Tung Wen-wen, a second-year master student of Dept. of Information and Library Science, got the subsidy from International Humanities Manpower Training Program, one of the sub-programs of MOE’s 2009 Humanities Education Medium-term Innovation Program, to do the research at San Francisco Bay Area on overseas Chinese teachers’ needs of writing teaching materials and library information, and the research results can be provided and applied in the future when creating new teaching materials.

With the help of Mr. Lin Wen-hsiung, the TKU alumnus of Dept. of Educational Media and Library Sciences and the Golden Eagle Award winner this year, Tung visited many principals and teachers of the Chinese schools as well as the committee members of different school districts of the Bay Area. Dung indicated that at the Bay Area, since the Chinese teaching materials do not meet the local teaching needs, most of the teachers will compose the materials by themselves. They will also teach in both simplified and traditional Chinese, giving students the ideas of the whole picture. Tung also pointed out that because there are not many Chinese publications overseas, she suggested people who edit overseas Chinese teaching materials in Taiwan can have more interaction with overseas Chinese teachers to understand the local needs. She also hoped Taiwan publishers can promote their books in overseas markets.

Tung expressed that through this project, she will present papers as the reference to overseas Chinese education for material-editing people in Taiwan. Employing her professional knowledge of information and library science, she wants to provide perfect teaching resources and environments to overseas Chinese teachers. “From this trip, I viewed the variety and diversity of overseas Chinese education. Moreover, overseas Chinese teachers’ enthusiasm makes me realize that Taiwan should give them more support and assistance,” Tung shared her thoughts after the tour.

Tung’s advisor Prof. Sung Sheue-fang also noted that, “This project made us know more about overseas Chinese education. In addition to using the knowledge of information and library science to assist schools managing their library information and collections, it is my hope to construct the path finder to offer overseas students abundant resources after class, so that they can cultivate their degree of Chinese culture and learning through their whole life.” ( ~Shu-chun Yen )