Implications of Bilingual Education in Taiwan for English Shadow Education Providers

Abstract

In 2018, Taiwan announced Bilingual 2030, expressing intent to adopt English as an official language by 2030. To achieve the goal of “optimizing learning conditions,” 6,000 Taiwanese teachers will complete all-English teacher training by 2024. Furthermore, at least 20% of schools will employ English-speaking foreign teachers or assistants. Based on the British Council’s assessment, the National Development Council is optimistic about nationwide English competency.

Shadow education has long played a major role in the development of students in Taiwan. Many parents rely on shadow education institutions for childcare. Nevertheless, shadow education primarily exists to help students to achieve higher academic competency. Numerous shadow education institutions offer English as a foreign language (EFL) programs. However, when English proficiency becomes ubiquitous after Bilingual 2030, English-language shadow education may become unappealing for consumers (i.e., parents). Research has investigated the perspectives of students and teachers on Bilingual 2030 and its implications only in the context of formal education. This research will fill the gap by investigating these implications for English-language shadow educators by analyzing the perspectives of parents.

Data will be collected from questionnaires and interviews. The respondents will be the parents of children attending EFL classes outside their formal education in public, private, or international schools. Content analysis will be adopted to evaluate parents’ expectations of English shadow education, specifically why they will be willing to pay for such education before and after Bilingual 2030. Because the participants will be only the parents of elementary school students in Taiwan, the conclusiveness and comprehensiveness are limited.

The findings may indicate that English-language shadow education programs must adapt to the nationwide curriculum changes because the Grammar-Translation Method will be obsolete in a bilingual Taiwan. These educators may place greater emphasis on the English-language delivery of subject knowledge or depth of complexity of English usage.

Keywords

2030 Bilingual Policy; Bilingualism; ESL/EFL in Taiwan; Private Education Providers (buxiban); Shadow Education Providers; English tutors; English as an Official Language