Discourse Analysis of Taiwanese Indigenous Organizations and Government Legislators Negotiating Indigenous Students' Affirmative Action Policy

• In Event: The Power and Possibilities for the Indigenous Good: Collaborative Indigenous Initiatives in Education

Abstract

Indigenous students are marginalized in Taiwan’s education system. Although affirmative action policies were introduced in 1987 to support them, recently there are calls to eliminate affirmative action. Indigenous organizations are currently negotiating with legislators for Indigenous students’ rights. Using critical discourse analysis, this paper investigated how Indigenous organizations negotiated with legislators in public hearings meetings by analyzing open access public meeting transcripts. Results show Indigenous organizations using discourse of equivalence to stress equal support for Indigenous students. Meanwhile, mainstream legislators aim to divert focus away from Indigenous students and repeal Indigenous student support. This paper significantly pinpointed legislators’ discourse tactics undermining Indigenous students so future Indigenous organizations, during legislative meetings, may further dismantle these discursive methods that limit Indigenous students.

Author

• Yann-Ru Ho, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University