Rethinking Language Education in Taiwan: A Case Study of English Majors’ Use of Chinese Classifiers

• In Event: Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: Language and Literacy Education: Global Perspectives

Abstract

This paper aims to bring attention to language education in Taiwan through a case study of English majors’ use of Chinese classifiers in translation when there are no more required Chinese-language-related courses after the first year of university, with particular reference to part-time students. Chinese classifiers occur in the form of a numeral followed by a classifier before the nouns they modify. The lack of awareness of Chinese classifiers causes problems in English-Chinese translation. A class of students under investigation was put to tests during their second and fourth years with elicitation materials designed by the researcher. Initial findings show a similar tendency towards the use of Chinese classifiers in translation, even the misconceptions of some homophonic classifiers.

Author

• Bin-Bin Yu, Lunghwa University of Science and Technology