Introduction For decades, Taiwanese education has struggled in several areas as dedicated educators are challenged and pressured in the aura of test-oriented social and professional work setting. Public and private school instructors teaching English as a foreign language were not excluded from the plight of entrance exams and test scores. The 108 curriculum seems to provide room for more innovative and interactive classes to burgeon. While it is harder for public education to react swift enough as a single entity, ripples of education reforms can slowly build the momentum for transformations. Model United Nations clubs have been around much longer than any English debate club in the country. While MUN seems to have gained a strong, stable traction within the education system, the actual language learning and globalization efficacy of participating in such organizations has been highly variant and dependent on student officer leadership and/or club teacher involvement. A growing concern is that students feel the need to splash dazzling English verbal volleys in conferences and engage in active socializing in the parties that followed. Meanwhile, high school English debate has only been developed the past decade with the efforts of National Normal Taiwan University English Professor Charlotte Chang and a handful of dedicated high school English instructors. Yet, students’ fear of not performing well enough in language vocabulary difficulty and lack of self-confidence turns them away before teachers have a chance to introduce the art to them. While there is a growing, unsatisfied demand for English learning, the dramatic rise of youth involvement in public policy & politics leads to my desire to create a hybrid activity to satisfy as many needs as possible. It is under this sentiment that the MUN x Eng Debate x Legislature Mini-Conference was hatched. Purpose The purpose of the event is to integrate knowledge on domestic and international politics or issues, encourage English language exchanges in a more formal setting, and engage students in direct confrontations that all go towards making the nation a better place to live in the future through better public policy creation and decision making skills. For one, Mandarin and English do not have any connection in linguistic family tree. An illustration from Ang Moh Dan’s website blog illustrates this fact. Since English and Mandarin belong to Indo-European branch and Sino-Tibetan, respectively, it is all the more important to practice English as much as possible in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, in a non-test format, for maximum exposure, which in turn brings better English mastery. Another is to mediate the unspoken tension within, between, and beyond the Model United Nations (MUN) and English Debate club (EDC) circles. Unsupervised student club progress usually ends up like the outcome of kids being leaders of their island in Lord of the Flies, where the main goal(s) can be blurred and the tug-of-war for attention and resources becomes the focus. Zero sum conflicts over club allegiances, MUN/debate procedures or formats, and schools, need not exist. A return to the practice of English in a critical thinking mindset under a properly trained instructor should be the primary goal of such clubs, regardless of whether it is MUN or EDC. Last, the art of journalism, discussions, and reading analysis, is on the verge of their own demise and threaten the democracy our nation is striving to be. Journalists face a dwindling demand from the public. The differentiation of facts and opinions is less developed in the new generation of youths today. There is less constructive, meaningful conversations when discussions are more web-based. Active listening and exchanges are dampened or nullified, hindering mutual and cross-cultural understandings that develop vibrant societies. The average reading time among teenagers has also decreased. An article stated that in the US, a recent American Psychological Association research showed less than 20 percent of teens report reading a book, magazine or newspaper daily for pleasure, while more than 80 percent say they use social media every day. San Diego State University Psychology professor Jean M. Twenge, found that "the decline in reading print media was especially steep. A similar pattern is seen in Taiwan, as news report showed PISA rankings showed a troubling weakness in reading abilities, comprehension, and answering critical thinking questions, despite the significant strengths in STEM subjects when compared to other OECD countries. The intent of the mini-conference is to bring English closer to daily applications and force students into a more focused, constructive thinking practice as opposed to short-term/long-term memory juggles of general education. Mini-Conference Setup The mini-conference was divided into two parts - domestic and diplomatic. The setting was at the Legislative Yuan (equivalent to parliament of other democracies). Students were selected to represent the 21 counties and cities as legislators. Four ministries were chosen with a minister and deputy minister. Both legislators and ministers had to tackle the domestic and diplomatic issues that followed COVID-19 in a post-pandemic environ. Ministers were asked to report on the status quo beforehand and to assist the legislators in making sure their resolutions were thorough enough DURING the event. Legislators were asked to start planning their respective speeches and resolutions. Then, lobbying and drafting time for resolutions was allotted. Upon completion, teams that have drawn up resolutions would report again to everyone to clarify their plans and reasoning. Immediately following their reports, would be a grand crossfire as opposed to the 1-on-1 cross examination in debate. People can ask and/or answer as long as they wanted to. They were also vulnerable to a counter-cross. In other words, anything goes until the allotted time for crossfire adjourns. A resolution vote is taken and the session ends. The mentioned cycle is repeated twice (domestic and diplomatic), revolving around their respective foci of public policies for Taiwan. Observations and Suggestions
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May 2022
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