Teacher Professional Development towards the 2030 Bilingual Nation Policy in Taiwan

Abstract

The Taiwanese government has announced that Taiwan is to be developed into an English and Mandarin Chinese bilingual nation by 2030. In relation to it, Blueprint for Developing Taiwan into a Bilingual Nation by 2030 was published and a nationwide bilingual education policy will be implemented. The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers’ understanding of the bilingual policy, the different emphases of English teachers and Subject teachers and needs for a smooth implementation of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) from English teachers’ and Subject teachers’ perspectives. The empirical data was gathered through qualitative interviews with ten Taiwanese in-service secondary school teachers, five English teachers and five Subject teachers. The data was analyzed with inductive content analysis. The understandings of teachers were categorized into three main categories: the background of the policy, the execution plan and the actions taken by the government so far. The findings of the study indicate that Subject teachers are more aware of the base of the policy and the general execution plan while English teachers pay more attention to the expectations and impacts it has on teachers. Both types of teachers expressed knowledge about the actions taken by the government so far, with English teachers focusing more on Teacher Education and experimental schools while Subject teachers pay more attention to the materials designed for the bilingual policy. This research also revealed teachers’ professional skills, adjusting the high expectations for academic outcomes, students’ cooperation and careful planning as the needs for a smoother implementation.