※ 引述《chris38 (Chris)》之銘言： : Thanks for everyone who has responded. From the responses so far, there are : two main viewpoints as I understand it. : The first view point, which I tend to agree with, is that English texts are : useful for some fields that use a lot of English nouns and vocabulary, such as : history or pharmacology. While there are the translations for these nouns, : there are also plenty of instances where you need to know and use the English : version, therefore it is helpful to study from the English text. To paraphrase : one response, English serves as a "framework" to teach the material. : However, I feel that I must offer a counter argument to this claim. Could it be : true that studying a vocabulary list would suffice for these words, or rather : just place the translations next to the Chinese words in the book. For instance : 巴黎鐵塔(Eiffel Tower). This could save time by not requiring the translation : of words not directly related to the material of interest. : The second viewpoint, to which I mostly disagree with, is that studying : from English textbooks will help with communicating with foreingers in the : future. By far, the spoken language is the most important way to communicate : with anyone, especially in a business setting. To commit oneself to the : illusion that by studying from textbooks one is preparing oneself to communicate : with native speakers of that language is a fallacy that could lead to problems : down the road. Reading textbooks, while useful in itself to a degree, does : not develop the listening and speaking skills required for effective : communication. : Finally, regarding the lack of competitive edge resulting from not studying : from English books in college, I would like to ask clarification as exactly : what is meant by "competitive edge". Does this mean high scores on English : proficiency tests leading to better jobs? Or does this mean the ability to : communicate in the English speaking world. If it is the latter, then I would : have to disagree. As for the proficiency tests, this is an incentive structure : set up by the Taiwanese government that students have no choice but to follow. : It is also something I could argue against, but I will leave for another : discussion. : To take this idea of "competitive edge" a bit further, has anyone considered : the disadvantage to the academic competitive edge of Taiwanese students and : professors, who often find themselves having to write and study in a non-native : language? I would argue that for the average Taiwanese college student : studying from an English textbook would require twice or more the amount of : time required by a native speaker. The time saved by the native speaker is : used to partake in extracurricular activities or study more material. I feel : that this time saved gives an academic advantage to native English speaking : countries. Perhaps this advantage contributes to allowing western countries : like the United States to stay on top of the academic rankings and have more : publications published in journals. Simply stated, by researching and studying : in your native language, you are afforded a time advantage against those who : must use a non-native langage. : Does anyone have any more viewpoints? I would love to continue this discussion. I checked my last post about this topic and found I made a mistake by not explaining my thoughts clearly. I have to apologize because I made you misunderstand my words. What I meant about "communicating with foreigners" is that in the international symposium, you may have to discuss the topics with those scholars from other countries. In this case, you have to know special terms in English. (Of course these foreigners know nothing about chinese.) I like your idea that simply put English terms behind the chinese, but this might be a trouble sometimes. Some people memorize the chinese one instead of the English. And no one is sure the translation is correct or not, it would be embarrasing if you use the wrong chinese terms. (eg. the textbooks that all biology-related field students need to read is called "Campbell", I have a Chinese version of it and it really made many mistakes on translation.) Reading textbooks can't profoundly improve your English ability, I totally agree with this. I love your last paragraph. It's a unique viewpoint. Sometimes I thought why does everyone hail those well-known schools? Why are those schools in US always on the top list? Maybe what you said is a contributing reason. --

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