Deputy Minister Fan thanked the Yunlin County Education Department for standing at the forefront and actively engaging in preservation and promotion work for the Zhao’an dialect. The Teaching Resource Center spearheads the effort to steadily implement different language and cultural transmission measures. As resources gradually roll in, it is expected that the county government and schools establish a feedback and review mechanism and convene regular meetings to assess the effectiveness of teaching materials. This will enable the Resource Center to continuously optimize its contents and operation strategy, so this endangered dialect has the chance to shine again, develop sustainably, and continue to be passed down for generations to come.
In order to bring the Zhao’an dialect back to daily life in schools and communities, HAC subsidized the establishment of the Zhao’an Hakka Teaching Resource Center in Dongsing Elementary School in accordance with the Operating Guidelines for Subsidizing Hakka Language Promotion in School Daily Life. The goal is that more people learn the dialect and this precious cultural asset is passed down through course development, teacher capacity-building, cultural promotion, and resource integration.
The Zhao’an Hakka Teaching Resource Center currently focuses on development of teaching materials and innovative teaching methods to bring the Hakka language into school daily life, as to provide teaching resources for education and Hakka language promotion; regularly organize teacher training and capacity-building workshops to inspire teachers to create more innovative teaching models; hold Zhao’an Hakka cultural experience activities, deepening students understanding and respect for Hakka cuisine through participation in pickled radish preparation, Hakka ground tea making, and other experiences; and build a pool of Zhao’an Hakka talents, compile a Zhao’an Hakka distribution map, interview local elders, and other initiatives to preserve precious language materials through resource integration. HAC hopes to continue collaboration with local authorities to promote the preservation of the Zhao’an dialect and ensure that the Zhao’an Hakka culture lives on perpetually.