New Southbound Policy Portal

Students in the Taiwan Education Center at Amity University in Noida, India, practice calligraphy. (Courtesy of NTHU)

Feng Ai-ling moved to India in 2012 to teach Mandarin in the newly opened Taiwan Education Center at Amity University. During her initial year at the private tertiary institution in Noida, a satellite city of Delhi, she and three colleagues delivered lessons to some 300 students. In the time since, interest in learning the language has soared, with more than 700 people signing up for classes in 2017, Feng said.
 
Funded by the Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs and operated by National Tsing Hua University in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu City, the TEC program aims to promote the nation’s Mandarin learning environment and foster international academic collaboration. Centers have been established in nine countries to date, including Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand.
 
India is a major target of the initiative, with TECs located on the campuses of seven universities in the South Asian country. In addition to Amity, these are Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University and O. P. Jindal Global University in Delhi; the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in Mumbai; and IIT Madras and Sri Ramaswamy Memorial Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai.
 

According to NTHU professor Wang Wei-chung, who has led the TEC project since its launch in 2011, the centers deliver comprehensive Mandarin courses while also providing students with introductions to traditional Chinese culture and Taiwan society. “This educational initiative is helping bolster communication and understanding between the two countries in such diverse areas as economics and social development,” he said.
 
These efforts are also in line with President Tsai Ing-wen’s New Southbound Policy. A key plank in Taiwan’s national development strategy, the policy aims to deepen ties with India as well as the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, five other South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand in fields spanning agriculture, business, culture, education, tourism and trade.
 
To date, over 6,200 students have taken courses at the TECs in India, Wang said, adding that the number of people signing up for classes is rising year on year. The professor attributed growing enrollment to the centers’ emphasis on high-quality instruction and engaging lessons. “All the teachers are certified and experienced, and moreover have huge passion for their work,” he said.
 
A total of 12 Taiwan instructors are employed at the centers. Besides administrative and teaching responsibilities, their duties include developing tailored courses in accordance with distinct regional cultures and the unique requirements of each university. “The one common trait of our lessons is that they use traditional Chinese characters,” Wang said.
 

Feng, who worked as an instructor at Amity for more than five years before taking up a MOE-funded language teaching post in Thailand, said her students were very responsive to cultural activities such as learning Mandarin songs and practicing calligraphy. “It’s quite a challenging language, so I like to incorporate fun exercises like singing pop tunes,” she said. “These lessons also have practical benefits such as improving pronunciation.”
 
According to the instructor, cultural awareness and sensitivity are essential qualities in crafting effective courses. “Mandarin programs are elective, so understanding students’ motivations is equally crucial,” she added.
 
Some pupils are drawn to the classes because their families have business connections in Chinese-speaking countries and territories. Such backgrounds can serve as a great source of inspiration for students, but it is important for teachers to be responsive to their needs and adapt lesson plans accordingly, Feng said.
 
As part of its broader mission to promote Taiwan’s Mandarin learning environment, the TEC program in India is working with domestic tertiary institutions to develop localized educational resources. Major progress was achieved in this regard with the launch last year of the India-Taiwan Bilateral Forum on Mandarin Chinese Teaching Materials for India Learners.
 

The annual event is organized by the TEC India program office at NTHU and National Kaohsiung Normal University in the southern Taiwan metropolis in collaboration with Indian higher education institutions. The inaugural forum was staged at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, with this year’s edition set to take place May 18-19 at Amity University. Topics under discussion span the design and editing of teaching materials, learning motivations of local students and use of technology in Mandarin education.
 
The TEC program has also worked with Indian governmental organizations to provide Mandarin lessons for personnel ranging from military officers to tour guides. “There is significant potential for expanding collaboration in this area, and we are currently communicating with a number of agencies on doing so,” Wang said.
 
“Going forward, TEC will continue to explore fresh opportunities for strengthening cooperation across the public and private sectors in line with the government’s New Southbound Policy,” he said, adding that such initiatives can play an important role in fostering the long-term development of Taiwan-India ties. (E) (By Chiang Pei-ying)