This study aims to examine the language education and literacy outcomes of Taiwanese under Taiwan's century-long language policy. Over the past century, Taiwan's language landscape has been shaped by two colonial language policies: the "National Language Education" during the Japanese colonial period (1895–1945), aimed at creating imperial citizens, and the "Speak Mandarin, Ban Dialects Movement" enforced by the Kuomintang government after taking control of Taiwan (1945–1987). Over time, Mandarin has become the "high language", symbolizing cultural capital and access to economic power. In 2001, under President Chen Shui-bian’s administration, ethnic languages were first incorporated into Taiwan's compulsory education system, with one weekly session of local language classes in primary schools, a policy that has continued for more than 20 years.

Taiwan is a multilingual and multicultural country, with the Minnan people—who consider Taiwanese as their mother tongue—comprising over 73% of the population. However, according to the 2020 Population and Housing Census, only 7.4% of children aged 6–14 still speak Taiwanese. This study conducted a digital literacy test on 1,864 schoolchildren (899 girls and 965 boys) aged 7–15, selected through stratified sampling across northern, central, southern, and eastern Taiwan. Despite the enactment of the Development of National Languages Act in 2019, the results show that Taiwanese literacy significantly lags behind Chinese and English. This paper underscores the necessity of transitional justice in Taiwan's language policy.

This study examines emerging research directions in the early history of Taiwan, focusing particularly on the 17th century and Dutch Formosa. Recent scholarship emphasizes inclusivity across heritage management, the built environment, and maritime studies in human geography, signaling a shift that has also attracted social and economic historians interested in the history of technology. The advancement of aqua-archaeology to digitally recover submerged vessels exemplifies this enriched understanding of the past. Another significant research trajectory explores cultural and linguistic shifts through the integration of textual research and digital humanities (DH) tools, leveraging big data to investigate intercultural encounters among diverse ethnic groups that inhabited, settled, or visited Taiwan over centuries. The enduring relevance of Dutch colonial memory within contemporary academic studies enhances our comprehension of early modern societies and aligns with broader global research trends. This presentation will demonstrate the use of primary sources, augmented by extensive online data, to interrogate data sources that inform large language models (LLMs) and assess their implications for updating processes, revealing both challenges and opportunities. Examples will include AI applications and intersectional approaches in analyzing Dutch colonial policies, generating new research questions and nuanced interpretations. This analysis reframes documents as “points of entry” for historical study, considering broader contexts to clarify historical motives and situate events within a global framework. Finally, this approach enables a systematic organization of findings—analogous to thesaurus entries—enhancing the researchability of transcribed texts and facilitating a reexamination of data in light of contemporary relationships.

This article investigates the role of translation for indigenous peoples and their cultures in and for Taiwan’s museums in a critical historical and political juncture. As Taiwan is re-discovering and re-narrating many forms and aspects of its memory, indigenous peoples and their cultures have featured increasingly prominently in this process.

While many studies have discussed museum exhibits of indigenous peoples, languages used for illustration such as plaques and labels remain an area rarely touched upon. The article reverses the perception of translation, implicit (often within illustration in Chinese) and explicit (into other languages, mainly English), as transparent, functional, optional, or for a small number of foreign tourists.

The article mainly uses two museums in Taipei as case studies: Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aubergines and Wulai Atayal Museum, with references to other museums such as Ketagalan Culture Centre and Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology. The study takes an overall qualitative approach as it is concerned with the in-depth description and analysis of text and text-related issues.

The article demonstrates that translation in museum should be considered for its performative capacity in creating and staging narratives. Albeit sometimes unintended, it can indicate relations between political, historical and cultural representations within the museum and beyond. These secondary narratives, currently unaware to the stakeholders, could have a fundamental role in a museum as an institution “for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing” (ICOM, 2022). The findings will also be of referential value to museums for commissioning and managing translation.

As Taiwan strengthens its position as a vital technological and cultural bridge in the Indo-Pacific region, the role of language professionals becomes increasingly crucial in facilitating cross-cultural communication and regional integration. This study examines the technological transformation of Taiwan's translation and interpretation services through a comprehensive survey of 115 Taiwanese translators and interpreters, focusing on their adoption of, attitudes toward, and productivity changes resulting from Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. The research is particularly significant given Taiwan's strategic position as a like-minded partner for democratic nations in the Indo-Pacific region and its role as an innovation hub. The survey findings reveal the extent to which AI tools are reshaping language services in Taiwan, contributing to the country's capacity for multilateral cooperation and cultural exchange across the Indo-Pacific. This technological adaptation among language professionals not only reflects Taiwan's broader commitment to digital innovation but also strengthens its position as a key facilitator of regional dialogue and cooperation. The study provides valuable insights into how AI-enhanced language services support Taiwan's engagement with partners across the Indo-Pacific region, particularly in the context of increasing economic integration, cultural exchange, and multilateral cooperation.

Warriors of the Rainbow* is a 2011 Taiwanese film portraying the history of the Seediq people, an Indigenous group in Taiwan who resisted Japanese colonial rule during the 1930s. The Japanese government identified six tribes as the primary aggressors, who were subsequently subjected to massacres and forced relocation. Modeled after Hollywood action films, *Warriors of the Rainbow* earned approximately 800 million New Taiwan Dollars, becoming the highest-grossing Taiwanese film in history.

This study involves interviews with Seediq individuals who are familiar with their culture and history. The findings reveal striking differences between the film’s portrayal of Seediq culture and how the Seediq themselves perceive it. Despite raising concerns during the production process, many tribal members found that their voices were ultimately ignored by the director, who chose not to alter the original plan.

This research seeks to examine settler representations of Indigeneity in Taiwanese cinema. It asks: What leads to these cultural discrepancies? What impact do these representations have on Taiwanese audiences, Indigenous communities, and especially on Seediq youth?