Language Policy in Taiwan: Age as a Factor of Second Language Acquisition

ABSTRACT\ud LANGUAGE POLICY IN TAIWAN: AGE AS A FACTOR OF SECOND\ud LANGUAGE ACQUISITION\ud by\ud Pei-Ying Lee\ud Master of Arts in Teaching International Languages\ud California State University, Chico\ud Spring 2009\ud Age has been viewed as the most important factor of language acquisition in\ud Taiwan, and it is also used as a slogan to attract parents to send their children to learn\ud English at an earlier age. The theory of the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) leads parents\ud to believe that children should learn English as soon as possible or lose their advantages.\ud Other factors such as motivation and environment have been ignored in considerations\ud of language acquisition in Taiwan. Proponents of the CPH have argued that\ud children who acquire a second language earlier can obtain native-like accents, but opponents\ud stress that children perform better in second language acquisition once they already\ud acquire their first language.\ud In the last ten years, English language policy has been changed and revised,\ud especially the official starting age of learning English in Taiwan. Before 2001, English\ud vii\ud was officially taught in seventh grade. Due to a high demand from the public, the Ministry\ud of Education (MOE) decided to offer English instruction in the elementary\ud schools. Related to the issues of English language policy in Taiwan are unqualified\ud teachers, limited class time, inconsistent curriculum, limited teacher training and resources\ud for rural areas. It is important to help children establish interests in learning\ud English and the government should provide alternate ways for public to access English\ud education, such as television program on public television service and internet resources.CSU, Chic