The BEST Program of Providence University (111 Academic Year)

During the 110-111 academic year, Providence University's International College was subsidized by the Ministry of Education for the college and university students' bilingual learning program, focusing on cultivating key colleges. Training teachers for EMI (English as Medium of Instruction) bilingual teaching and enhancing students' English proficiency were the two main goals.

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, including 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-directed writing and speaking are integrated as the basis for grading the writing and speaking courses using an online speaking platform called ELSA Speak. 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 theme of the workshops in the 111(1) semester was optimizing teaching effectiveness through the use of online platform technology resources. We invited experienced scholars from within our university to share their teaching experiences. Among them, Chang Yi-pao presented on "Customizing English Speaking Learning with AI" on Nov. 14, 2022, and Prof. Rushikesh Khire presented on "Using Technology to Make Effective and Efficient Teaching and Learning" on Dec. 5, 2022. A total of two EMI-related lectures were held, attended by 24 and 25 teachers respectively. Post-lecture surveys rated satisfaction on a scale of up to 7, with an average score of 6.06. These lectures were indeed helpful to participants, aiding in the enhancement of EMI teaching skills. In the workshops of the 111(2) semester, EMI teachers from within our university were invited to share their teaching experiences and techniques across different fields. On Apr. 6, 2023, Director Zhao Yu-quan and Chang Yi-pao taught "ChatGPT for EMI," on Apr. 13, Prof. Yang Meng-qian from the College of Information shared EMI teaching experiences in the IT field, and on Apr. 25, Prof. Chang Min-wen from the International College shared teaching techniques in the field of business management. In total, three EMI-related lectures were conducted, attended by 13, 9, and 10 teachers respectively. All lectures were completed and followed by a survey, with satisfaction rated out of 5, showing an average satisfaction level of 5 for the three lectures. These lectures indeed brought innovative ideas and concepts of EMI to the participating teachers.
   2. During the Academic Year 111(1) semester (Autumn term), two sessions of the EMI Teacher English Proficiency Enhancement Course were held. The first session ran from December 8th to January 5th, every Thursday from 15:10 to 17:00; the second session was from January 9th to January 13th, daily from 9:00 to 14:00. A total of 10 people registered for the first session and 12 for the second. The courses, led by a full-time British professor at the center, aimed to assist participating teachers in enhancing their English speaking and teaching abilities, thereby improving the effectiveness of instruction in all-English classes. In the Academic Year 111(2) semester (Spring term), plans were made to start English Corner activities for teachers from May 29th, with the same goal of helping participating teachers improve their English speaking and teaching abilities to enhance the effectiveness of all-English instruction.
   3. The International College and the Foreign Language Center have collaborated with various external institutions to conduct several intensive EMI training courses. In the Academic Year 111, an intensive EMI course was co-organized with Studio Classroom in June 2023. This course is a 32-hour intensive training program designed to enrich the teaching strategies of the participants. The curriculum includes the establishment of bilingual teaching methods, classroom English application, integration of technological teaching tools, micro-teaching, and interactive group discussions. Through this intensive training, participating teachers will gain new teaching concepts and methods, which they will apply in their course designs to enhance teaching effectiveness.
4. Other Notable Achievements in the Academic Year 111:
   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 the experience of this program will be extended to some other departments by 2024.
   2. Students' English proficiency has reached CEFR B2, with 48% of all freshmen in the Academic Year 111 passing CEFR B2. This suggests that the English language enhancement programs 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. 41 students participated in English-related competitions, such as Hult Prize, SDGs board game Explaining Video Contest, and Advocating SDGs Competition.
   4. A survey of students' feedback on all English learning activities shows that BIBA received a rating of 4.27, GMBA received a rating of 4.53, and GFLEP received a rating of 4.17, all on a 5-point scale.
   5. The overseas exchange and internship ratio of students in the Academic Year 111 is 40% for junior and senior students.
   6. The total visits of online EMI courses are 4328.
   7. The evaluation scores for all English-taught teaching have an average score of 4.32 (out of 5).
   8. The number of sessions for teachers conducting on-campus all-English teaching sharing is 16 in total.
   9. The feedback from teachers on the handling of activities related to English teaching and research is 5 (out of 5).
   10. The International College held 16 seminars for all English majors.
   11. In total, 5 cooperative schools in the neighborhood has received help to develop bilingual education, such as Dade Elementary School, Shalu Elementary School, Qingshui Elementary School, Longhai Elementary School and Nation Yuanli Senior High School.
   12. A conference, "Bilingual Education Forum: English-Taught Courses x Participatory Learning," was organized, including one session dedicated to the exchange insights between professors, and elementary and secondary school teachers with rich bilingual teaching experiences.