以台灣高中為主的多面向英語論辯推廣計劃 (II)

Time and again, debate has been proved to be an effective pedagogical vehicle for critical thinking, language learning, and civil education, and yet in the past debate had failed to garner much attention in high school English education in Taiwan. To redress the situation, a three-year promotion research project was set out in an attempt to introduce critical thinking and English debate to local high schools and to research plausible means for such promotion endeavor. Encompassing three phases and employing seven strategies, the project zeroed in on three different domains, which include academic competition, in-class instruction and everyday life argumentation. Close to forty English high school teachers from all over the country were recruited to undertake various tasks and provide feedback. It was found that promotion on the “competition” domain was the most successful; in contrast, the spread in the domains of in-class teaching and everyday life was less satisfactory. “Teacher development” was the strategy most successfully utilized; on the contrary, “external communication” was a strategy landing the least success. Given results as such, holding competitive academic debates appeared to be an effective means of promoting critical thinking and English debate among local high schools. Ultimately it’s the policy makers’ conceptions of English debate and the educational environment as a whole that will decide the future success of similar endeavors.