Abstract

The BEST Program of the Providence University

The Ministry of Education in Taiwan is offering financial assistance to universities and colleges in support of Taiwan's goal of becoming a bilingual nation by 2030. The International College of Providence University received a subsidy in the academic year 110-111 for their Bilingual Education program called Key Cultivation College (KCC). KCC aims to open bilingual courses, strengthen students' English proficiency, and sponsor EMI training for teachers.

1. Bilingual courses: The Global Master of Business Administration (GMBA), International Business Administration Program (BIBA), and Global Foreign Language Education Program (GFLEP) offered by the International College have more than 80% of their courses taught in English. These courses have undergone revisions and reforms and are currently being taught in English at 100%.
2. Students’ language enhancement: The International College offers several programs for freshman students to enhance their English proficiency and achieve CEFR B2 level by the end of their second semester. These programs include a Bilingual co-teaching system, Independent Study Groups, Reward Mechanism, SDGs activity-based topics, a Full-time English Teaching Assistant, and an English Intensive Course.
   1. Bilingual co-teaching system: In the programs offered by the International College, each class is taught by a local and a foreign teacher who work together to encourage interaction and develop students' confidence in using English to communicate their thoughts and ideas. The teachers also spend extracurricular time with the students to promote international mobility and cross-cultural communication, including discussing their experiences studying both locally and abroad.
   2. Independent Study Groups: The Global Foreign Language Education Program (GFLEP) offers performance incentives for improving English proficiency through Independent Study Groups. The self-study scores of English speaking and writing count for 30% of the grade in freshmen's speaking and writing courses. Teaching assistants and independent study groups are set up to help students achieve their learning goals, and learning results are reviewed monthly. At the end of the semester, the scores of self-study writing and speaking are integrated as the basis for grading the writing and speaking courses using an online speaking platform called ELSA. GFLEP also cooperates with extracurricular activities to create an English learning environment for students and encourages senior students who have passed CEFR B2 to serve as TAs and share their experiences and reading plans for passing the CEFR B2.
   3. Reward Mechanism: The International College has implemented a reward mechanism to improve students' English proficiency test scores before graduation. This includes subsidies for English proficiency registration fees and encouragement for outstanding performance.
   4. Project-Based Learning-SDGs Board Game Explaining Video Contest: The SDGs Board Game Explaining Video Contest is a project-based contest organized by GFLEP to explain the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) through video. GFLEP also organizes bilingual teaching and international education workshops and study groups to enhance English language opportunities. A pre-competition course for the SDGs Board Game Explaining Video Contest is offered by the Foreign Language Center(FLC) of Providence University, with a teaching assistant from the Department of Mass Communication, a foreign teaching assistant, and a Taiwanese teaching assistant guiding freshman students. The course covers the competition rules, film shooting techniques, and film editing in a bilingual form to help students learn new knowledge and skills. In the previous competition, students who took this course won first place, third place, and honorable mention awards.
   5. Full-time English Teaching Assistant: The BIBA program uses English as a medium of instruction for Accounting and Calculus courses, and to help students keep up with their progress, full-time English Teaching Assistants (TAs) are arranged to tutor students in Elementary Accounting after class. BIBA students can also select professional courses like Junior Accounting 1 and 2, Statistics 1 and 2, and Calculus, which require after-class tutoring. Senior students who performed well in their classes are chosen as tutors and work with the teacher to help students with their deficiencies in the subject.
   6. English Intensive Course: This course aims to help GFLEP students pass the CEFR B2 by offering small classes and pre-examination intensive classes that provide oral and writing practice in English.
3. EMI training for teachers: Providence University offers EMI training for teachers to assist them in developing bilingual teaching skills, in addition to regular EMI workshops and English enhancement courses offered every semester. The university has also established regulations for the establishment of an EMI Course Review Committee and implemented measures to reward teachers for teaching in English, all with the aim of improving the quality of bilingual teaching.
   1. The workshops in the first semester used online technology resources and invited experienced professional scholars to share their teaching experiences. Two EMI-related lectures were completed with 24 and 25 teachers in attendance. After each lecture, a survey was conducted, and the satisfaction degree was calculated based on 7 points. The average satisfaction score of the lecture questionnaire was 6.06 points, indicating that the lectures helped participants upgrade their EMI teaching skills.
   2. The first semester of Academic year 111(1) offered two levels of EMI teachers' English ability enhancement courses taught in English by foreign teachers from the Foreign Language Center of Providence University. The aim of these courses was to help participating teachers improve their oral English and teaching skills to enhance English teaching effectiveness in their respective fields.
4. Other Notable Achievements in the 110 Academic Year:
   1. The EMI Promotion Unit at Providence University will establish an International Education Development Center and a bilingual teaching material laboratory to assist the International College in developing EMI/bilingual teaching modules, enhancing teachers' multimedia technology capabilities, and cultivating English and bilingual courses for teachers. The courses offered by the International College will be adjusted and transformed into full-English taught courses annually, and this program is expected to be extended to some other departments by 2024.
   2. Students' English proficiency has reached CEFR B2, with 54% of all freshmen in the 110 academic year passing CEFR B2. This suggests that the English language education program at Providence University is effective in developing students' English language skills to a high level. CEFR B2 is an intermediate level of English proficiency and achieving this level requires a good understanding of the language, which includes the ability to understand the main ideas of complex text, communicate fluently and spontaneously with native speakers, and produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects.
   3. Nine students participated in English-related competitions, with four joining the Hult Prize and five joining the 2021 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Youth Initiative English Proposal Competition.
   4. The students' feedback on all English learning activities shows that BIBA received a rating of 4.2, GMBA received a rating of 4.4, and FLC received a rating of 4.2, all on a 5-point scale.
   5. The overseas exchange and internship ratio of students in the 110 academic years is 62% for junior and senior students.
   6. The number of online EMI course viewers is 4409.
   7. The evaluation scores for all English-taught teaching have an average score of 4.2 (out of 5).
   8. Teachers handled 15 sessions of all English teaching sharing sessions in the school.
   9. The feedback from teachers on the handling of activities related to English teaching and research is 4.5 as the average satisfaction rate.
   10. The International College held 15 seminars for all English majors.
   11. Assistance in developing bilingual education in primary schools to 4 schools, such as Dade Elementary School, Shalu Elementary School, Qingshui Elementary School, and Longhai Elementary School.
   12. Representatives from industry, government, and academia were invited to hold an online bilingual education forum, which consisted of one session with a total of 150 bilingual teachers participating.