At least half of the graduates from a select group of benchmark universities and colleges would possess bilingual skills by 2030, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Sunday.
The ministry plans to invest NT$1 billion (US$35.14 million) over this year and next year on a three-phase project to promote bilingual skills in higher education.
As part of the project, the ministry said that it would introduce a program in August to develop key universities and colleges.
To apply for the program, universities would need to teach at least 10 percent of graduate courses and 5 percent of undergraduate courses in English, the ministry said, adding that it would soon send invitations to public and private universities.
At least 20 public and private universities meet the requirement, sources said.
Taiwanese universities teach about 4.5 percent of their courses in English; the top universities teach 20 percent in English.
A survey conducted by British Council Taiwan and the ministry over the past two years showed that 17.1 percent of 12th-graders have a B2 level in English, as shown on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages scale — while 4.3 percent have a C level.
This shows that about one-fifth of 12th-graders could take courses taught in English and assist in promoting the “bilingualization” of higher education, the ministry said.
Nearly 7,000 full-time university instructors, or nearly 19 percent, could teach a course entirely in English, ministry data showed.
To quickly improve English proficiency among first-year students, the ministry said that it would invest in key universities, including adding 50 faculty positions at public universities, hiring more teaching assistants and transforming first-year English courses.
In 2024, in the second phase, three benchmark universities and 18 benchmark colleges would be selected from among the key schools, with the goal of having at least one-quarter of second-year undergraduates reach the B2 level or above in English, it said.
The ministry said that it hopes to have at least 20 percent of second-year undergraduates and first-year graduate students at the benchmark schools complete more than 20 percent of their 2024 coursework in English.
In 2030, in the third phase, the benchmark group would be expanded to six universities and 30 colleges, with the goal of having at least half of second-year undergraduates reach the B2 level or above in English, it said.
The ministry said that it hopes to have at least half of second-year undergraduates and half of all graduate students at the benchmark schools complete more than half of their 2030 coursework in English.
By 2030, at least half of the students graduating from benchmark schools would possess bilingual skills and it would be noted on their graduation certificate, the ministry added.
The survey showed that although one-fifth of 12th-graders have a B2 level in English, they did not show balanced performance in listening, speaking, reading and writing.
The 12th-graders’ reading and listening skills tested at the level needed to build a bilingual nation, but they performed far worse in speaking and writing, the survey results showed.
In English listening, 27.68 percent of 12th-graders had at least a B2 level, while 27.32 percent had at least a B2 level in reading, 19.81 percent in writing and 8.27 percent in speaking, survey data showed.
“Although students with a good level of English have little trouble reading textbooks or listening to a class lecture, many of them have difficulty writing a report or participating in a class discussion,” the ministry said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
RSS