To substantiate the global-oriented policy, new evaluation system and remedy measures are adopted in the English course, which is a compulsive one for all TKU freshmen. All freshmen have to take joint midterm exam, with unified exam questions. Those who fail the midterm exam will be asked to join remedy classes. “We hope to improve students’ English ability. We apply a more objective way to evaluate students’ English language level, and then we offer remedy classes for those students whose ability it is below certain point,” said Dr. Huang I-min, Chair of English Department.

The joint midterm exam for Freshman English will take place this week. In the past, English teaching was proceed by ability grouping method, with three different levels of teaching materials and diverse exam questions formulated by instructors personally. “It is not easy to objectively recognize students’ English ability because the exams have different levels of complexity. Some students with average high English ability may get lower grade if situated in a higher level class,” said Dr. Lin Yi-ti, Assistant Professor of English Department, and coordinator of the English joint exams. She said “this year we cancel the system of ability grouping and divide the teaching materials into two kinds, one for College of Engineering, College of Science, and night program, the other for all other colleges. Two unified exam questions will be used to evaluate student’s achievement and to decide who need to attend remedy classed.”

Dr. Hwang expressed that “we will cooperate with the Teaching Excellence Project and employ both native and foreign teachers to increase students’ interests and improve their English.” (~ Lin Wen-hua )