A majority of Taiwanese support making English the nation’s second official language and promoting bilingual education, a poll released yesterday by the Professor Huang Kun-huei Education Foundation showed.
Eighty-seven percent of the respondents agreed that English should be Taiwan’s second official language, while 9 percent disagreed, the poll showed.
Eighty-nine percent said that public elementary and junior-high schools should offer bilingual classes taught in Mandarin and English, a practice only allowed at private schools, poll committee member Feng Ching-huang (馮清皇) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The National Development Council on Dec. 6 unveiled a blueprint to make Taiwan a bilingual nation by 2030, but whether to list English as the nation’s second official language is still being debated.
National Taiwan Normal University information and computer education professor Ho Rong-guey (何榮桂), who attended the news conference, said that most respondents seemed to support the policy, adding that officials should start working on it soon, for example by preparing bilingual versions of official documents and improving their English proficiency.
Most respondents also said that the nation’s education system needs to be reformed to put more emphasis on thinking, rather than knowledge-oriented instruction that merely helps students obtain diplomas, the poll showed.
Asked whether they agreed with the idea that curricula taught at elementary, junior-high and high schools should encourage students to have a deeper understanding of Taiwanese geography, history and culture, 68.8 percent of respondents said yes, while 26.1 percent said no.
It is curious that the question’s approval rating was less than that of other questions, especially among the group of respondents with higher education, Ho said, adding that the results need to be analyzed further.
Most Taiwanese have progressive educational concepts that echo global trends, so the government should accelerate its educational reforms, foundation chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said.
The telephone survey was conducted from Nov. 27 to Nov. 30 and collected 1,071 valid samples from people older than 20, and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS