Tamkang University

Promotion of the Bilingual Program’s Characteristics and 

Highlights of Achievements

The College of International Affairs

The College of International Affairs at Tamkang University comprises four departments and institutes: the Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, the Department of Diplomacy and International Relations, the Department of International Tourism Management, and the Department of Global Politics and Economics. Up to the 111th academic year, the student population is 1,050, with a total of 46 full-time faculty members, over 89% of whom have experience in teaching EMI courses.

According to the university’s development plan, the College of International Affairs is gradually evolving towards an all-English instruction college. All affiliated departments have established all-English undergraduate programs and have stipulated that “only credits from courses taught in English are recognized as graduation credits,” whether they are department-specific courses or university-mandated general education core courses. Furthermore, by adjusting the curriculum and adding all-English master’s programs, there is a plan to increase the proportion of EMI courses at the graduate level. On this foundation and with these developmental strategies, through the infusion of resources from the “Program on Bilingual Education for Students in College,” the achievements in bilingual teaching in our college are notably substantial!

Student English Proficiency Advances, Surpassing the 2030 Goal

In the 111th academic year, the number of second-year students in our college’s departments who have reached the CEFR B2 level or above in English proficiency is 92, accounting for 59.04% of all second-year domestic students. At the same time, all of the aforementioned students have certification of their English proficiency from relevant institutions, including 75 with IELTS, 3 with TOEFL, 13 with the new version of TOEIC, and 1 with Cambridge FCE. The high proportion of students providing such English proficiency test certifications stems from our college’s Department of International Tourism Management and Department of Global Politics and Economics being the units promoting the university’s holistic education initiative. All third-year students are required to participate in an exchange program abroad for one year, and for the application for admission to foreign schools, they must provide IELTS and TOEFL score reports.

Sophomore Students’ Credit Enrollment, Exceeding the 2030 Target by Double

In the 111th academic year, all courses taken by second-year students in the departments of our college were taught in English. Therefore, 100% of the credits earned by all undergraduates in our college were from courses taught entirely in English. This is in comparison to the Ministry of Education’s goal that “in the current academic year, at least 50% of sophomores and first-year master’s students should have 50% of their credits from courses taught in English (EMI).” Against this benchmark, the number of our college’s second-year students taking credits in English-taught courses and the proportion of credits have both already doubled the standard set for 2030.

English Course Completion Certification, 100% at E5 Level in One Step

Since their establishment, the undergraduate programs in the departments of our college have been developed with a direction towards all-English instruction. The graduation credit requirement for each department’s bachelor’s program is 128 credits, and the departments only recognize credits from courses taught entirely in English for graduation credits. Therefore, the proportion of EMI course credits to graduation credits is 100%.

Establishment of Systematic Support Mechanism for Bilingual Teaching, Integrated into the Official School Structure

To strengthen the horizontal connections between different units within the school and to clearly delineate the responsibilities for the promotion of EMI for better overall planning and implementation, the school has established a “Bilingual Teaching Promotion Committee” to supervise and manage the policy development of EMI. This committee is responsible for coordinating the horizontal connections between colleges, the foreign language division of the General Education Core Center, and other disciplines within the center that offer courses taught in English. At the same time, a “EMI Center” has been set up as the executive unit directly under the Bilingual Teaching Promotion Committee, dedicated to the implementation of the EMI program. The heads of both units are the Vice President for International Affairs, to facilitate cross-unit coordination and business promotion.