Abstract

Achievements of Implementing the Bilingual Program at the National University of Tainan (NUTN) (Academic Year 2021)

I. Characteristics of the Bilingual Program Developed by NUTN

(I) Systematizing EMI teaching resources for teachers and completing the EMI curriculum framework

NUTN has set up the EMI Center (English as a Medium of Instruction) to effectively coordinate resources within NUTN and motivate relevant offices to jointly promote the vision, goals, and strategy to implement the Bilingual Program. NUTN has also formally designed the ‘Guidelines and Incentives for EMI Teaching and Learning’ to promote the Bilingual Program.

Under the Bilingual Program, the following tasks have been completed:

1. Each department designed and proposed its own EMI curriculum map: all 21 departments of NUTN completed this task. It also was approved by three review curriculum meetings from department, college, and institutional level. This forms an important blueprint for all departments to promote their EMI courses.
2. The credits obtained from off-campus and online EMI courses will be recognized by some department since the academic year 2021: Seven NUTN departments—the Department of Physical Education, the Department of Culture and Natural Resources, the Department of Digital Learning Technology, the Department of Mathematics, the Department of Music, the Department of Drama Creation and Application, and the Department of Visual Arts and Design—recognized off-campus EMI courses and online EMI course learning channels (such as Coursera and edX) as online EMI courses since academic year 2021 in order to enhance students’ bilingual self-study ability.
3. Part of the freshman English courses adopted the EMI and will be fully adopted from year after year: NUTN has increased the proportion of EMI teaching for freshman English courses year after year to enhance students’ interest and ability to learn English so that they can acquire the competence necessary to attend professional courses using EMI. In the second semester of academic year 2021, NUTN offered EMI teaching for five classes of freshman English courses (accounting for 25% of all freshman English courses that semester). We modified the original plan to adopt EMI for all classes of freshman English courses from academic year 2025 to 2023.

(II) Establishing the EMI supporting mechanism

NUTN has provided strong support for developing and promoting the Bilingual Program, including improving students' English proficiency, strengthening EMI teachers’capacity building as well as training and study, supporting teachers in EMI teaching, and improving the management and evaluation mechanisms.

1. Improving students' English proficiency: NUTN has strengthened the overall support system of its EAP (English for Academic Purposes), including implementing programs such as comprehensive diverse innovative English courses, encouraging students to participate in English language proficiency tests, and promoting international learning experiences, so that students can improve their English proficiency and acquire the competence necessary to attend specialized courses using EMI.
2. Strengthening EMI teachers’ capacity building as well as training and study: NUTN has made vigorous efforts to strengthen EMI teachers’ capacity building as well as training and study, encourage them to make progress in their specialties and obtain UK Cambridge EMI teacher qualification accreditation, improve their English proficiency, and encourage them to participate in EMI teaching and curriculum design in order to create a better campus culture and climate for bilingual learning.
3. Assigning and training TA for EMI courses: NUTN has assigned EMI teaching assistants and strengthened their study and training as well as supported the teachers who teach EMI courses to help solve students' learning problems and improve students’ learning effectiveness.
4. Strengthening the management and evaluation mechanisms: NUTN has collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data in order to give feedback to EMI teachers for their considerations in curriculum design, instruction, and course offerings for excellence. Moreover, NUTN has issued its institutional research (IR) reports to provide the evidence-based results to be taken important references for promoting Bilingual Program.

Ⅱ. Highlights of Achievements

NUTN has invested external resources into its Bilingual Program and made vigorous efforts to implement various measures. Since implementation of the Bilingual Program, the highlights of NUTN’s achievements are as follows: