大學英檢畢業門檻的現況與檢討

A Critical Examination of the Current State of Universities’English Proficiency Standard Policies

在教育部的政策鼓勵下，2002年臺大開始實施英檢畢業門檻，20年來全臺曾有超過九成以上大學實行此一教育政策。2016年9月教育部調整立場，發文表示並未強制大學實施英檢門檻，慎重提醒各院校應「衡酌其妥適性」。2018年1月政大校務會議通過廢除英檢門檻，獲得極大的關注。另一重大轉捩點是2018年8月最高行政法院107年判字第488號的判決中，認定「先檢定、後教學」的規定「逾越大學自治之合理、必要範圍，應屬無效」。之後，諸多大學修訂或取消英檢門檻規定，產生了甚為多樣的變化。本文首度詳細檢視全臺152所院校的現行規定，整理與分類後發現仍有高達71校明確違法：規定學生須參加校外檢定，不通過後方得循校內補救管道。本文亦呈現其他類型的英檢門檻規定，辯證其適法性並展開反思，探討大多數院校在法院宣告英檢畢業門檻違法後，尚未修正其相關規範之原因。

Prompted by the Ministry of Education (MOE), National Taiwan University instituted an English proficiency standard before graduation, known as‘English graduation threshold’, in 2002. Over the last 20 years, more than 90 percent of the universities in Taiwan implemented similar policies requiring students to take a standard English proficiency test. In September 2016, the MOE changed its position and issued an official reminder that the MOE had not imposed such a requirement and universities should evaluate the appropriateness of their policies. In January 2018, National Chengchi University’s council meeting passed a motion to abolish its English graduation threshold, and the news caught the spotlight. The pivotal point is the Highest Administrative Court Judgment No. 107-Pan-488, which ruled the regulation invalid as mandating the standardized test before teaching violated university autonomy, which must be with the bounds of‘reasonable and necessary’. Many universities recently amended or canceled such polices. This paper is the first to scrutinize the current regulations in 152 universities across the nation. After analyzing and categorizing the different practices, 71 universities are found to violate the court’s ruling, as they still mandate that students must fail the external commercialized tests first before they resort to internal alternatives such as a remedial English course. We show the variety of such alternative measures, deliberate their lawfulness, and reflect on the question why polices with such educational and legal concerns still remain in Taiwan's higher education.