針對這個近年來最重要的英語教育政策，本文從五個面向進行檢討：一、教育部經由法規、評鑑及經費分配推動政策，各大學的作為並非全然出於學術自主的精神。二、在此政策下，大學生每四年至少花費10億元於英檢，此一教育資源應有更具建設性的運用。三、在所有的學科與技能中，唯獨英語設有畢業門檻，反映出的是獨尊英語的偏頗價值觀。四、此一政策所假設之「考試引領進步」的前提並無學理根據，且實證研究顯示，英語畢業門檻並無預期的正面效應。五、大學將考核學生的權責交由校外機構，辜負了大學自治；確保人人畢業的補教課程，也與教育精神和行政作為的誠信原則不符。綜此，我們呼籲教育部與各大學應重新審慎檢視英語畢業門檻的政策，回歸教育的本質，致力於改革與提升大學之英語教育。

Encouraged by the Ministry of Education (MOE), the majority of Taiwan’s universities have adopted an English benchmark policy for graduation, indeed the most important English education policy in recent years. This paper critically reviews this policy from five perspectives. First, universities’ decision to follow MOE’s policy may not have been entirely out of the spirit of university autonomy, due to MOE’s regulations, evaluations, and funding allocation. Secondly, university students spend more than NT$1,000,000,000 under this policy every four years on English benchmark tests; such a valuable resource should have a better application. Thirdly, out of all the courses and skills, only English has an additional graduation benchmark, reflecting a rather biased attitude known as ‘English worship’. Fourthly, this policy is based on the assumption that testing leads to progress, which finds no support in education theory or empirical studies. Fifthly, the relegation of the obligation to assess student performance to external agencies is inconsistent with the spirit of university autonomy. The purpose of the remedial courses, designed as a bypass of the benchmark requirement to ensure all students graduate, is inconsistent with the spirit of education and the honesty code of administrative behavior. Based on these arguments, we urge the MOE and universities to re-examine this English benchmark policy for graduation in the true spirit of education and reform the university English education.