Interviewing the Incoming Students

Just before I left with my parents on vacation last month I had the opportunity to interview the incoming students for the AFL program at my university. I thought it would be an exercise in numbing boredom, but it turned out to be great fun.

I took a series of notes on the experience, simply because it was so interesting. The incoming students were seriously in need of advisors -- for example, a number of them, about 60% averred that they did not read, though they were applying to an English program. Of those that did read, few read books, though when pressed a couple mentioned Harry Potter. Some of the girls were wearing skirts so short they literally could not safely sit down. Only one of the boys was a talkative fellow, although a number of girls would not shut up; English practically spilled out of them. 'Twas wonderful. There was a group of students from Chiaotai High School in Dali who were also good -- chatty, great English, willing to talk, and fun to interact with. Whatever they are putting in the water over there, it is working.

The interrogationsinterviews were basically Q&A. One question I asked almost everyone was "My parents are coming to Taiwan this month. Where can I take them to show them traditional Taiwan?" Invariable answer: Taipei 101! Ugly skyscrapers are a tradition here, apparently. They also kept trying to segue into memorized answers, which led more than one student into streams of hilarious non sequitors. Nobody exercised, and everyone listened to soft music. All avowed that they were friendly and outgoing people. Everyone always sticks to the safe answer.....a complaint voiced here in this Taipei Times commentary on the state of HS student English writing in Taiwan:

And as for the crux of their content -- if there is one -- it is often dry and boring; I suspect this is a reflection of the uninteresting lifestyles of high school students and their aversion to risk, which is something that teachers reinforce by rewarding students' use of cliches or other hackneyed or fluffy language.

The writing topics this year focused on experiences of being misunderstood or wrongly blamed. A good many students jabbered about their parents blaming them for stealing cash or eating something they shouldn't have; others yacked about mom and dad tongue-lashing them for watching TV or playing video games instead of doing homework. The list goes on.

In this sea of drab, cookie-cutter stories, if we chance upon a composition with a unique storyline, we relish it like a diamond. For example, one student wrote about his chucking a few rocks at what he thought was a mean stray dog walking next to a pedestrian, only to discover that it was actually not a stray, but the pedestrian's pet, which prompted a juicy confrontation.

I had the same thought when I was judging speeches a couple of years ago....one longs for the fresh and the new....

[Taiwan]