This study concerns about the Taiwan’s latest policies of bilingual education, with a special focus on programs of teacher education for bilingual teachers.

The initial ideas underling this research come from continuous and controversial debates on bilingual education which has been highlighted on education agenda since 2018 in Taiwan. Also, teacher education in universities began to propose professional development programs for bilingual teachers. It is recognized that a sound bilingual teacher education will be a core and necessary foundation for the implementation of bilingual education. In particular, two issues are highlighted. First, is the current bilingual teacher education based on a well-structured professionalism for bilingual education? Second, does the curriculum or programs designed for bilingual teachers equip teachers with necessary bilingual knowledge and skills?

For investigating on the professional knowledge for bilingual teachers, research methods adopted in this study includes documentary analysis, semi-structural interviews, and group interviews. Bilingual teacher education programs in main universities are analyzed and key persons of these programs are interviewed.

In light of Shulman’s (1987) ideas of CK, PK and PCK and Thompson & Mishra (2007) idea of TPACK (technological pedagogical and content knowledge), it is argued that a BPACK model (bilingual pedagogical and content knowledge) could be proposed to conceptualize professional knowledge for bilingual teachers. It is highlighted that bilingual education, rather than just language competences, is a key part for bilingual teacher education and should be included in the program of bilingual teacher education.

Authors:
Yung-Feng Lin, Chung Cheng University, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Prof. LIN, Yung-feng is currently a Professor of Chung Cheng University, Taiwan, R.O.C.
My academic interests includes curriculum issues and policies. My current projects focus on bilingual education its curriculum.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Sunday Schedule

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