Adult students in Taiwan are easily the most respectful but they often represent one of the hardest groups to teach.
Adult Taiwanese students are often passive and shy, and will speak out only when directly spoken to. It is often difficult to engage classes in debates or discussions for a number of reasons. The first is the level of respect and conservatism expressed and shared among the people of Taiwan that are not familiar with one another. Add to that different age groups and different sexes and you have a challenging situation for teachers. Though these students all realize that in order to grow and develop their skills they need to speak out, they will seldom ask questions or volunteer information. There is a common idiom attached to this phenomenon that goes: "It is like playing a lute to a cow." They listen but it seems to be a futile effort.
Adult students are also the most discriminating. They want to get the most bang for their buck so it is critical for schools to ensure they have the best teachers possible. It is really easy for an adult student to simply leave a school and find another if they aren't satisfied with the class or the teacher. This puts a lot of pressure on teachers to perform and do well.
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