Judging from the inquiries I have received, I don't have much choice but to blog on this: this tale in China Times about the teacher at my university isn't about me:大學校園爆發外籍老師口出穢言、種族歧視爭議！朝陽科技大學應用外語系某外籍老師，近日遭學生指控在課堂上辱罵學生「Chinese dog」（中國狗）、「fuck you」（幹）、「hooker」（妓女），學生群情激憤，要求校方立即解聘這名老師。
I wasn't going to blog on it to avoid giving the story more play than it already had, but since it is now out in the TV news......
Because this matter touches on an ongoing internal investigation and disciplinary matters at the university, I will not comment on specifics. Just take this article as a typical example of the balance, restraint, and gravity of the local media.
UPDATE: English version
Wow, the comments section on that story got out of hand real fast, didn't it?
ReplyDeleteVery simple. Let's give the students making the accusation a simple English oral comprehension test. If they can truly distinguish between fine nuances of English pronunciation, consistently, under similar conditions, then...maybe. Although if this teacher called a student a "China doll" he does need to think about appropriate forms of address.
ReplyDeleteI am not a native speaker, but if you're upset, wouldn't you rather use the B word? I haven't seen the H word since T.J Hooker. Same as
ReplyDelete"Chinese dog", it sounds WWIIish.
So many holes. So little time.
This must be a very difficult time for both teachers and students. Hang on, hopefully there will be light at the end of the tunnel.
Some wounds are meant for all the discharge to come out. There must have been some pressure brewing for such a "disgusting' incident to come out, and with it, all those awful antagonist feelings surface, too.
What I find so bizarre about this is that such a story was considered newsworthy in the first place. Yeah, I can imagine some newspapers writing a small paragraph of less than 100 words in a small corner on a slow news day, but I find it odd that this paper wrote about the matter in such depth.
ReplyDeleteTeacher discipline problems happen all the time all over the world. They usually get resolved one way or another. Therefore, I don't see this as an earth-shattering event. Then again, half of what the media reports in Taiwan is less than earth shattering or even mildly interesting.
tico you must be out of US for awhile. Bitch is absolutely fine these days (sometime it actually come with a positive spin these days). You can even say it on radio now. Yes, it is easy to confuse "Chinese doll (dog)," I give you that. However, it is hard to mistaken "Fxxk you," and "hooker." I bet he/she is not using the c*m word because I bet no one will get it in Taiwan. Also, even if the students are mistaken, the situation must somehow warrant them to think that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I barely speak Spanish but I know fair amount of bad words from it...puto :).
I am a native speaker and I agree with ticoexpat: the word choices seem very strange indeed. The B word for a start, along with "Chinese dog," a term I don't think I have ever heard in my life. There are plenty of nasty insults for people of every color, so I'm skeptical someone would use this.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, if a teacher is ranting at a college class, that's pretty weird and might well deserve some administrative attention.
"Fuck you" was not said nor was it reported by the students. That's an invention of the news report, entirely. "Hooker" was not used either; none of the students knew how to pronounce the word. I can comment on what i learned informally, and that was the experience of different groups of students who were present asking me how to say it (rhymes with BOOK or KOOK?). As far as I can see that is ex post facto invention as well.
ReplyDeleteI was present during many of the interviews with the students, and after this is all finished I'll forward an account here.
Michael
Michael, Sharon told me that a teacher got fired this same week at another university, actually in Taichung (the one up the hill there next to or across from Dong Hai university, if I heard correctly). But the reason for that was pretty clear: the teacher was fired because he had supposedly misrepresented his qualifications, claiming he had a Masters degree when he in fact, did not.
ReplyDelete"Chinese Dog" is a mandarin expression: "中國走狗" that is a derivative of "Japanese Dog: 日本走狗". The words "走狗" is not natural English saying, neither is "dog" typically used by native English speakers as a derogative term. Only someone who is familiar with the phrase "日本走狗" can come up with "中國走狗", which I assume eliminated any native English speaker not born and raised in Taiwan or China. I can only assume the local media made it up.
ReplyDeleteThe student should have stopped eating her breakfast once the class began.
ReplyDelete