In this collaborative autoethnography, we examined how language is weaponized in ideological warfare in Taiwan’s bilingual education policy, a nation aspiring to become bilingual English-Mandarin Chinese by 2030. In particular, we explored how in the rollout of Taiwan’s Bilingual 2030 Policy, neoliberalist discourse has been weaponized to mobilize public support for or against the policy and how two local teachers navigated and resisted the neoliberal “educational reform.” Data were collected through a sequential approach that enabled two Taiwan- based practitioners and two US-based researchers to explore voices, experiences, and memories most salient to this bilingual policy and analyzed through thematic analysis. With a focus on how local practitioners engaged students in challenging neoliberalist ideologies through civic engagement and activism, we argue that participants’ understanding and critical engagement with neoliberal language ideologies illustrated the need to explicitly address these dynamics within Taiwan’s bilingual education reform. Furthermore, these findings demonstrated teachers’ and students’ agency and creativity toward language and its use in complex and dynamic global contexts. We also discuss the intended and unintended harmful consequences of the policy for various stakeholders.
- Flipping the script: A collaborative autoethnography of agency and voices in the weaponization of bilingual education in Taiwan
- Ming-Hsuan WuChing-Ching LinMing-Yao HsiungPo-Hui Min
- Kisha C Bryan (Editor)Luis Javier Pentón Herrera (Editor)
- The Weaponizing of Language in the Classroom and Beyond, pp.35-62
- De Gruyter; Berlin, Boston
- 28
- Adelphi's Celebration of Scholarly Research & Creative Works; Adelphi's Celebration of Scholarly Research & Creative Works 2024; Adelphi University; Office of the Provost; Ruth S. Ammon College of Education and Health Sciences; Ruth S. Ammon School of Education
- English
- Book chapter
- Adelphi's Celebration of Scholarly Research & Creative Works 2024
- https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110799521-003
- 991004372797106266