Examining the Challenges Faced by Primary School Teachers in Taiwan during the Implementation of Bilingual Education

Abstract

Despite the policy requirements and efforts to implement bilingual education in primary schools, not all in-service teachers are willing to commit to the program. Anxiety and a negative attitude towards bilingual education have also been reported by some teachers (Graham, 2022). However, few studies have explored the possible factors of the challenges faced by teachers in the implementation process. This study narrows the scope to the in-service primary school teachers who are involved in the implementation of bilingual education and examines the reasons for their reluctance to accept the policy.

This study adopted a case study methodology to investigate the real-life bilingual education implementation in depth. A specific group of Taiwanese primary school teachers who are involved in the implementation of the policy were carefully selected as the participants for this study. To conduct a comprehensive investigation, detailed data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the participants. The purpose of these interviews was to gather in-depth information about the teachers’ perspectives and experiences of bilingual education. In addition, observations and documentation from the interviewees’ regular meetings on bilingual education were incorporated, serving as supplementary sources of triangulation information to further support and validate the insights obtained from the interviews.

By analyzing the perspectives and experiences of in-service teachers, this study aims to identify the factors that contribute to the challenges encountered in implementing bilingual education. The findings will enhance our understanding of teachers’ reluctance and provide valuable insights for policymakers and participants. These insights can inform the future development and implementation of bilingual education policies for overcoming the challenges.

Keywords

bilingual education, bilingual policy, primary school, case study, semi-structured interviews.