Abstract
Bilingual Education Program for Students and Teachers (BEST)
at National Taipei University of Education
The National Taipei University of Education’s bilingual education program for students and teachers, based on the university’s midterm and long-term vision, consisted of four goals. The first year of implementation are as follows:
A. 67 % of English courses are taught in English
In order to improve students' English proficiency to better prepare them for EMI courses, professors offering Freshmen English courses have agreed to teach Freshmen English through English, and include oral assessment and writing in the course. The Center for General Education has developed several ESP courses in response to the BEST program: "English Usage and Teaching Practice", "Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conferences, Events English " and "English for Science and Technology," for students to choose from.
B. The number of students taking EMI courses in the sophomore and the first year of graduate school reaches 9%
In order to enhance students' opportunities to study EMI courses, the university strengthen our EMI energy by inviting professors who have obtained their Ph.D. degrees overseas to join the EMI professional development group for faculties. The Center for Research on Bilingual Education provided EMI workshops both online and in-person in pursuit of advancing our faculty members’ EMI teaching strategies. The number of EMI courses has increased as a result. It is our goal that, in 2025, more than 10% of sophomores and first year graduate students will take at least one EMI course.
C. English Enhancement Course for Civil Servants Offered
The curriculum of the English Enhancement Course for civil servants consists of 64 hours of English lessons on all four skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The speaking classes were conducted in small groups of ten participants per class. Six writing assignments were assigned and feedback were given to each individual. CEFR B1 level of Cambridge English Empower Pre-intermediate was used as the textbook. A total of 40 faculty members and staff have enrolled in the courses. The 32 lessons include 18 listening and reading lessons, and ten oral speaking lessons with four mock exams and reviews.
D. Link internationally to empower EMI teachers and share English learning resources
The school cooperates with Sojo University in Japan, Virginia Society of Technology in Education in the United States, Dr. Danial Siegal from Full Sail University in the United States, and Timothy Gutierrez to conduct regular international online exchanges. Suzan Stamper of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Paul Goldberge from Kwansei Gakuin University, and Dr. Donald Carroll from Shikoku Gakuin University in Japan provided online transnational EMI empowerment workshops.
A bilingual resource-sharing platform will be provided by 2025 to share the above information and serve as online English self-learning resources. At present, information such as EMI professional development workshops, English proficiency enhancement activities, and workshops are shared on the university webpage and through the Facebook.
