Archive
FLTA 筆記
假期裡的某一天，旅行在伸手不見五指的漆黑洞穴裡，地下水流緩緩自腳下滑過，洞穴外是接近三十度的高溫，洞穴裡長年流淌的冰涼地下水，卻讓已經穿著防寒衣的我們禁不住打了一個冷顫。看不見天光，抬頭，頭頂的探照燈冷不防與洞裡的蝙輻四目相對，反射出詭異的幽幽紅光 ，無聲地抱怨這群不速之客的無故打擾。聽不見街道上奔馳的汽車呼嘯、也不聞市井小販的沿街吆喝，「嗒…」一滴水自冰涼的洞壁落下，就打破了一室的悄然寂靜。
Feeble Men and Double Bodies: Du Shiniang at the Metropolitan Hall Theater
What is it about the feebleness of men in traditional Chinese theater? The emperor stands by, saying nothing and looking apologetic, while his councilors suggest that it would probably be for the best if his beloved concubine were to kill herself. The scholar Xu Xian stumbles over himself, trying to
Top Five Highlights of a Year in Taiwan
Top ten lists are everywhere these days. As readership moves online, and as viewership becomes more dependent on a catchy title to encourage a curious click, writers have become adept at condensing regular material into this appealing format. One of my favorites this year was a Foreign Policy piece by
Contemporary Aboriginal. The Mixing.
For my Fulbright grant I chose a topic of immense richness: the aboriginal peoples of Taiwan. What I found exceeded my every expectation. I have experienced countless encounters and exchanges, celebrated the sacred rites and important dates of the harvest and hunting calendars of the Pangcah (also known as Amis),
Reflections on Research and Teaching English at National Taiwan Normal University
It has been nearly 11 months since I started teaching an advanced English writing course at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) in Taipei as a part of my duties as a Fulbright senior scholar in Taiwan. After a brief introduction to some of my NTNU English department colleagues at a
Last Fragment from a Taiwan Notebook: Traffic, Turn Signals, Fate
A day or two after our arrival in Taiwan, my family and I stood at the edge of the narrow road just outside the college campus where we now lived, wondering how to cross the street. There was no traffic light, no crosswalk, no sidewalk, and no break in the
Reflection on Teaching Advanced English Writing at a Taiwanese University
I have been teaching ESL for many years, both in the United States and in several foreign countries. My students hail from a variety of ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Over the years, I have taught a wide spectrum of English classes, including speaking, listening, study skills, reading, literature, and
Identities, Past and the Present
For a long time, I have wanted to complete a manuscript contributing to understanding the complicated political and economic relationships between the Republic of China (ROC, or Taiwan), the People’s Republic of China (PRC or China), and the United States of America (USA). Part of the motivation is personal. While
Marilyn Rahilly: Affective and Cultural Considerations in English Language Learning
Dr. Marilyn Rahilly conducted a qualitative study of a group of Taiwanese university students and examined the role that the affective domain and culture play in second language learning in adult learners of English, including: motivation, cultural differences, language anxiety, saving face, fear of making errors, public speaking, and risk-taking
Carol Lee: Solving The Mystery of Terrestrialization
Dr. Carol Lee and her Taiwan host, Dr. Wen-Hsiung Li, are using novel genome sequence data, generated for the first time for 35 arthropod species, to determine patterns of evolution across habitats. From these data, we can infer adaptations over both macro- and micro evolutionary time scales to determine physiological
