Creator

Cheng-Kan Chen

Advisor

Milian, Madeline

Committee Member

Phillips, D. Allen, 1942-

Committee Member

Walker, Dana

Committee Member

Romero, Deborah

Department

Educational Studies

Institution

University of Northern Colorado

Type of Resources

Text

Place of Publication

Greeley (Colo.)

Publisher

University of Northern Colorado

Date Created

8-1-2011

Genre

Thesis

Extent

312 pages

Digital Origin

Born digital

Description

The purpose of the study was to explore the language education program implemented for indigenous children in Taiwan at the elementary level. More specifically, this study aimed at gaining insights into the implementation of language curriculum through a qualitative case study of an indigenous elementary school in Taiwan. The researcher's intent was to explore the factors that influenced the implementation of the language education program with regard to curriculum design, instructional practices, language resources, and professional development and to gain the participants' perspectives on the language education program. Two administrators, eight language teachers, and six community members were selected as participants for interviews. Moreover, these eight language teachers' classrooms were observed. Data were collected through the sources of interviews, observations, field notes, and documents. The findings in relation to the research questions were divided into three chapters to report the overall implementation of each language area in the language education program, the influencing factors of the implementation of the language education program, and the participants' perspectives on the implementation of the language education program. A number of overarching themes synthesizing the findings were subsequently presented. The findings suggested that the language education program at the participating school was designed in accordance with the mandated curriculum guidelines. Teachers had the flexibility to deviate from the prescribed curriculum guidelines and to design their instructional goals based on students' needs and classroom schedules. Language resources, including the international youth volunteer, school signs with three languages (Chinese, English, and the Atayal language), English Express Wonderland, and Indigenous Language Wonderland, were conducive to the enhancement of multiple language learning. Teachers sought to improve their instructional strategies through weekly seminars, feedback from observation teachers, self-learning, and professional workshops. Moreover, this research reported the participants' views toward the language education program, the loss of indigenous language among children, indigenous language instruction, and their strategies in promoting indigenous language. Finally, recommendations were drawn from the research findings for elementary schools, language teachers, and policy makers. Recommendations for future research that may contribute to understanding the multi-language education for indigenous children were provided as well.

Notes

Full text released from 2-year embargo in August 2013.

Degree type

Ed.D.

Degree Name

Doctoral

Place

Taiwan

Language

English

Local Identifiers

Chen_unco_0161D_10102

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by author.

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