最近在國立高雄第一科技大學所做的一項研究顯示，受測之學生大多英文字彙不足，對指定之英文閱讀作業裹足不前，顯示其學習英文多年後對英文仍缺乏信心，多年來之學習並未有機會充分接觸英文。本文旨在探討此種現象產生之原因、學生充分接觸英文對英文習得之重要性、英文小說分級廣讀及閱讀測驗之策略應用、以及創造性表達與責任測驗之必要性。文末並提出一項鼓勵學生充分接觸英文之實施計畫供學校行政單位參考。

　　　　　Recently at National Institute of Technology at Kaohsiung, most students tested in at the middle-beginning range of English proficiency and many could not recognize such words as “pain” and “sink”, meaningfully link ideas in a reading passage or recognize simple words when occurring with suffixes such as “-ize”,“-ive”, or “-or”, indicating that after years of English, students remain insufficiently exposed to English. Additionally, the students were found to shy from the proposal of reading a simplified novel, demonstrating a lack of confidence in their own ability to approach English independently. This lack of exposure and confidence could partially be caused by previous teachers who believe their students cannot process material independently. As a result of such a belief, teachers “over limit” material their students cover and “over explain”, thus instilling the same limitation in their students, and although well- intended, these practices actually inhibit student progress. This paper will discuss: a) the basis and perpetuation of the misbelief, b) the role of exposure in language acquisition, c) the use of extensive graded novel reading and task-based listening as exposure and d) the need for creative expression and responsible testing. Also introduced is a plan for implementing English exposure programs in schools.