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Education ministry planning `Native Language Day'

The Ministry of E`ducation is planning to hold a "Native Language Day" each week for elementary and high schools nationwide starting this fall to foster a better environment for students to learn their mother tongue, education officials said.

Liang Jung-mao (梁榮茂), chairman of the ministry's National Languages Committee, told Taipei Times yesterday that a limited number of elementary and junior high schools in the country currently have one day a week set aside for native-language learning activities.

Forty-two middle high schools also promote the use of Hoklo, Hakka and Aboriginal languages in school club activities, Liang said.

The majority of these schools are located in Kaohsiung City and County, in the southern part of the country, he said.

Last July, the education ministry test-ran similar activities at 36 elementary and junior high schools and was satisfied with the results, Liang said.

For example, students were asked to decorate their classrooms as Hakka villages, and principals and teachers were asked to speak in native languages during school hours, he said.

Liang said that it would be even better if native languages could be used to teach different subjects.

The education ministry has established a special committee to plan and carry out a "Native Language Day" in school. Details are still being discussed, but will be announced by the end of next month, Liang said.

Expected to be implemented nationwide this fall, schools will have to choose one day per week, and teachers and students will have to speak in Hoklo, Hakka, or an Aboriginal language during lunch hours, recess and other school activities, he said.

As for which language to use, that would be a matter for the schools to decide, Liang said, adding that it would most likely depend on the school's location.
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