The Foundation of Intercultural Communication: The Practice and Challenges of Bilingual Education in Taiwan

Abstract

The language proficiency fostered by the promotion of Bilingual education is often considered as the foundation of intercultural communication. In the White Paper on International Education in Primary and Junior High Schools 2.0, the bilingual curriculum is part of the structure of international education in Taiwan because language is essential for intercultural communication. However, the argument of this paper is on whether bilingual education is a pushing force to advance intercultural communication relying on the developmental stage that bilingual education is in. This paper starts by mapping out the context of bilingual education and the challenges it faces in the Taiwanese school system. Then, the gap between current bilingual education and intercultural competence is explicated. At the end of this paper, it is suggested that bilingual education has to be rooted in the Taiwanese school system well first to cultivate intercultural communication capacity so that it could be the foundation of intercultural competence.