Job Discussion Forums

[forest1979]

Taylor you raise a great point but I'll paraphrase it. I don't think that the Taiwan government and language learning don't mix, as I see it they don't really care! If they did then they would invest it in aside from trying to create those awful GEPT which have no use to anyone, least of all language learners who can acquire a certificate for more or less saying "hello".

What has happened in Taiwan with TEFL in the higher education sector is that the bottom is falling out. Jobs will always be in demand however because for locals the salaries are good, the hours reasonable and the social status high. For foreigners though it is now quite a precarious situation. Work more, don't earn more, and do all this in the context of a weak local currency, i.e work more for less!! On top of this consider that many TEFL jobs are in ELCs. I have posted on this before but essentially ELC are not classified within universities as bona fide academic departments and so have no standing within overall university hierarchys. Therefore if a uni president wants to shut an ELC down there is nothing to stop it.

Taylor also makes a great but often overlooked point - working conditions. Many uni classrooms are appalling. Cramped, ill-light, lacking in decent air conditioning, they are hellish environments to teach in. Throw into this mix up to 70 unmotivated students learning from crap, sometimes self-designed work books by alleged 'experts' within the ELCs, i.e. persons who once a year roll out the same presentation although slightly renamed at their own unis 'international conferences', and you have an awful recipe in which to work and be professional. And that to me is the issue for foreigners. Taiwan is now redefining what it considered professional TEFL to be.

So, what is going to happen. I predict that as foreigners leave their replacements will not be foreigners but rather locals. In other words Taiwan will become a place where language teaching in higher education will not be done persons from overseas - except those married to locals and geographically fixed to the island - but rather locals, and I suspect by a great many teachers than TEFL will be taught in Chinese. Many locals working as instructors already teach English in Chinese. I expect this behaviour to grow if only because new locals into the higher ed system will be worried about the evaluations given by their students. I would be worried too. Who would want to work under conditions where you can be pushed out at the whim of the management because of identified teaching failings?

[romanworld]

[forest1979]

And you know one of the big problems that will be emerging in Taiwan unis is that most foreigner instructors don't care. Some are simply in Taiwan as it is a base to run to Thailand every few weeks. Others are there because they have the 'great I am' kind of attitude: big fish in a small pond sort of mentality. And it is these kind of people who will have no interest in endeavouring to improve work conditions for everyone. What they will do is move on. when they feel their quality of life is being impacted upon by whatever.

I can give you many stories of great teachers but also many stories of arrogant TEFLers in unis in Taiwan. Some are so fixed up their behinds they can't see the forest for the trees which is why so many pessimistic issues have been noted on this thread, and so little is being done about it! If anyone is interested I could offer some geat anecdotes about poor quality TEFLers at unis in Taiwan and their incredible attitudes.

[Miyazaki]

[romanworld]

[forest1979]

Miyzaki - I can say from experience at having taught at a variety of unis in Taiwan, and by this I mean public and private, reputable and less reputable institutions, that as the quality of the uni gets lower so the quality of the instructors lowers, and the wierdness and arrogance of the foreign ones increases! For example, I had a friend who worked at an ELC at a supposedly good uni and he informed me of the cliqueness, and stories of an instructor who thought his colleagues were so poor he graded an exam 100% for all students. Then he emailed the uni president to say what he did!! To bring this person into line the ELC then made him the chief exam writer but he saw it as a promotion given his self-perceived 'abilities' and up-himself attitude. Once the penny dropped as to what the exam writer role entailed, and the barrage of criticism he was receiving each day from colleagues over whom he looked down on, he resigned on 'family grounds'. I also came across such persons within my own places of employment, many of whom took great pride in creating online CVs filled with presentations at their departments annual 'international conferences' and roles on a variety of committees that never met. Look carefully for publications and research grants, i.e. markers of international academic quality, and you'll find nothing.

Going back to the main subject having a PhD doesn't make for a better teacher. In some cases it makes for worst ones but I don't see how this is really an issue in Taiwan. The old argument used as to why PhDs are worst teachers is because they are researching but in Taiwan - in comparison to other places - Profs teach so much there is not a great deal of time to do research.

Romanworld - I concur to a degree with what you're saying but don't overlook these points. Many foreigner TEFLers working in unis don't care because:

1. They have no intention of staying long term in Taiwan

2. Many of them hate Taiwan and just use it for acquiring money to pay for long holidays in SE Asia, and like the uni job because it offers numerous opportunities for long holidays throughout the year

3. Many are in Taiwan because jobs there pay better than in other countries in SE Asia, and because they can't get into the best paid jobs in Asia, e.g. HK, Japan, etc. In an ideal world they know they would never come to Taiwan.

4. Many don't care because they don't have any intention to learn Chinese and involve themselves in the local culture or their work aside from mere classroom hours. This is why for many teachers the trend to change contracts and make instructors work 9-5 on campus is, to them, an affront, and it also cuts down the hours they are working off campus for money (usually for better pay than at the uni).

5. Many don't care as the uni job is the way of getting an ARC, and so living legally, but the limited hours of having a uni job means plenty of time to work elsewhere and pull in the bucks.

6. Many very good teacher don't care because it's their way of self-preservation of not becoming institutionalised by the bureaucracies that are used to run unis. They have come to realise that so badly run are many places that to care about what you do just makes a way of creating problems and lowering one's quality of life.

7. Many teachers don't care as they quality realise upon arriving in Taiwan that their students don't care about English. The students hate the class, they do the minimum of work, fall asleep in the classroom, etc., so under such a circumstance the teacher's refine their sense of professionalism to 'I shall do the minimum and not bother with work - why should I?'

[romanworld]

[forest1979]

Many ELCs do not fully appreciate the skills and experience of their staff. Many don't need to. They just teach remedial English. In fact I've seen it all too often the only time they make an attempt to appreciate their staff is when there is a problem, and this usually centers on getting MA holders to up to a PhD. Too many ELCs now are pushing their staff to acquire PhDs - acquire them from anywhere - just as long as they get one.

Romanworld - You have raised many, many valid points on this thread. To me if you are a serious academic there are few places in Taiwan to be, and I have come to the conclusion that to be in Taiwan for a long period of time is actually a stain on one's CV, especially when applying to western universities for work. Only then, when you see their job criterion, do you realise how much time can be wasted in Taiwan. High level publications? Externally funded research grants of US$100,000s? Curriculum designing and course development? Top level conferences? Research prizes? Etc.

All these are basically unachievable as a fresh white face in Taiwan but are necessary in western unis. If you ultimately want to be in a western university it basically pays to leave Taiwan quickly. However for someone wishing to stay in Taiwan, professionally develop and get on, it's a very, very difficult situation to be in.

[romanworld]

[forest1979]

I adapted just as you had done. By grasping how it would be unsustainable in the long run I left the island. Haven't regretted it.

[Miyazaki]

[Miyazaki]

[forest1979]

Miyazaki - I don't regret every going to Taiwan. For me, I wouldn't go that far. I do though feel that Taiwan offers limited opportunities, and has management matters that must be overcome for TEFL in unis to progress in the future.

The person mentioned in your posting, yes he resigned from the exam post but still works at the same place. And yes he did receive much criticism but he was so pompous that he generally responded that he needed bigger boots.

About NTU, well in Taiwan there is no tenure system so not sure what your friend is employed as. Presently as a foreigner in the Taiwanese higher ed system contracts are governed by MoE rules - hence one year renewals. Yes it is true there is no guarantee of renewals but in all honesty the people who I came across who didn't get their contracts renewed should never have been given jobs in the first place. For everyone else it is not an issue and after a few years of employment at one place it is very difficult for them to remove you unless you do something particularly bad. I doubt the NTU way is any different to what I have seen elsewhere.

I'm going to make assumptions though about staff positions:

1. They are becoming the norm as less foreigners are willing to work in Taiwan when compared to previous years, one reason being in the past the exchange rate was good, and not it aint!

2. In light of the declining birthrate ELCs need to be able to remove staff quickly if student numbers fall. Staff contracts are an easy way to do this.

3. More and more locals are acquiring MAs and even PhDs in comparison to prior times. This offers them a foot into the system to compensate for the lack of new professorial posts being created.

4. Many ELCs have no interest in acting like 'proper' departments. Staff don't need to do research, etc. Instead they just need to teach. Staff contracts emphasise this.

Whether people accept it or not, taiwanese unis are changing with regards to TEFL and will continue to do so. It's impossible for the vast number of unis presently existing in Taiwan to be sustained given the decreasing number of incoming students. With about 92% of all high school students already going into the college sector Taiwan simply does not have student numbers to fill places. Hence the giving of visas to mainlanders, and the promotion of Chinese as a Foreign Language at some Taipei-based unis as a way to stay in existence.

[romanworld]

[forest1979]

There's also apathy amongst many employers in Taiwan that it is better to train-up teenagers from high school than fresh graduates who want higher salaries, and are lacking in basic workplace skills.