Taipei City Government

During a conversation with a linguist from Singapore during a forum on bilingual education at Yangming Senior High School on June 25, Mayor Ko Wen-je remarked that the objective of Taipei’s English curriculum for elementary school students is to be able to spell at least 180 words and utilize a vocabulary of 300 terms or more in daily conversation.
 
He explained that while the standard complies with the guideline established by the Ministry of Education, it is difficult for local students to compete with international students – even for middle schoolers whose required repertoire has been expanded to 1200 words.
 
Noting that the city government began implementing its own English curriculum in 2001, the mayor explained that two English classes are required each week for grades 1 and 2, and 3 classes per week for grades 3 through 6. For middle schoolers, the frequency is increased to 4 classes each week. Furthermore, the city government incorporated English into other subject areas for a pilot project started in 2016. A total of 18 schools enrolled in the program for the 2017 school year.
 
The mayor believes that in order for the curriculum to be effective, it should take up at least one-third of the overall curriculum. He also stressed that bilingual education is not simply to increase the number of English classes or to teach English by English, but to incorporate English into teaching other subjects. What is even more important is to infuse English into daily life.
 
Citing his one-year stay in the US, Ko noted that even though he understands what every word means, there are still times when he failed to comprehend the context of use in daily conversation. That is why he sees the incorporation of English into day-to-day life so important, which has been overlooked in a curriculum emphasizing textbook English.
 
Ko admitted that he was a bit weary in promoting bilingual elementary schools as the political environment does not tolerate failure. However, having received over 93-percent positive response from parents of students enrolled in bilingual program at Dongxing Elementary School in Nangang and Wenchan Elementary School in Shilin, the administration decided to expand the bilingual curriculum to include 3 more elementary schools and 1 middle school.