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Marlena L. Padgett, University of Houston, United StatesAbstract
In 2018, Taiwan launched its Bilingual 2030 policy with the goal of strengthening national English proficiency and enhancing global competitiveness. To support this initiative, foreign English teachers were recruited across public and private K–12 educational contexts. While these teachers play a central role in the daily implementation of bilingual education, their perspectives remain underrepresented in empirical research. This study draws on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with eight foreign English teachers who have been working in Taiwan since the policy’s introduction. Using a basic qualitative design informed by a phenomenological lens, the study explores how teachers perceive English education practices, institutional structures, and policy implementation, and how their lived experiences align with or diverge from the stated goals of Bilingual 2030. Thematic analysis revealed three recurring areas of tension: systemic gaps in policy and curriculum implementation, superficial hiring practices, and limited institutional support for culturally relevant teaching. Findings suggest that while bilingual reform has expanded English-rich environments, insufficient curricular guidance, inconsistent teacher preparation standards, and limited cross-cultural collaboration hinder meaningful implementation. The paper concludes by discussing implications for language policy design, teacher recruitment, and professional support structures in multilingual education contexts.
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Conference: ACE2025Stream: Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics (including ESL/TESL/TEFL)
This paper is part of the ACE2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Padgett M. (2026) Exploring English Education in Taiwan: Perspectives of Foreign English Teachers ISSN: 2186-5892 – The Asian Conference on Education 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 191-196) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-5892.2026.15
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-5892.2026.15
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