The popularity and desirability of English language education has become somewhat unbeatable in Taiwan. This article seeks to understand the multiple threads of reasoning systems that come together to constitute and sustain the desirability of English learning. It conceptualizes that language education is more than teaching and learning a new/foreign language. Language is intertwined with the sphere of culture. Thus, it is hoped to encourage an alternative perspective for rethinking English language education in Taiwan.
References
1.
BirdsongD. (1999) Whys and Why Nots of the Critical Period Hypothesis for Second Language Acquisition, in BirdsongD. (Ed.) Second Language Acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis, 1–22. Mahwah: Erlbaum.
2.
ChenC (2001) A Discussion on Preschool English Teachers' Choices on Language Curriculum, Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 2(3), 37–50 (in Mandarin).
JohnsonJ. (1992) Critical Period Effects in Second Language Acquisition: The effect of written versus auditory materials on the assessment of grammatical competence, Language Learning, 42, 217–248. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1992.tb00708.x
8.
KrashenS. (1981) Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
9.
KrashenS. (1985) The Input Hypothesis: Issues and implications. London: Longman.
10.
LennebergE.H. (1964) The Capacity of Language Acquisition, in FodorJerry A. & KatzJerrold J. (Eds) The Structure of Language, 579–603. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
11.
LennebergE.H. (1967) Biological Foundation of Language. New York: Wiley.
12.
Marinova-ToddS.H.MarshallD.B. & SnowC.E. (2000) Three Misconceptions about Age and L2 Learning, TESOL Quarterly, 34(1), 9–34.
13.
PenfieldW. & RobertsL. (1959) Speech and Brain-Mechanisms. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
14.
SotoL.D. (2005) Bilingual Border-Crossing: Children's ideological becoming, in SotoL.D. & SwadenerB.B. (Eds) Power and Voice in Research with Children, 153–164. New York: Peter Lang.
