1. Background: Cross-sector integration activities for Chinese language education are organized under the MOE's Project for Establishing the Office of Global Mandarin Education and Promoting Mandarin Education, bringing together people involved in the development of the Chinese language industry for resource integration and cross-sector exchange. 2. Purpose: To create new value for Chinese language education through cross-industry vertical/horizontal integration and information sharing. To set examples that highlight the cooperation between Chinese language education institutions, and copy the cooperation model in industries related to Chinese language education. To immediately share government information, combine resources through an alliance, and create synergistic effects on a supply/demand platform. 3. Subjects: Representatives of Chinese language centers/departments and Chinese language related industries.   Please click the following link for details on meeting topics and the agenda: Activity and registration website: https://ogme.edu.tw/Home/news_detail/430

Source: Ministry of Education Laws and Regulations Retrieving System Title: Ministry of Education Directions for Subsidies to Promote the Development of the Chinese Language Education Industry Announced on: August 5th, 2014 Amended on: February 27th, 2018 All or part of the articles that were announced are not yet in effect, and will be effective on: March 1st, 2018 Issue No. Order Tai-Jiao-Wen(6)-Zi No.1070003312B Category: International and Cross-Strait Education   1. Purpose: The Ministry of Education (MOE) has enacted these Directions in response to the global trend of learning the Chinese language. The purpose of these Directions is to effectively integrate domestic resources to promote the development of the Chinese language education industry, and encourage the use of integrated service strategies to promote international cooperation and exchange in Chinese language education. 2. The Chinese language education industry includes upstream, midstream, and downstream Chinese language education industries, which are defined below:  Upstream: Chinese language education departments and programs, and institutions and companies involved in Chinese language teacher training and Chinese language course and teaching material development.  Midstream: Institutions and companies involved in Chinese language teaching ability certification, Chinese language proficiency testing, Chinese language teacher output, and Chinese language learning, courses, and teaching material output.  Downstream: Institutions and companies involved in Chinese language education promotion, marketing, and distribution channels. 3. Project implementation method: Project applicants working together with upstream, midstream, and downstream institutions or companies submit a project application that utilize the following integrated service strategies: Value-added application or innovation of existing services and products: The integration and improvement of existing education services and teaching materials based on the needs of the target customer and regional characteristics, or the utilization of new technologies, such as cloud technology, smart handheld devices, mobile communications networks, and smart electronic whiteboards, to create new Chinese language education services and products. This includes the development of location-based teaching methods, the design of location-based teaching content, location-based teaching training, and the modification of Chinese language teaching tools, materials, and self-learning products. Cross-disciplinary cooperation: Horizontal collaboration between the Chinese language education industry and related fields, e.g. film industry, convention and exhibition industry, tourism industry, translation industry, technology industry, and cultural creative industry, based on the principle to mutually benefit and create synergistic effects, and jointly carry out marketing, exhibitions, contests, and promotions that will increase the added value of the Chinese language education industry.  Integrated plans: The development of various integrated new learning models, e.g. immersive learning (teaching scenarios integrated with art, sports, and related fields), integrated learning (learning models combined with internships and industry operations), and mobile learning (Chinese language learning integrated with community activities, visits, and internships).  4. Eligible applicants (Project applicants):  Domestic university established or approved by the competent authority that has a Chinese language center.  Domestic university established or approved by the competent authority that has a Chinese language department or program.  Domestic corporation or non-profit organization that is legally registered and involved in Chinese language education (hereinafter referred to as "non-profit education organization").  Domestic government agency or overseas institution (education division and stationed personnel) subordinate to the MOE.  5. Subsidy categories, items and principles: Subsidy items related to online learning: Hourly pay for teachers that offer online Chinese language courses or Chinese language teacher training courses, and expenses on teaching materials, web design, database maintenance, and printing promotional materials.  Subsidy items related to international academic conferences and exchange:  Venue expenses for organizing an international academic conference, hourly pay of speakers, and printing expenses.  Airfare of prestigious foreign scholars and experts invited to speak in Taiwan, and expenses on transportation, meals and accommodations while they are in Taiwan.  Airfare of domestic Chinese language scholars and experts invited to speak or publish papers at international academic conferences, and membership fee of international organizations.  Development of the Chinese language education industry overseas:  Subsidy categories:  Establishment of overseas Chinese language education locations: Expenses required for the establishment of project offices in target overseas locations in accordance with local laws and regulations, and for offering courses.  Chinese language education output overseas: Expenses for expanding overseas demand and for the marketing and promotion of Chinese language related products and services, e.g. promotion of teachers, teaching materials (including online materials), courses (including online courses), tests, and certifications. Promotion for foreigners to learn Chinese language in Taiwan: Expenses for increasing the number of foreigners that participate in teacher training in Taiwan, Chinese language learning, or online courses. Subsidy rules: With the goal of overseas user pays, assemble teams based on overseas Chinese language requirements and formulate Chinese language education output plans for integrated services that include members from industry, academia, public and private sectors.  Strategic plans: Implement projects that meet the needs of the domestic Chinese language policy for target overseas areas with high potential, e.g. foreign Chinese language teacher groups receiving training in Taiwan, short-term Chinese language study groups of students from foreign schools, and Chinese language scholars and experts invited to give Chinese language lectures in renowned universities overseas, subsidy rules are as follows:  Foreign Chinese language teacher groups receiving training in Taiwan: Member qualifications: In principle, each group of 15-20 members receives two weeks of training in Taiwan. Chinese language teachers with potential for engaging in teaching exchanges (those who play important roles in local Chinese language education) and have not received subsidies from the MOE in the last three years will be given priority. Subsidy categories: Expenses of members while studying in Taiwan will be appropriately subsidized. In principle, each member will receive subsidies in the amount of NT$2,000 a day for two weeks; airfare and insurance premiums are not subsidized. Subsidy rules: The MOE subsidizes the project unit (domestic university or non-profit education organization) organizing the training.  Short-term Chinese language study groups of students from foreign universities: Member qualifications: In principle, each group must have at least 15 members, comprising students from mainstream schools (including one to two teachers accompanying the group) at each level of the formal education system in a foreign country, and engage in Chinese language and cultural studies in the Chinese language center of a university in Taiwan. Subsidy categories: In principle, each member will receive subsidies in the amount of NT$4,000 a day for two to four weeks.At least 15 hours of Chinese language courses (not including cultural visits) over the course of five days a week. Subsidy rules: The MOE subsidizes the project unit (domestic university or non-profit education organization) organizing the training. Chinese language lectures overseas: For domestic Chinese language scholars and experts invited to give Chinese language lectures at renowned universities overseas, their airfare, hourly pay for lectures, and expenses on transportation, meals and accommodations may be subsidized according to Directions for the Overseas Travel Allowance Disbursement. If the foreign university that sent the invitation is already providing compensation for related items, subsidies will not be provided for the same items.  Other strategic plans: Projects that meet the needs of the domestic Chinese language education policy, necessary expenses of the projects will be subsidized.  6. Subsidy standard: Funds required for subparagraph 3 and item 4 of subparagraph 4 in the preceding article include personnel costs, service fee, and miscellaneous expenses. The budget allocated for personnel expenses shall be based on the actual number of project personnel, and may not exceed 50% of the project's total budget. Other items shall be handled in accordance with Budgeting Criteria for Projects Subsidized by or Entrusted by the Ministry of Education. In principle, subsidies shall not exceed 80% of the project's total budget. In coordination with international demand or domestic policy, projects in categories that are currently more urgent will be given priority for subsidies, and ratio of subsidies may be increased or the project may be fully subsidized.  7. Application and review procedures:  Application procedures: Application deadline: Unless due to MOE policy requirements or special circumstances, project applications shall be submitted at least three months before the planned event. The MOE may deny subsidies to applications that fail to comply with regulations. Application Document: The project applicant shall submit the project application form, application documents (see Appendices 1-3), and subsidy application form attached with related certificates (e.g. certificate of registration) to the designated unit specified by the MOE for application; 5 copies should be attached for each certificate. If the applicant is applying to two or more government agencies, subsidy items and amounts from each agency should be detailed.  Review process: Review is carried out in two stages: preliminary review and review: Preliminary review: The MOE may specify a designated unit to review qualifications of the project applicant, and verify if the format of the proposal, attached documents, and budgeting comply with regulations. Review: The MOE may form a review committee by inviting domestic and foreign experts from the Chinese language education industry, academia, and research institutes, and appoint a representative to serve as the convener. The review team will review proposals that passed the preliminary review. Depending on operational requirements, the project applicant may be required to give the review committee a presentation; failure to appear at the presentation shall be construed as voluntarily forfeiting the subsidy application. Members of the review committee shall avoid any conflict of interests and maintain a value-free position when reviewing applications, so as to impartially perform their duties. Committee members shall sign a statement before convening the review meeting stating that they are not related to any of the applications being reviewed, and that they agree to maintain confidentiality of matters related to the review meeting. In the event a committee member violates any part of the statement, the MOE may terminate the committee member. In the event a committee member is proven to be related with an application that was approved for subsidies, the MOE may revoke the approval. 8. Application for reimbursement and budget summation: Application for reimbursement: After an application is approved by the MOE, the subsidized unit shall submit receipts, which are signed or affixed with the seal of the cashier, accountant, and person-in-charge, that specify the financial institution name, account name, and account number after being notified by the MOE for reimbursement. Budget summation: Subsidized units shall submit a results report and income and expenditure statement to the MOE within two months after the project ends for verification. 9. Performance evaluation: The MOE may evaluate the performance of subsidized units at any time to ensure project implementation. In the event subsidized units fail to complete project conclusion or extension in accordance with regulations or have poor performance, the MOE may take the following actions depending on the severity of the situation: Revoke or reduce the subsidy. Disqualify the subsidized unit for subsidies the following year. Take the situation into consideration when deciding whether or not to increase/decrease the amount of subsidies in future years. Recognize outstanding subsidized units so that the competent authority may reward them.  10. Remarks: The MOE may coordinate or provide guidance to subsidized units in planning the direction of their applications. Subsidized units shall implement the project as planned. In the event a project must be modified due to certain reasons, approval from the MOE is required and a budget adjustment form for subsidized (commissioned) projects of the MOE shall be attached in accordance with these Directions. Subsidized units may not apply for subsidizes for the same items of the same project in accordance with other regulations of the MOE. Documents and materials submitted for subsidy application will not be returned. Any matters that are not addressed in these Directions shall be governed by relevant regulations of the MOE.  11. Starting on March 1st, 2018, subsidy applications for the establishment of overseas Chinese language education locations, Chinese language education output overseas, and promotion of foreigners studying Chinese language in Taiwan shall be handled in accordance with these Directions.

Source: Radio Taiwan International February 23rd, 2018 at 6:21 P.M. Some second generation immigrants grow up in the country where their immigrant parents were born, and they have trouble keeping up in school due to their limited Chinese language ability after returning to Taiwan. This sometimes forces them to transfer to a lower grade. The Kaohsiung City Education Bureau and the K-12 Education Administration of the Ministry of Education commissioned National Kaohsiung Normal University to implement the System Establishment Research and Evaluation Project for Transnational Students to improve this situation. A teacher training workshop was also organized for even more junior high school and elementary school teachers to see the needs of transnational students. Chung Chen-Cheng is the Director of the Graduate Institute of Teaching Chinese as a Second Foreign Language of National Kaohsiung Normal University, and is the principal investigator of the System Establishment Research and Evaluation Project for Transnational Students jointly implemented with the K-12 Education Administration. He indicated that six or seven years ago, he found that many second generation immigrants, children of Taiwanese businessmen, or foreigners residing in Taiwan had trouble adapting to life in Taiwan and had difficulty learning due to their limited Chinese listening, speaking, reading, and writing abilities. Chung Chen-Cheng: "Some children haven't eaten any lunch boxes other than those bought from 7-ELEVEN in the two to three years since they've been here. This is because they can buy food without talking in 7-ELEVEN, but would need to talk if they buy food from other places, such as buffet restaurants. There are a lot of examples like this." Chung Chen-Cheng said Kaohsiung City Education Bureau was the first to work with National Kaohsiung Normal University in recent years, organizing a four-day teacher training workshop for teachers of junior high schools and elementary schools in Kaohsiung City. The workshop helps teachers to effectively recognize the culture, language, learning needs, educational background, and scholastic ability of transnational students, so that they can plan a variety of supplementary courses. Chung Chen-Cheng: "Our usual approach is to recommend that schools pull students out of classes for subjects that have high language content. In elementary school, these classes would mainly be Chinese class and social studies class, because they wouldn't understand anyway if they remained in class. In junior high school, these classes would probably be the subjects: Chinese, history, and geography. The standard would be to pull students out of 5 hours of classes a week, or at least one class a day. This time would be spent in a language class, a Chinese language class." Chung Chen-Cheng pointed out that they registered 75 transnational students in Kaohsiung City, in which approximately 50% are second generation immigrants from Vietnam. He estimates there are at least several thousand transnational students around the country that need a learning support system. Hence, the K-12 National Administration also commissioned National Kaohsiung Normal University to organize a four-day national teacher training workshop for beginners. The workshop was attended by 77 principals, teachers, and education bureau personnel from 17 counties/cities. An advanced workshop will be organized in the future so that even more second generation immigrants can receive complete care and show their learning outcomes.

By Taiwan Today,Agencies Number of exam dates for all levels of the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language will double to six beginning next year The number of exam dates for all levels of the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language, Taiwan’s official Mandarin proficiency qualification, will double to six beginning next year as part of government efforts to boost access to the certification system. Organizer the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu under the Ministry of Education will stage the exam roughly every two months beginning in 2018. Other new measures include the release of a shorter version of the TOCFL enabling businesses and universities to self-assess the language capabilities of job and college applicants. MOE Deputy Minister Yao Leehter said Aug. 30 at an event marking the 12th anniversary of the test’s establishment that the upgrades will further strengthen the TOCFL’s status as an authoritative Chinese-language qualification. According to Chen Po-hsi, commissioner of the steering committee, the shorter test was created to serve the growing number of businesses across the Asia-Pacific region using the TOCFL to evaluate Mandarin capabilities. Featuring 60 questions divided equally between listening and reading, the abridged exam will allow corporations and universities to stage high-quality assessments. Yao said the measures are expected to further raise the number of TOCFL test takers following the introduction earlier this year of an entry-level certification. First staged in July, the exam requiring a minimum vocabulary base of 300 words aims to bolster learners’ familiarity with the TOCFL by introducing them to the system earlier in the education process. Known as the Chinese Proficiency Test at its launch in 2005, the exam was renamed the TOCFL three years later after being redesigned by Taipei City-based National Taiwan Normal University under the guidance of the steering committee. Divided into two testing sessions assessing listening and reading, and speaking and writing, the exam is administered in 33 countries and territories across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin and North America. According to the MOE, some 300,000 students of Mandarin have sat the test worldwide, with the average number of examinees reaching 40,000 annually over the past three years.

-Seminar and Training Course- Tamkung University Chinese Language Center (TKUCLC) will be hosting Mandarin Lecturer Teaching Abroad(Japan) and Practical Training in Teaching Program (Japan Region). For those that are interested in teaching Mandarin abroad and/or want to know more about Japan Mandarin Teaching market, welcome to sign up and join us. Mandarin Lecturer Teaching Abroad Seminar (https://goo.gl/WcCYZD) 1. Date (1) Central Region: 2017 Nov 23 (Thu) 10:45-12:00      Location: Feng Chia University Second International Conference Room (2) Southern Region: 2017 Nov 24 (Fri) 9:15-11:30      Location: Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages Room: W006 (3) Northern Region: 2017 Dec 2 (Sat) 9:00-12:00      Location: Tamkung University Taipei Campus Room: D223 2. Sign up Website: https://goo.gl/79HUkt   Practical Training in Teaching Program (Japan region) 1. Course outline (1) As per MOE regulation, lecturers are required to complete Practical Training in Teaching programs (Target region) before teaching abroad. (2) The program is specifically designed for lectures teaching abroad in Japan region. 2. Course Content (1) Including seminars, on-line courses and forum for total 24 training hours. (2) Detail Course description: https://goo.gl/HDHRLj 3. Sign up Information (1) Sign up Website: https://goo.gl/5J2XWz (2) Tuition Fee: NT$1000 (Free join for both TKUCLC Mandarin lecturers and members of Reserve Lecturer Group) (3) Deadline: For now till 2017 Dec 22 (4) Payment method: Post Office Transfer. Account Name: 淡江大學成人教育部推廣教育中心 Account Number: 125-1111-1   ---------------------------------------------- Contact Person：Hui-Zhong Huang  Phone：02-23216320 #8358 Email：hzhuang@clc.tku.edu.tw

Department of International and Cross-strait Education Contact: Lin, Hsin-Pei  Tel: (02)7736-5731  Email: hslin@mail.moe.gov.tw The number of recipients of the Taiwan Scholarship and Huayu Enrichment Scholarship Program (the Program) hit the record high! The Program was established in 2004 to encourage outstanding foreign students to study in Taiwan. Held on October 2, 2017, the 13th Program Welcome Party attracted over 600 scholarship recipients from 74 countries.         The Program organized annually by Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Science and Technology attracts more and more outstanding foreign applicants year by year. This year, the number of applicants hit the record high and there were 1,490 scholarship recipients from 84 countries.      According to the New Southbound Policy, Ministry of Education promoted the New Southbound Talent Development Program in 2016, which takes a people-oriented approach and aims to foster bilateral exchange and mutual resources sharing. One of the highlights is to expand bilateral exchange between students. In 2017, Ministry of Education granted the Taiwan Scholarship to 193 freshmen from new southbound countries, nearly doubled compared with the number of the recipients last year (100); the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship (one-year) was granted to 82 recipients, compared with 63 recipients last year. This year, a total of 363 freshmen from new southbound countries were granted the Program by Ministry of Education, an increase of 148 recipients compared with last year.      In the speech, Yao, Leehter, Political Deputy Minister of Education, indicated that according to the New Southbound Policy, Ministry of Education encourages students to experience Southeast Asia and South Asia, while hoping to recruit more outstanding foreign students to study or learn in Taiwan. He encouraged scholarship recipients to interact with the locals and make new friends during their study in Taiwan, further becoming cultural ambassadors. 　　 Tooly Burocher, a scholarship recipient from Haiti, has studied in Department of Diplomacy, National Chengchi University for two years and speaks Chinese fluently. He even participated in a singing talent show called Super Red and sang Taiwanese songs, making him become the defending champion for ten weeks. He loves traveling and has traveled attractions in the West Taiwan. He is no stranger to all kinds of Taiwan's snacks and has tasted stinky tofu, which most foreigners are afraid to try. He is fully immersed in Taiwanese life. 　　 Masatoshi Nakamura, another scholarship recipient from Kyoto, Japan, currently studies in Graduate Institute of Management, National Taiwan Normal University. Having studied in Taiwan for 6 years, he loves Taiwan very much, especially Taiwanese that is full of hospitality. He even said that he has the blood of Taiwanese people. He hopes to stay and work in Taiwan and make a contribution to land that supports him throughout the journey. 　   The 2017 Welcome Party is divided into two parts. The first part is the seminar where freshmen get to understand the notice of scholarships fast; the second part is the welcome party where Tooly Burocher sang two Taiwanese songs (No Sleep and Fool) and shared his stay in Taiwan. Last, a tea party was scheduled to treat ambassadors, guests, and students with Taiwanese snacks and facilitate interaction in a relaxed atmosphere, while celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in advance.