The argument that Taiwan has developed English and Chinese to become a "bilingual country" is rampant. Recently, the Executive Yuan plans to promote the "bilingual country" policy. There is an English environment in society, and Taiwan should evaluate it carefully. If it is only

[Comprehensive Report] The argument that Taiwan has developed English and Chinese to become a "bilingual country" is rampant. Recently, the Executive Yuan plans to promote the "bilingual country" policy. According to the Legislative Yuan Legislative Yuan, "Countries with English as the official language mostly have a history of British and American colonization." The society has an English environment. Taiwan should be cautious in assessing it. If it is only necessary to strengthen English skills, bilingual education should be used as a policy goal.

Comprehensive reports from the Central News Agency and Taipei China Times, Premier Lai Ching-te recently said that Taiwan’s “bilingual country” policy will be established next year, and Taiwan will become a “bilingual country” of “Chinese” and “English”.

According to the Legislative Yuan Legislative Affairs Bureau’s September report on “Research on Policy Issues to Promote ‘Bilingual Countries’”, “official language” is a language that must be used in all official occasions and official documents, and is also the legal language when citizens and governments interact. Since Taiwan does not specify the official language by law, the generally called "Mandarin" (or Chinese) is not a legal official language, but it actually plays the role of an official language. The

report pointed out that the draft "National Language Development Law" currently under review by the Legislative Yuan stipulates that "national language" refers to the natural language and Taiwanese sign language used by various inherent ethnic groups in Taiwan. However, the Executive Yuan also emphasized in its legislative explanation that the "national language" referred to as "national language" as the "national language" development law does not refer to the official language. The

report pointed out that to promote English to become Taiwan’s second official language, the legal system should be clearly defined. However, such provisions are equivalent to recognizing that "Mandarin" and English are the official languages ​​of Taiwan, and their status will be preferred over other national languages. Whether it is consistent with the purpose of the "National Language" Development Law is worth considering.

In addition, the report also points out that most people in the world who use English as the official language have a history of British and American colonization, and there is an environment in which English is used as the communication medium in their society. Taiwan does not use English as its native language, and promotes English as its official language, so it is advisable to carefully evaluate its policy difficulty. The

report pointed out that in order to strengthen Taiwan's international competitiveness and allow bilingual education to take root from an early age, it is indeed necessary, but strengthening English teaching and promoting English to become an official language are problems of different levels. If the purpose of the promotion is to strengthen the integration of English proficiency with the international community, it is advisable to replace "bilingual countries" with bilingual education as the policy goal.

Previously, Wenchang and Dongxin Primary School in Taipei City have been piloting bilingual teaching since last year. Chen Zhengzhong, an independent city councillor, believes that speed should be accelerated; Taipei Mayor Ke Wenzhe said at the beginning of this month that he would learn from Singapore and promised to propose a blueprint within 3 months and increase the education budget.

Taipei Mayor Ke Wenzhe said in a questioning from the Taipei City Council on the 4th of this month that Taipei City wants to become an international city and its English ability must be strengthened. He promised to propose a bilingual teaching blueprint within 3 months and the budget will also increase. (Photo source: Central News Agency)

At the beginning of this month, Chen Zhengzhong pointed out that according to a survey by Taiwan's "Parent-Child World" magazine, Taipei City's overall educational ability indicators returned to Taiwan's first place this year, but the English ability indicators are not good. Chen Zhengzhong further pointed out that Taipei City promotes bilingual teaching and has received high support from parents and students, but the promotion speed is slow. Currently, only two schools in Wenchang and Dongxin Primary School are piloted, while there are only 12 primary schools with English context centers on the school, and only one of them has complete teaching staff.

Ke Wenzhe said that if Taipei City wants to become an international city, its English ability must be strengthened. He promised to propose a bilingual teaching blueprint within 3 months, and the budget will also increase, taking Singapore as a benchmark; Education Director Zeng Canjin said that the Education Bureau has sent someone to Singapore for inspection and is writing a report recently, and will submit the results to the parliament.

Media: The Tsai administration racked its brains to "de-Sinicization"

Hong Kong's Ta Kung Pao once commented that the Tsai Ing-wen administration was helpless in handling matters on the island, but "de-Sinicization" was racking its brains to "de-Sinicization".

As for the Taiwanese authorities' attempt to enhance the people's English ability by using English as the "official language" and enhance Taiwan's competitiveness. This is simply the wrong prescription. Taiwanese public opinion pointed out that listing English as an "official language" and improving people's English proficiency are two completely different things.Enhancing language skills is conducive to the development of one's career, which is mainly a driving force and willingness for one's individual to strive for progress. Without this source of motivation, even if the Tsai administration regards English as the "official language", it will not help improve people's English proficiency. Because people still speak Chinese and write Chinese characters in their daily lives.

Some parts of the world regard English as the "official language". In addition to the historical factors that were once colonized, they also regard English as a common language because of their racial diversity, which facilitates communication. But the Han population in Taiwan accounts for 95%, that is, the vast majority of people speak Chinese. So why is it necessary to force English to be listed as the "official language"?

Since the Tsai administration of the DPP came to power two years ago, it has greatly reduced the proportion of classical Chinese in the high school Chinese syllabus from 45% to 55% to 35% to 45%, and now it is trying to "officialize" English. This practice of light Chinese and emphasizing English once again reflects the "de-Sinicization" mentality of the territorial authorities. Even if the authorities regard English as the "first official language", they cannot eliminate the Chinese culture on the island, turn Taiwanese people into foreigners, and they cannot separate Taiwan from China. (End)