TAIWAN LANGUAGE-IN-EDUCATION POLICY: SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Abstract

In recent years, Taiwan language-in-education policy has greatly transformed and become the subject of much research (Oladejo, 2006; Sandel, 2003; Tsao, 1999).  Previously, monolingual policies under Japan and the Kuomintang1 demonstrated that language was a symbolic tool to build nationalism and create social hegemony (Bourdieu, 1991).  After these policies faded out in the early 1990s, Taiwan began to incorporate multilingual education, promoting internationalization through English as a foreign language and Taiwanisation through the introduction of local and indigenous languages in schools (Beaser, 2006; Sandel, 2003).  The paper examines the launching of these two movements in education by discussing their development through history, current policy implementation, and the linguistic orientations of the surrounding communities.  Rather than draw conclusions, the study ends by asking how indigenous scholarship and knowledge can be further integrated and validated in Taiwan’s education system, and how critical perspectives can be used to understand language policy and indigenous education in an increasingly globalized world.