培養學生批判性思考與英語簡報能力之個案分析：以北部某一科技大學應用外語系融入商業個案於商用英文教學為例

Integrating case teaching into Business English to enhance students' critical thinking and English presentation skills: A case study of a department of applied foreign languages in northern Taiwan

在臺灣，以實務導向為主的科技大學應用英語系（或是應用外語系），通常會於商用英文、貿易英文書信及商務英語溝通等課程中，教授英語的四項技能（聽、說、讀、寫），而本人施作的個案研究旨在將國外（及臺灣）商學院廣泛採行的個案教學法，與英文主修學生的商用英文課程作結合。兩學年內共計五十一位學生參與這堂課。於課程初期，這些主修英文的學生在透過本人詳細地解釋如何施作個案教學，以及得到經簡化過，附有公司危機與困境的真實商業個案後，學習到如何理解事件背景，以批判性思考的方式從不同的觀點探討個案議題並解決問題，最後每組必須完成時長約十二分鐘的英語簡報，以傳達小組對於個案的意見與建議的解決方案。這五十一名學生們在英語簡報技巧上有顯著的進步（簡報分數最高提升14.8%），對於課程也有良好的滿意度（滿分五分的基礎下，平均評價超過4.6分）。二十二位學生於課程結束後以匿名的方式提供了對個案教學法的反思，其中十一位闡述了他們學習到如何分工合作，並承擔個人責任，九位強調他們學習到如何用批判性思考處理不同的問題。這次個案研究的經驗是在臺灣的科技大學應用英語系（或應用外語系）中，非常成功地使用個案教學法的例子。

In most practice-oriented technological universities in Taiwan, the departments of applied English or applied foreign languages usually teach the four basic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in the courses on Business English, Business Correspondence, Business Communication, etc. The case study herein aims to integrate case teaching, which has been adopted widely at business schools abroad and in Taiwan, into English majors' Business English courses. In total, 51 students participated in this study during two academic years. Through my detailed explanations and provision of simplified real business cases with companies' problems and dilemmas for these English majors at the beginning of the course, they learned how to understand the background, critically discuss the issues from various perspectives, solve the problems and cooperatively finish a 12-min presentation where they could offer their thoughts and suggestions concerning the course. They made great progress in their English presentation skills (presentation grades increased by up to 14.8%) and were satisfied with the course (the evaluation rate was above 4.6 out of 5). Twenty-two students provided their reflections anonymously after the course had finished. Eleven students stated that they had learned how to do teamwork and take on their own responsibilities. Nine students emphasized that they learned how to think 'critically' when approaching different aspects. The case study was a successful example of using case teaching in a department of applied English (or applied foreign languages) in technological universities in Taiwan.