University students who complete enough courses taught in English may apply to partner universities in the US without needing to provide English-language test scores, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said yesterday.
If a student has taken enough courses with English as a medium of instruction (EMI), they can submit their grades in those courses rather than their Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) results when applying to US partner universities, ministry officials told a news conference in Taipei.
Taiwan is the first non-English-speaking country to have EMI coursework formally recognized by top US universities, it said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The program is a partnership between the ministry and Fulbright Taiwan, involving National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU), National Cheng Kung University, National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), Arizona State University, New York University, Columbia University’s Teachers College and the University of Maryland.
Delegations from the four US schools visited the Taiwanese universities to observe classes, Department of Higher Education Director Chen Hao-hui (陳浩會) said.
The first group of Taiwanese students participating in the program would go to the US in February next year, Chen said.
The number of spots would be decided by the eight universities, he said.
In addition to meeting EMI coursework requirements, students applying to graduate programs must also meet Graduate Record Examination or Graduate Management Admission Test standards, he said.
This milestone program shows that Taiwan’s bilingual education has gained international credibility, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said.
The ministry in 2021 launched a program promoting bilingual education in universities, he said, adding that today’s announcement is the first step toward TOEFL exemptions on the national level.
The ministry will continue to systematically support bilingual education, enhance the quality of EMI courses and deepen international cooperation, he said.
NSYSU vice president Kuo Chih-wen (郭志文) said that the university has offered 1,340 EMI courses — accounting for 30 percent of its courses — in the five years since the program was launched.
NSYSU fourth-year student Fu Kuan-wen (傅冠文) said that he uses English to welcome foreign guests and tutor math, which has given him extra income and more confidence for his future career.
NTNU vice president Ying Yung-hsiang (印永翔) said that all undergraduate departments offer at least 18 credits of EMI courses.
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS