wfn.org | Taiwan's Presbyterians Train Mother Tongue Teachers

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Taiwan Church News 2738, 16-22 August 2004
Reported by Yang Shu-hao.  Translated and Rewritten by David Alexander

Basic level classes for teachers of Romanized Taiwanese organized by the
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) held a joint meeting in Taichung City on
August 14th. Participants came from Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung cities.
Certificates were awarded to 23 graduates of the basic and intermediate level
programmes
The Rev. Yasala Hola, who represented the church's General Assembly, said
that
the Romanized Taiwanese system used in the PCT is a gift to the society at
large. It aids in correct pronunciation of Taiwanese. He hopes that many
young
people will learn it and profit from what they obtain.
The PCT's multi-ethnic Mother Tongue promotion committee recognizes that
there
are 13 or more different languages used in its congregations every Sunday.
Committee member Guo Yann-bor said, "Mother tongue education is based in the
hope that the linguistic cultures of all ethnic groups can be revived. The
seed of this education is teacher training. We hope these 'seed teachers' can
train many students so that mother tongues become a part of everyday life and
speech."
Chiang Wei-wen, associate professor in the graduate school of Taiwanese
Cultural studies at National Cheng-kung University in Tainan City, addressed
the gathering on the topic of understanding the importance of Romanized
Taiwanese by comparing it with the writing system used in Vietnam.  He said
that 100 years ago Vietnam used Chinese ideographs as a writing system, but
now uses a Romanized system exclusively.  The French imperial authorities in
Vietnam a century ago determined that a Romanized system led to easier
literacy training.  Professor Chiang said that though the Taiwanese system of
Romanization was common here a century ago literacy in Chinese ideographs has
eclipsed its use. He hopes that effort put behind the promotion of
Romanization will lead to the development of a true and unique Taiwanese
language.

For more information: Yasala Hola  yasala@mail.pct.org.tw

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