NTNU Shares Development of Bilingual Education in 2021 Taiwan-Philippines University Presidents’ Virtual Forum
The 2021 Taiwan-Philippines University Presidents’ Virtual Forum was held on August 24th by Taiwan Education Center Philippines and Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges under the theme of Language Education and International Linkage Under Covid-19. Executive Vice President Frank Yung-Hsiang Ying attended the forum representing NTNU, to understand the latest development of higher education in the Philippines and gave a talk about the Building Bilingual Environment in NTNU. About 70 representatives from 64 higher education institutes from Taiwan and 119 representatives from 107 higher education institutes attended the forum, making it the biggest online forum of Taiwan-Philippines higher education.
Executive Vice President Frank Yung-Hsiang Ying said that there are more than 11% of international students at NTNU, which is the most international campus in Taiwan. NTNU is also the first higher education institute in Chinese-speaking area to introduce International Baccalaureate courses. After the establishment of the College of Teacher Education in 2017, NTNU received recommendation from International Baccalaureate consultant as the first teacher training institution in Taiwan with an IB certificate.
The plan of English as a Medium of Instruction started in 2017, encouraging teachers to teach in English. Teachers are required to take the general courses, receive Certificate in EMI Skills provided by Cambridge University. They are encouraged to support each other on EMI groups and share their thoughts. Executive Vice President Ying emphasized that English taught courses are available not only at English Department but also in all nine colleges.
It’s scheduled that by 2025, more than 2/3 of teachers in NTNU can teach in English and the English proficiency of over 40% of graduate are above CEFR B2 level. Office of Bilingual Education will be set up integrating the academic and administrative resources, supported by Centre for Academic Literacy, to provide a well-established bilingual learning environment.