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Developing Taiwan into a Bilingual Nation by 2030

Background

Developing Taiwan into a Bilingual Nation by 2030 is a policy that has been implemented by Taiwan's Executive Yuan. The National Development Council of Taiwan proposed “Blueprint for Developing Taiwan into a Bilingual Nation by 2030” in 2018. According to the blueprint, the bilingual policy aims to advance nationals' English proficiency, promote national competitiveness, and encourage English learning motivation. The prospect of the blueprint is to develop Taiwan into a Bilingual nation by 2030. The plan consists of two goals and four objectives, performed by 8 ministries via eight common strategies and sixteen respective strategies. The 8 ministries are the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Overseas Community Affairs Council, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Science and Technology, National Communications Commission, local governments, and the National Development Council.

Objective

According to the Executive Yuan, the two major goals of Developing Taiwan into a Bilingual Nation by 2030 policy are (1) cultivating the English proficiency of nationals and (2) enhancing national competitiveness. The government aims to popularize English as a language used by all people in Taiwan. The four main objectives are (1) enhancing the English proficiency of nationals from demand. The government emphasizes the importance of constructing software systems to encourage all people in Taiwan to participate in English learning covering listening, speaking, reading, and writing. (2) Solving inequality of resources between city and country by utilizing digital technology. The government aims to establish digital learning platforms to provide students in remote areas with the same quality of resources. (3) Balance Bilingual Policy and native language culture. The “National Languages Development Policy” has been conducted in 2016 to ensure the development of mother language education will continue while developing Taiwan into a Chinese-English bilingual country. (4) Create competitive advantages for the young generation. Higher English proficiency attracts international corporations to create more jobs in Taiwan.

Policy

8 common strategies

1. Bilingualize official websites of each ministry.
2. Bilingualize documents relating to the foreigner.
   • Business-related forms and online application systems for foreigners are presented in both Chinese and English.
   • Bilingualize foreigner-related certificates.
3. Bilingualize laws relating to the foreigner.
4. Bilingualize public area assistance service.
   • Strengthen the English ability of the information counter.
5. Implement bilingualization of overt government’s information.
6. Provide English service in cultural and educational venues.
7. Cultivate English communication skills of civil servants.
   • Provide English digital learning resources and organize English training for civil servants.
   • Employees go abroad for training to share their experience in English presentations.
8. Bilingualize technician examination and certification.

16 respective strategies

1. Bilingualize the education system by establishing creative learning method and modifying laws, bringing in teaching materials close to daily life, increasing the proportion of English-skilled personnel, popularizing individual learning opportunity by utilizing digital technology, boosting the internationalization of the education system.
2. Encourage the establishment of television channels in English.
3. Increase English programs on radio.
4. Create English friendly tourism environments.
5. Bilingualize government procurement documents.
6. Bilingualize PPIP documents.
7. Provide English summary for indictment regarding foreigners and major case; suggest Judicial Yuan provide English summary for major judgment.
8. Create English friendly investment environments in the science-based industrial park and Industrial Park.
9. Enhance English service in the medical institutions and social welfare groups.
10. Enhance the English skill of employees of financial institutions; create English friendly financial service environments
11. Encourage enterprises to enhance English skill.
12. Enhance the English skills of the labor.
13. Enhance the English skill of employee of production and marketing in agriculture and fishery.
14. Encourage bilingual interaction in youth and cultural activities.
15. Coordinate English education in different services, enhance the English skills of military.
16. Increase the proportion of English exam for newly accepted international affairs employee.

Difficulty

Five difficulties in the review of current policies and programs in “2030 Bilingual National Policy (2021-2024) medium-range plan” are (1) There is a general lack of English-speaking environment and demand in the country. The English skills of students and professionals needs to be improved. (2) The current English exam system provides insufficient learning feedback and stimulate learning motivation. (3) Bilingual teachers need to be more equipped. (4) It is difficult for disadvantaged students in remote areas to continue to invest in English learning.(5) The country is in lack of bilingual national policy promotion agencies.

Controversy

From the perspective of education, in-service teachers claimed it is arduous to execute the policy because of the limited teaching resources and environment. Kenya has a long history in language-in-education policy, which required the school to teach in both local language and English. Mose and Kaschula's (2019) research indicates that this policy has caused negative consequences on both students and teachers : 1. Students’ participation in class decreases. 2. Students have not established the abstract concepts, teaching in a second language would diminish their understanding of these concepts. 3. The insufficient quality of teachers contributes to the feeble learning environment for students.

   The acceleration of Taiwan's local language loss is one of the significant arguments in this issue. Currently, the Taiwan national languages consist of Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, Taiwanese Hakka, and 16 Formosan languages. According to the index of UNESCO's Language Vitality Assessment, Taiwanese Hokkien and Taiwanese Hakka are classified as grade 3 “definitely endangered”, while the Formosan languages are classified from grade 3 to grade 0 “extinct”. Experts claimed that there are necessities to reserve the mother language. The implementation of bilingual policy could cause impact to local languages. Several scholars have proposed their own perspectives to consummate the policy.

External links

https://flipedu.parenting.com.tw/article/5171

https://www.thenewslens.com/article/141732

https://crossing.cw.com.tw/article/8174