In an interview in late August, Premier William Lai (賴清德) pledged to propose a “bilingual country” policy next year to make English a second official language.
Then Minister of Education Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) on Oct. 1 proposed the “education vision 2030” at the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee.
It is believed that English-language teachers and most people who care about education have high expectations for the policy.
Local Chinese-language media early this month reported there are more than 17,000 Taiwanese English-language teachers at elementary and junior-high schools, and that the Ministry of Education is planning to recruit 5,000 more local teachers for courses taught entirely in English.
Meanwhile, apart from the more than 700 foreign English-language teachers it has, it is also planning to recruit 4,600 more to teach English and other subjects, and to offer subsidies for more than 1,000 local English-language teachers to study abroad.
Obviously, the ministry has done its homework.
However, the proposed source of teachers might be questionable.
There should be a consistent standard of qualification verification and employment process for recruiting foreign English-language teachers. As many of them will engage in bilingual teaching, the government should clearly outline basic requirements and selection procedures to assess their Chinese-language proficiency, teaching philosophy and work experience.
They should not be hired simply because they are native English speakers and can play, act, sing and dance with students.
While working on my doctorate in the US, although I was merely applying for a teacher’s assistant position for a science course, the university still arranged an interview for me with a teacher at the school’s language center to ascertain whether my English was fluent enough for the job.
Similarly, if the ministry wants to recruit more foreign teachers of English and other subjects, their Chinese-language ability should be carefully assessed.
The plan to offer subsidies for local English-language teachers to study abroad should be implemented according to each teacher’s needs to yield the best results.
In addition to the government’s method of recruiting foreign English-language teachers and selecting Taiwanese English-language teachers to study overseas, there should be other sources of talent and processes to develop education.
The ministry should not forget people who have majored in English-language studies at Taiwanese universities.
For those who are equipped with professional training in English and have outstanding teaching abilities, they should be given equal employment opportunities.
Such people would likely be native speakers of Chinese, seeking English-language teaching jobs and have a good understanding of Taiwanese elementary, junior-high and senior-high school students. They are not inferior to foreign teachers.
The nation can recruit some foreign English-language teachers, but should still try to cultivate its own talent in the long run. Taiwanese should be teaching students English themselves.
In the era of globalization and internationalization, there should be more young talent with professional English-language teaching abilities.
The government can rely on them to build a long-lasting bilingual country policy.
Chang Huey-por is a former president of National Changhua University of Education.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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