【教發中心提供】President Tsai Ing-wen, Mayor Chen Chi-mai of Kaohsiung, and Deputy Minister of Education Liu Meng-chi recently visited the bilingual campus environment of Sun Yat-sen University, participating firsthand in EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction) teaching, EMI teacher community activities, and student English communication activities, immersing themselves in the forefront of bilingual education. President Tsai Ing-wen showed special concern for students' learning performance in an all-English environment and interacted with students from the Si Wan English Club in English, demonstrating her high regard for the effectiveness of Sun Yat-sen's all-English university initiative.

President Tsai Ing-wen visited the global course "Ethics and Morals in a Globalized Society" and "Calculus II." The former course was taught by Assistant Professor Stedon from Xiwai College, discussing controversial social issues and the ethical principles and empirical reasoning in the social sciences, stimulating students' critical thinking abilities. The Calculus II course is a common compulsory course for freshmen in the first English class at Sun Yat-sen University. Students who took the course mentioned in a feedback survey that Professor Luo Chunguang, the instructor and a professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics, could clearly grasp the difficulties students faced in English courses and would specifically explain difficult terms, stating, "I really like this learning environment."

President Tsai also spoke with students from the Si Wan English Club and the Si Wan English Writing and Speaking Studio, inquiring about their majors and reminding them that English can help advance learning in various fields. President Tsai also praised the effectiveness of Sun Yat-sen University's student English communication activities in enhancing the learning environment. Students on-site expressed surprise at being able to interact closely with the president and appreciated her attention to Sun Yat-sen's bilingual education.

The EMI teacher community is also a focus of development at Sun Yat-sen University's bilingual campus. Since the second semester of the 109th academic year, the university has held regular monthly EMI teacher community meetings, now entering its third semester. Through lectures, workshops, themed discussions, teaching demonstrations, teaching observations, and discussions, the teacher community exchanges and shares experiences in English instruction. This time, visiting scholar Professor Hsu Hsueh-hui from the Department of Applied Mathematics was invited to serve as a mentor, sharing effective strategies for improving English proficiency as an EMI teacher. Professor Hsu suggested using original language dictionaries, where word meanings are presented in English, to avoid misunderstandings. Finally, she advised teachers to set aside their ego in the EMI classroom and foster a mindset of "teachers and students growing and learning together" and "not being discouraged by English mistakes," reducing anxiety about English courses and inspiring learning spirit, thereby building confidence and competence in EMI teaching and learning.

Lin Bo-chiao, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Sun Yat-sen University, emphasized in a briefing on the current development of the bilingual campus that the number of bilingual courses and the number of students enrolled have increased year by year. Bachelor's degree courses have increased from 114 in the 109th academic year to 175 in the 110th academic year, and the number of students enrolled has increased from 4,587 to 7,207. Students' English proficiency is also excellent, with 22% of sophomores and above reaching CEFR B2 level or above in 2022, not far from the Ministry of Education's threshold of 25% set for 2024. Sun Yat-sen University has set its own goal even higher at 30%. Lin also pointed out that in the 110th year, Sun Yat-sen University established three English-only special classes with a total of 70 students. In the 111th year, this number will increase to seven departments and 205 students, injecting resources into EMI courses and striving towards becoming a bilingual university by 2030.

In order to comply with the "2030 Bilingual Country Policy Development Blueprint," Sun Yat-sen University has also established the ELTA Education Resource Center (Southern Region) and implemented the "Introduction of Part-time Foreign Teaching Assistants (English Language Teaching Assistant, ELTA) Program." Zhuang Xuehua, Director of the Institute of Education at Sun Yat-sen University, pointed out during the briefing that the ELTA program has reached a service proportion of 10% in public junior high and elementary schools in the southern region and is expected to achieve a coverage rate of 50% by 2030. She especially thanked the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Education for loosening regulations, allowing foreign students to interact with Taiwanese students and grow together. Zhuang Xuehua believes that the ELTA program can help foreign students feel a sense of belonging in Taiwan and invigorate Taiwan's multicultural environment.

（Edited by the Public Affairs Office）