Taipei City Council forms Taiwanese Language Revitalization Caucus

台北市議會成立台語復振連線

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei city councilors on Wednesday formed a cross-party Taiwanese Language Revitalization Caucus and held a joint press conference with the Taiwanese Language Policy Promotion Alliance, calling on the government and civil society to work together to create a Taiwanese-friendly environment and encourage people to speak Taiwanese.

Taipei City Councilor Ho Meng-hua (何孟樺) said 17 councilors from across party lines supported the initiative, per CNA. Although she grew up in central and southern Taiwan, she said she did not have the opportunity to learn Taiwanese as a child.

She said this reflected the KMT government’s past promotion of Mandarin, which hindered the transmission of Taiwanese and its culture, leaving many young people unable to speak it. She added that, in the past, learning the language largely depended on parents or grandparents, underscoring the need for a more supportive environment.

Ho said the caucus aims to bring together government and civil groups to build a Taiwanese-friendly city, promoting its use not only in families and schools but also in everyday life. She added that the effort also seeks to incorporate Taiwanese into the city’s tourism culture.

The alliance put forward three proposals, including actively enhancing the legal status of Taiwanese under the Development of National Languages Act and establishing a bureau-level Taiwanese Language Revitalization Committee. It also called for promoting Taiwanese-language schools that use Taiwanese as the medium of instruction.

Alliance convener Hsu Hui-ying (許慧盈) said statistics show that in 2020, 66.4% of people primarily used Mandarin, while 31.7% used Taiwanese as their main language, CNA reported. However, 54.3% reported using Taiwanese as a secondary language, indicating that many people have some ability in the language but lack an environment in which to use it.

Hsu said revitalization depends on creating real contexts for use and urged the Taipei City Government to establish a cross-departmental unit to advance language policy.

Taiwan Taigi Loo Association Chair Tang Lek-hian (董力玄) said Taiwanese was the lingua franca about 80 years ago, but is now in gradual decline, according to CNA. Citing the Development of National Languages Act, which allows schools to use national languages as media of instruction, she said local governments should begin with classroom use before expanding to full Taiwanese-language education.

Tang said this would allow teachers to naturally incorporate Taiwanese into daily teaching, gradually building students’ language intuition. She added that this would help return the mother tongue to everyday life.