The Role of English in Language Maintenance in Taiwan: a Threat or an Opportunity?

Abstract

This study explores localized language education—Daighi—in the plurilingual context of Taiwan focusing on the potential role that English might play in Daighi education, through a pluriliteracies lens. Research suggests that English is perceived as a threat to local languages like Daighi (Hong, 2002; Yang, 2020). However, this study proposes rethinking English as a resource that not only helps the maintenance of Daighi but also provides a potential opportunity to develop literacies across both languages. Twenty primary school Daighi teachers were interviewed with classroom observations as supplementary data. The research questions explore the role of English in Daighi classrooms: how it is perceived by Daighi teachers and used in practice. The findings indicate that English is seen as an important language that links to internationalization; in terms of English use in practice, it was observed that Daighi teachers draw on English as a resource to communicate, teach grammar, spelling, and pronunciation. English can therefore be (re)conceptualized as an important resource in Daighi learning and teaching. This calls for further research to explore the potential that a pluriliteracies approach may bring in order to benefit both languages and bridge threatened language learning and teaching through English, specifically in a plurilingual community such as Taiwan.