U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative

As part of the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on language education cooperation. The MOU is expected to help enhance and/or expand existing Mandarin and English language instruction opportunities in the United States and Taiwan. The MOU also encourages the exploration of opportunities for Mandarin and English language teachers and resources to be deployed to language programs at U.S. universities and Taiwan educational institutions, and facilitates greater exchange between U.S. and Taiwan institutions based on best practices.

Below are some examples of existing U.S.- and Taiwan-funded programs that provide Mandarin language instruction that we seek to pursue greater cooperation on or expand. The most up-to-date version of this list can also be found on the Talent Circulation Alliance website at: www.talentcirculationalliance.org/us-taiwan

Taiwan Scholarship

The Ministry of Education (MOE) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) initiated the Taiwan Scholarship in an effort to encourage outstanding international students to undertake degree programs in Taiwan.

Taiwan MOE will provide each recipient with tuition and fees up to $40,000 New Taiwan Dollars (NTD) (≒USD$1,333) per semester. A monthly stipend will also be provided for each recipient: NTD $15,000 (≒USD$500) for undergraduate studies; NTD $20,0000   (≒USD$666) for graduate studies.

Huayu Enrichment Scholarship (HES)

The Huayu Enrichment Scholarship was granted by the Taiwan Ministry of Education to encourage international students to learn Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan.

This Program aims to assist HES recipients in acquiring Mandarin Chinese language skills and competency as well as to increase international students’ appreciation of Taiwan.

A monthly stipend of NTD$25,000 (≒USD$833) will be provided to each recipient for a maximum period of one year.

Short-term Chinese Study Group

In an effort to encourage foreign students coming to Taiwan for Chinese language study, the Ministry of Education provides subsidies of NT$4,000 per person per week for groups of foreign students to study Chinese for 2–4 weeks:

Guideline:

  1. The Education Division of TECO in Chicago invites students of K-12 schools/universities in 10 Mid-West States (IL, IN, OH, MI, WI, MN, IA, ND, SD, NE) to participate in the courses arranged by the sister schools/universities or provided by the language centers affiliated to Taiwan’s universities.
  2. The courses should be focused on the learning of traditional Chinese characters and Taiwan culture.
  3. The ways of subsidizing are as follows:
  • Each group must have at least 15 students.
  • 1-2 teachers may accompany the group
  • Each group member will be subsidized NTD$ 4,000 (= around USD$130) weekly.
  • The study period will be 2-4 weeks. Each week is counted from Monday to Friday. The daily attendance to the course should be no less than 3 hours.
  • The subsidy will be granted in NTD$, which will be requested from the Ministry of Education by the hosted schools/universities in Taiwan. The sponsored group is needed to submit the program report including photos to the hosted schools/universities as well as The Education Division of TECO in Chicago within 4 weeks after the program ends.

Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL)

The TOCFL is intended for those who want to know about their level of Chinese proficiency. It is available in both traditional and simplified character versions.  Since 2014, the levels of the TOCFL have been reformed in order to correspond to the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, and Assessment). The TOCFL has three proficiency bands: Band A, Band B, and Band C. Each of the bands has two levels. The test includes two sections (listening and reading), and usually take a total of about two hours to complete.

According to the AP Course Description, “Course work provides students with opportunities to perform Intermediate- to Advanced-level tasks, and students are expected to achieve proficiencies throughout, and sometimes beyond, the Intermediate range, as described in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines.” Therefore, if the students want to pass the AP test, they have to reach the intermediate level of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, which corresponds to level 3 of the TOCFL. The students could take the TOCFL as a practice test for AP test preparation.

Examinees who pass the test will receive a Chinese Proficiency Certificate as a credential for the followings:

  • Becoming eligible for the “Taiwan Scholarship” and “Huayu Enrichment Scholarship” sponsored by the Ministry of Education and for studying in Taiwan.
  • Qualifying for admission to academic programs at colleges or universities in Taiwan.
  • Serving as a job-required proof of Chinese language proficiency for individuals who wish to obtain Chinese-inclusive, bilingual employment globally.
  • Providing an incentive to those who are interested in learning Chinese

On-line Learning – Huayu 101

Huayu 101, an online Mandarin Chinese learning platform established by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education (MOE) for foreigners on short-term stays in Taiwan, has launched six new learning scenarios this year for Chinese language learners.

Commissioned by the MOE in 2017, the University of Taipei has developed six chapters of learning scenarios that collect dialogues for everyday Chinese, encompassing “Greetings,” “Accommodation,” “Shopping,” “Order,” “Transportation,” and “Asking for help.”
This year, it added more everyday conversations to Huayu 101, including “City tour,” “Arts and cultural activities,” “Call and reservation,” “Exchange,” “Making friends,” and “Hospital and post office.”

The e-learning materials select the most practical conversations based on experiences of students from different countries, with scenarios spanning greetings, making friends, tourism, business, transportation, accommodation, shopping, reservation, and hospital. These sentences are dubbed by Taiwanese teachers and allow users to change the vocabularies they would like to practice for different scenarios.

Moreover, each text is paired with lively illustrations, leading users to learn Chinese effectively through contents presented simultaneously in both visual and verbal forms.

According to the MOE, demand for e-learning has surged due to impacts of the coronavirus outbreak. Through just connecting to the internet, users can get easy access to learn Chinese phrases for daily use on Huayu 101.

In addition to Huayu 101, the Office of Global Mandarin Education (OGME) established by the MOE also offers free online learning courses for teachers and learners, including “Start From Scratch,” “Intermediate Chinese,” “FLTA Story Book Series,” “Mandarin in 300 Sentences,” and “Fall in Love With Mandarin.”

Since the Huayu 101 website went live, it has attracted almost 90,000 active users and received positive feedback from students and teachers in Taiwan and overseas.

Point of Contact:
Education Division, TECO in Chicago
John Y. Lin, M.Ed.
Director
55 W. Wacker Dr., Ste. 1200, Chicago, IL 60601
E-mail: ylin8@mail.moe.gov.tw
Tel: (312) 616-0805
Fax: (312) 297-1309