The Council of Indigenous Peoples on Monday honored a family from southern Taiwan, after the parents and two children achieved outstanding results in the Indigenous Language Proficiency Test.
The five-year-old daughter was the youngest among all examinees.
At an event in New Taipei City, Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod conferred certificates of merit on the Bunun family from Kaohsiung’s Namasia District (那瑪夏).
Photo: CNA
Daughter Chao Ling (趙翎) received special recognition for passing the beginner’s level exam for both Bunun and Kanakanavu, the father, Chao Cheng-chung (趙正中) said, who with his wife, Lin Sha-mao (林紗帽), passed the medium advanced level exam in Bunun.
Their seven-year-old son passed the medium level exam in Bunun.
Chao Cheng-chung works at the village church and his wife is a junior-high schoolteacher.
He said all of the family want to push on and obtain higher proficiency levels.
Chao Ling learned Kanakanavu after an “immersive teaching” program at a local kindergarten, the mother said.
“Our family are Bunun, so when at home we mainly speak in our mother tongue, therefore both of the children are bilingual. This shows the importance of speaking your mother tongue at home, and the learning environment created by ‘immersive’ school programs,” Lin said.
The father is also chairman of the Masinghalan Village (瑪星哈蘭) Community Association, which has worked to preserve and promote traditional culture for many years.
“Many indigenous people cannot speak their mother tongue. We aspire to turn that around, by keeping up traditional practices, like when going hunting our villagers are required to speak in Bunun. The government in recent years has elevated the status od indigenous languages, which has helped more people to teach and learn them,” Chao Cheng-chung said.
Amis student Malu Calaw of Keelung’s Badou High School also received recognition for passing the medium advanced level exam for his mother tongue at the event.
“When I was a child, I stayed with my grandfather and grandmother, who spoke the Amis language, so it had piqued my interest to learn more. If I cannot speak my mother tongue, how can I learn other people’s language?” Malu Calaw said.
He has been admitted to National Kaohsiung Normal University and is to start in the autumn semester. He said he wants to become an indigenous language teacher to encourage students to learn their mother tongue.
Icyang Parod presented certificates of merit to 16 people for achieving outstanding grades in the exams.
The council is to amend the Awards for Indigenous Special Talent regulations to attract more people to learn their mother tongue.
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