"The lack of the recognition of one’s identity" is the thing I’d like to change most about my school. Identifying oneself includes such

aspects like teamwork, interpersonal relationships, internationalism and a group of "selfs"—self-control, self-confidence and self discipline. Being short of internationalism is the key problem of our school.

My school is located in such a place—Shanghai which is an international city. But I think it’s really a pity that we haven’t seized these opportunities to open our eyes to see what the world is really like. For instance, most students in our school are reluctant to learn new things or to enrich themselves. They are against or opposed to new concepts. They are not concerned about what is going on in the outside world. They only do what they want to do and learn only what is enjoyable to them in spite of whether it is right or wrong or useful.

It looks like independence at first sight. But actually it is irresponsible and rather stupid. Because it creates a person with a limited outlook. This kind of situation demonstrates that the combination of individual student’s manners reflects the character of the school. That is because the behavior of every single student represents the school. Thus, we have to change ourselves.

Basically and most importantly, we have to change our attitudes. This is not something just like poor grades, which we can solve by working hard. We have to understand no matter how well our parents educate us or what our teachers teach us, only we can decide whether to do well or poorly. So from now on, do it for ourselves. Don’t maintain the

opinion that if we study hard, our parents or teachers will benefit from our efforts. This is an attitude towards how we will treat everything in life.

Second, gaining more knowledge. Extensive reading can help develop common sense. The explosion in knowledge is like a train. For this generation, lots of people try to cover their eyes, pretending they do not hear the sound of the train running on the track. But this is no use. You have to open your eyes and look around what is happening. Find ways to catch the train. Watching news is a direct way to keep up to date

on international trends. We have to realize the importance of training oneself to get used to this ever changing world.

Third, getting along with different people. Don’t repel some people we don’t like. We may not have to make friends with them, but we must get in touch with them. We’ll find out each kinds of people is just like a window who opens varied fields for us. We can hear various opinions.

Finally, I want to say," If we keep following this, I am sure this will lead the school to an environment filled with rationality and liberalism.

by ice raven in Tutoring English, agencies, etc.

by Judy

Part 1. The Early History.

Part 2. The Recent History.

Famous Places In Taiwan: Yeliou

by Gillian

What is my island? Where is it?

by June

What is my island? Where is it?

by Wendy

Famous Place In Taiwan: Taipei 101

by Johnny

The Dog Island

by Coco

These compositions were written and illustrated by students who are studying Parade V. Students were asked to write about places from their own experience. Both teachers think the students did a fantastic job!

“Due to policy changes within the University, the funding that supported the Hwa Kang Journal of TEFL has now been suspended. The editorial team had offered to continue the Hwa Kang Journal of TEFL by finding alternative ways to fund the Journal. This offer unfortunately remains to be accepted. Given the impasse, it seems that the Journal is now at an end.
As Webmaster, and previous Editor, it remains for me to thank our writers, editors, reviewers and readers for allowing us to contine for so many years. We wish you all well.

These pages will remain for the time being until a decision is reached on how to handle these files. The URL has reverted to its owner since outstanding payment was not forthcoming for the URL or for hosting from then. The pages are currently paid for by the publishers of PanopticonAsia Press.

The Hwa Kang Journal Pages will be removed at the end of 2007.

Former Editor, Hwa Kang Journal of TEFL.