To adapt to the bilingual education policy of the government changing Taiwan into a bilingual nation by 2030, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages launched the “Wenzao Teaching Through English (TTE) Certificate” program, the first in Taiwan. The program comprises a quality assurance mechanism for carrying out Taiwan’s bilingual education policy and creating an excellent bilingual environment.
Teaching Through English teacher training program mainly to assist students to obtain the Wenzao TTE certificate in the course. This certificate is second to none in Taiwan. The content of the course is completely designed according to the audit standards. The students’ affirmation of their English teaching ability will be more symbolic if they can participate in the complete training program and obtain the certificate.
There are five major courses and a teaching demonstration in the program, including lesson plan design, classroom management, pedagogical content and procedure, classroom language. The participants will conduct practical teaching demonstrations. The interdepartmental professors from Wenzao will interview the participants and give them ratings, comments and suggestions based on the five teaching orientations above. With a focus on both the applications of teaching knowledge and the demonstration of teaching skills, the Wenzao TTE Certificate program can be regarded as an authentic and strict method for evaluating teaching through English.
The cooperation between the Education Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government and Wenzao on foreign faculty training and certification is a good start for the program. It is hoped that both parties can continue to cooperate with each other in the future, putting all efforts into promoting Kaohsiung’s bilingual education.
In 2021, Wenzao TTE program has also cooperated with Youth Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government. Training University fresh graduates turn into bilingual teachers, alleviating the lack of bilingual teachers. From the beginning of the program till now, 58 people participated in it, 32 people gained the certificate. The passing rate is 55.17%.
