人生有多少個十年？工作生涯中，每個人又有多少個得以一圓心中理想的十年？幸運的我，於回台任教的第二個十年，有了在寫作教學中心可以圓夢的機會！

寫作教學中心的成立，部分源於校方回應學生期待開設論文寫作課程的心聲。出人意表的是「籌設寫作教學中心」這樣的重責竟然落到我身上。那一年，適逢我正為了一個即將要接受的重大手術而煩憂。每天除了上課，餘下的精力只能勉強地與身體無止無盡的疼痛奮戰。當下，我選擇了婉拒中心主任這項職位的請託。

是緣分吧！當我在病房從術後的麻醉中緩緩醒來，赫然映入眼簾的是一盆清香典雅的蘭花。就是那一盆花，讓我願意扛起了寫作教學中心的成敗，投入了無怨無悔的十年歲月。或許有人為我如此易於感動而啞然失笑，我過去十年的生活重心, 源於前教務長蔣丙煌所致贈，充滿同理的人文關懷，在我心中永遠綻放的蘭花！

十年耕耘，驀然回首，最深刻的回憶並非那段曾經走過的艱辛，而是那股銘記於心的重重感激。我何德何能，可得到校方數任長官無條件的信任？而若沒有這樣的機會，我又如何可以擁有生命中永遠難以忘懷的十年？

創辦寫作教學中心，除了教育理念的落實，我心中還有一個願景-希望中心的籌設也是讓臺灣學術國際化的另一管道。臺灣大學不乏優秀學子，難道我們不能以文字將其智慧的結晶傳達到世界更多的角落，讓更多人看到我們斐然的研究成果？

從無到有是一條困頓難行的道路，從無到有也是一段異常充實的過程。這期間，不全然是也無風雨也無晴，卻是我生命中一捲無法刪滅的影帶，那些經常閃過腦中的片段：理念落實的欣慰、莘莘學子獲得新知後的滿意笑容、周遭無數溫暖而肯定的眼光、許多國外學者遠來取經的羨慕神情，豐富了個人再平凡不過的人生。生命有限，十年得以換得如此難忘的種種，千金不易。

寫作教學中心成立以來，度過了在校史館篳路藍縷的草創期，也經歷了在博雅教學館與諸多同事胼手胝足的成長期。中心可有令人肯定的成績，天時地利外，最重要的關鍵就是人和。幸有這一群持相同理念、富滿腔熱情、具專業素養的工作夥伴，成就了今日的寫作教學中心。

值此寫作教學中心即將步入十年之際，我很高興自己當年所承諾的目標當已階段性達成，可以無愧地交棒。感謝所有協助過中心的同仁，更感謝毅然接下重擔的李主任。謹以本文祝福中心繼續茁壯成長，造福更多有心學習的同學，並提升臺大在國際上的能見度。

William Somerset Maugham (1874 –1965) was a British playwright, novelist, and short story writer. Maugham was trained and qualified as a physician; however, the big success of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, had then motivated him to give up medicine to write full-time. During and after the First World War, he travelled in India and Southeast Asia; all of these experiences were reflected in his later short stories and novels.

推薦文章:

PowerPoint is evil
Edward R. Tufte
https://www.wired.com/2003/09/ppt2/

推薦人:  Marc Anthony(本中心教師)

評語:
The AWEC's English Presentations for Academic Purposes course is designed to help graduate researchers develop the tools and knowledge to deliver effective and professional presentations. At the beginning of every course, our course "coach", Marc Anthony, asks his presenters whether most of the presentations they have seen so far in their academic and professional lives have been effective or ineffective in communicating their purposes and points. The response (and this answer has been the same every year since the course began) has always been a resounding vote for "ineffective." There may be many reasons for this, but one consistent problem in all professional and academic presentations is the way PowerPoint is employed. One of the strongest critics of the failures of PowerPoint is Dr. Edward Tufte, a renowned statistician and expert on information design. He observes that the most common problem with PowerPoint presentations that presenters focus time and effort on "formatting" the information, rather than considering the content design. Content design focuses on thinking about what you want to communicate, and then choosing the best mode to do that. Unfortunately, as Tufte notes, PowerPoint is often the favored mode, and that is why so many presentations fail.

【3MT】2017三分鐘英語簡報競賽
【MY WRITING CLINIC】105-2 文章看診時段公告

為鼓勵學生精進簡報發表能力、刺激學習動機、分享其學術發現，臺大寫作教學中心特取得3MT授權，舉辦三分鐘英語簡報比賽。自2015年起，已連續辦理兩年。而今年的3MT，將邀請國立臺灣大學系統(NTU System)聯盟之國立臺灣師範大學及國立臺灣科技大學研究生共襄盛舉。

2017 3MT已開跑，收件時間為4/21-5/5中午12點，請注意四月場次時程表(如下)，詳情請參考本中心活動網頁。

中心於105-1推出 My Writing Clinic，由中心寫作專業老師親自提供寫作諮詢服務，備受學生歡迎，往往一開放報名即額滿。本學期(105-2)將持續提供服務，服務期間自 2017/3/10-6/23，預計推出 70 場次(每週約 2~6 場)，諮詢時段規劃可參考中心網站公告。

舉凡論文、報告、提案、簡報等中文/英文文件，都歡迎帶來與老師討論。請臺大學生把握此難得的一對一寫作諮詢機會，第一時間沒搶到名額的同學也別氣餒，名額會因取消而釋出，請持續關注報名系統。

服務內容與申請辦法，詳見 My Writing Clinic 服務網頁:
http://www.awec.ntu.edu.tw/mywritingclinic.html

老師說明:
跳出傳統框架思考—已成為社會近代思考方式之主流，學術圈與業界也期望其成員，得以創新與突破的想法解決難題。科學上之發展與突破主奠基於人類生活上的需求，故科學始終離不開人文，而『框架外的思考：五分鐘英語講台』的課程核心概念便是由此出發。透過探查問題並有系統的分析，從而提出解決辦法，藉此鼓勵學生以創新的觀點審查生活周遭，且學會以科學的精神探究與分析周遭事物。學生於修課中學習如何觀察生活周遭的疑難雜症，以創意發想解決問題，並透過小實驗檢測提案之成效，再將其過程及成果寫成英文企劃書，並在五分鐘內以淺顯易懂及有組織之語言以口頭發表方式呈現。

學生寫作作品:
A Proposed Innovative Teaching Model: Blended Course
An ever-growing number of online learning programs are being offered by higher education institutions throughout the world in response to the rise in popularity of online learning. A recent survey on higher education in the United States reports that over 5.8 million students nationwide were enrolled in at least one online course for the Spring semester of 2016 [1]. The era of e-learning has ultimately prompted change in the dynamics of higher education, pressuring institutions to integrate online educational resources with in-class instructions, or acknowledge online credits in order to enhance students' academic experiences. While such robust and diverse methods have gradually been practiced by some international top universities, higher education institutions in Taiwan seem hesitant to embrace online education, a phenomenon probably resulting from some restrictions in the national education policies. Hence, it is in best interest of Taiwan to seek breakthroughs in online learning and teaching within the nation.

The obstacles resulting from the restrictions may be discussed from two different dimensions: the limitations imposed by the government and those generated from the courses themselves. First, the University Act and Enforcement Rules equate one credit with eighteen teaching hours [2]. However, the term "teaching" is not clearly defined, thus raising a critical question: can online instruction be regarded as a form of formal teaching? Currently, some Taiwanese universities grant credits for online courses from Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms like Coursera. For example, Feng Chia University (FCU) allows students to take general education courses from Coursera, edX, Future Learn, and UDACITY with the help of "digital learning mentors" provided by FCU itself [3]. National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) provides online credit-granted advanced placement programs for basic courses, including calculus, physics and chemistry during the summer terms [4]. In National Taiwan University, OpenCourseWare (OCW) has been well-established with hundreds of courses, yet they are only available for personal enrichment and provide no credit certification. Although the attempt of providing credit-granted online Coursera courses has recently been initiated at NTU, the practice remains in its infancy, considering its immaturity in evaluation and course-support. To urge the universities to take online learning more seriously, the abovementioned problems need urgent attention—a result that can only be obtained when the relevant educational policies are reconsidered.

Second, one major problem challenging online learning is the lack of intellectual and social interactions connected to it. Without hands-on practice in class, it may be difficult for students to fully grasp the content and achieve higher cognitive cultivation, the learning outcomes commonly found in guided instruction [5]. In addition, one primary educational objective of formal schooling is to develop students' interpersonal skills, and this can only be reinforced and mastered through the process of discussing, negotiating and compromising—most of which take place during face-to-face interactions. To strive for a more promising future for online education, the shortcoming of the lack of actual interactions needs to be readdressed.

To investigate the necessity of bettering online courses, a survey was distributed to 130 NTU students in 2016. The results showed that approximately 65% of those surveyed had taken online courses. While many confirmed their interest in taking online courses, only about 20% of the individuals indicated that online learning was satisfying. One crucial comment made by the majority of the respondents was that "some forms of communication and interaction are in need". Therefore, the high ratio of online course-takers may confirm the value of this educational method, yet the large number of dissatisfied learners may have delivered the explicit message that online learning by itself is insufficient for fulfilling students' learning needs.

To overcome the first problem, the difficulty in earning credits for online courses, it would be a reasonable step to review what has been done on the same issue internationally. Many highly-developed countries have recognized the benefits of online learning and sought to further reinforce the trend by granting students credits for the online courses. In contrast to Taiwan, the American government explicitly states that the definition of a credit hour neither requires nor implies any minimum amount of seat time (even for classroom-delivered courses) [6]. Therefore, students are able to earn credits by taking online courses through platforms like "edX", "Coursera", and "Udemy". Prestigious universities like Oxford University in England and Boston University in the U.S., also offer students various online learning programs with the flexibility of when and where to complete their coursework. Due to these two merits, the online-integrated learning methods have been considered to be more effective than the traditional face-to-face courses in terms of learning outcomes [6]. Thus, in order for Taiwan to benefit from similar results, it is clear that Taiwan's University Act and Enforcement Rules are in need of revisions.

In addition, to meet students' needs for online learning and face-to-face interactions, a new form of educational teaching model—Blended Course—is proposed in this present project. The Blended Course (BC) model, through which students can gain access to online materials, conduct their own self-study practices, have personal contacts with their online learning tutors and receive face-to-face interactions in class, contributes to greater success than current teaching models in four ways. To begin with, BC enables team collaboration and individual attention. Also, college students in Taiwan have often found it difficult to take courses in which they are interested due to the limited seating. BC allows bigger class sizes. Moreover, BC not only encourages students to learn fundamental knowledge and skills at different paces but also allows them to develop higher cognitive skills by participating in more challenging and demanding in-class guided group tasks. Last but not least, BC provides a maximum efficacy of learning-monitoring at a minimal cost. Most online learning platforms provide the functions of teacher-student, student-student, and self- learning monitoring operations. Resources are more accessible for sharing with the participants at a much lower cost, making learning more obtainable, regardless of the constraints in finance, geography and time.

To examine the feasibility of the BC model, a brief description of the BC model was included in the same survey conducted by the team members of this proposal in 2016 and the respondents' opinions regarding the proposed BC model were investigated. More than half of the respondents (approximately 57%) demonstrated their positive attitude toward the potential values of the model. There were 39 positive written comments made in the survey. While the comments have suggested that the BC could fulfill the abovementioned four successes (i.e., cost-friendly, more learning-effective, flexible and accessible), the majority held a positive stance about the BC achieving the advantages of both the new and the conventional teaching models (Illustration 1). Additionally, 41 written responses were also given to express the participants' uncertainties. About half of them were concerned with failing to follow the learning schedule and not receiving instant feedback from both teachers and peers. In brief, the results have shown the potential positive effect of the BC model application at National Taiwan University. While some concerns were shared, they were either already-existing problems in teaching, meaning non-specific to online learning, or generated by observing the current learning platforms, which are very likely to be solvable with a little more technical effort.

The promotion of Blended Course is just the beginning of a new era in which students hold the compass in the ocean of knowledge. There will be obstacles to overcome and barriers to break. Complementary measures need to be taken to ensure teaching and learning quality. Laws and regulations should be amended to allow for credits being granted. Even though this may not be an easy task, this change would be a significant, worthwhile educational endeavor. This new educational revolution will be upon us.

Figure 1.
The Respondents' Positive Written Comments about the BC Model 

學生口頭報告連結: https://youtu.be/-LjuonnXIm8

 
我們在判斷一個句子是否正確時，常以文法形式（form）正確與否來判斷，但其實一個句子是否正確，還要從文法的功能（function）和語境（context）來看。此次演講針對冠詞、時態、形容詞子句以及主被動語態進行說明，希望讓大家更能瞭解這些文法在不同語境下的功能。

首先針對冠詞的使用功能進行說明。冠詞的功能分成「泛指（generic reference）」和「特指（specific reference）」。但在決定名詞之前要用不定冠詞 a/an、定冠詞 the、或零冠詞來表達泛指或特指之前，還要先判斷這個名詞是可數或不可數，因為如果在不可數名詞前加不定冠詞（例如 an information）或變成複數零冠詞（例如 informations），不管表達的是泛指或特指，形式都不對，所以建議學習者使用名詞時，如果不確定該名詞為可數或不可數，查字典是最好釋疑的方式。

「泛指」與「特指」的基本差異為前者指涉抽象概念，後者指涉可從上下文或背景知識中辨識的人事物。表達泛指時，如果名詞為不可數，其前為零冠詞；如果名詞為可數，可加不定冠詞 a/an 代表個體、定冠詞 the 代表類別、或複數零冠詞代表群體，在大部分的語境中，這三者語意皆可互通，例如：

1. An elephant never forgets.
2. The elephant never forgets.
3. X Elephants never forget.

因為記憶力好是該物種的特性，所以不管是個體、類別或群體都符合。但有些語境中，三者的語意並不相通，例如：

4. A bengal tiger is going extinct.
5. The bengal tiger is going extinct.
6. X Bengal tigers are going extinct.

生物滅絕必須是整個類別或群體消失，此現象若發生在個體，不足以代表一定會擴及整個類別或群體，所以第四句雖然文法無誤，但語意上還是無法成立。

「特指」如同前述，是可以讓讀者從文章脈絡中判斷所指設的人事物。「特指」還可以再區分成「非限定（indefinite）特指」和「限定（definite）特指」。文章中如果第一次提到特指的人事物，即為「非限定特指」，屬新資訊，若該名詞可數，可加不定冠詞 a/an 或複數零冠詞；若該名詞不可數，則為零冠詞。如果文後再次提及該人事物，即屬舊資訊，此時為「限定特指」，無論可數或不可數，一律加定冠詞 the。例如：

7. （零冠詞）Four . . . cows were used. The cows were . . .
 

第二個部份是討論學術論文的動詞時態。說明如下：
一、研究背景：此部份通常是針對某領域現有的科學事實加以討論，所以最常使用的時態是現在式。
二、文獻探討：關於某主題的研究一定是從過去開始到現在，所以通常文獻回顧的主題句都是現在完成式。如果作者在文章中提到某幾篇特定的研究，可能是因為這些過去的研究結果與該作者的研究最直接相關，所以比較常見的時態是過去式與現在式。
三、研究目的：表示研究目的句子若是以文本為主詞，多用現在簡單式 (例如 The purpose of this paper is to investigate . . . )，若是以研究活動為主詞，多用過去簡單式(例如 This study conducted a survey on . . .)。
四、研究步驟：描述研究過程通常使用過去簡單式。
五、研究發現與意義：作者在報告研究發現時多用過去簡單式，而在解釋研究結果所代表的意義時多用現在簡單式。
六、研究結論：此部份在提供讀者未來的研究方向，通常使用現在簡單式和未來簡單式。

第三部份為討論形容詞（關係）子句的語用功能。通常形容詞子句除了用來修飾先行詞外，還可以用來控制文章論述的焦點。如果作者發現某些句子離題時，可以把這些句子改成形容詞子句，如此一來，這些句子的語意可以保留，但又不至於影響論述焦點。

最後是針對主被動語態加以說明，兩者沒有何者較佳，使用時機可由主詞和動詞以及文句聯貫性來判斷。如果主動態的主詞沒有語意重要性，可以考慮改成被動態，例如 Many people consider this research . . .可考慮改寫為 This research is considered . . .。此外被動語態也常用在兩個句子的銜接上，讓上句句尾的新資訊成為下句句首的舊資訊，增加句意的連貫。

希望這次演講讓大家了解在建構句子時，除了顧及文法形式的正確與否，更可以從文法的語用功能來考量。