Article 1
Indigenous languages are national languages. To carry out historical justice, promote the preservation and development of indigenous languages, and secure indigenous language usage and heritage, this act is enacted according to the provisions of Article 10, Section 11 of the Amendment of the Constitution and Article 9, Section 3 of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law.
Article 2
The terms used in this Act are defined asfollows:
1."Indigenous languages" refers tolanguages traditionally used byindigenous ethnic groups as well asscripts and symbols used to record suchlanguages.
2."Indigenous scripts" refers to writingsystems used to record indigenouslanguages.
3."Indigenous language proficiency" refersto linguistic skills of indigenouslanguages including listening, speaking,reading, writing, translating.
4."Indigenous regionallanguages" (hereinafter referred to as"regional languages") refers to theindigenous languages used in indigenousregions.
Indigenous scripts or regional languagesspecified in preceding items shall beissued by the central competent authorityin consultation with indigenous ethnicgroups or tribes.
Article 3
The competent authority referred to inthis act shall be Council of IndigenousPeoples in the central authority, specialmunicipality government in specialmunicipality, county(city) government incounty(city).
Article 4
The chief minister of the central and local competent authority shall serve as the convener,who shall congregate scholars, experts, indigenous representatives,and representatives of relevant agencies, deliberate, consult and promote the policies of indigenous language development on a regular basis.
The indigenous representatives specified in the preceding item shall include at least one from each ethnic group in the central competent authority and at least one in local competent authority from the ethnic groups of the domiciliary indigenous population.The indigenous representatives shall not be less than two-thirds of the total number of representatives,and the single-gender ratio shall not be less than one-third.
Article 5
Governments of special municipality andcounty(city), indigenous regions andtownship (city, district) office of non-indigenous regions with more than 1500indigenous inhabitants shall arrangeplacement of full-time personnel in chargeof indigenous language promotion.
The qualification, training, placement,method of implementation, and otherrelated matters of the indigenous languagepromotional personnel specified in thepreceding item shall be determined by thecentral competent authority.
Article 6
The central competent authority shallassist all indigenous ethnic groups inestablishing organizations in charge ofethnic language promotions.
Article 7
The central competent authority shallstipulate policies for indigenous languagedevelopment and give priority to therevitalization of endangered languages.Endangered languages specified in thepreceding item are issued by the centralcompetent authority.
Article 8
The central and local competent authorityshall actively promote the use ofindigenous languages in families, tribes,workplaces, gatherings, and public spacesto create environments for the use ofindigenous languages.
Article 9
The central competent authority shallconsult all indigenous ethnic groups inthe development of new indigenous terms,compile dictionaries of indigenouslanguages, establish corpus of indigenouslanguages, and actively preserve the dataof indigenous languages.
Article 10
The central competent authority shallconduct surveys on proficiency and usageof indigenous languages and publish thefindings on a regular basis.
The competent education authority shallcoordinate with the central competentauthority in the survey of students’indigenous language proficiency andusage at all grade levels in schools.
Article 11
The central competent authority shalladminister certification of indigenouslanguage proficiency ; fees shall beexempted.
The method of certification specified inthe preceding item shall be otherwiseprovided by the central competentauthority.
Article 12
The government shall plan and promotepolicies for international exchange ofindigenous languages.
Article 13
When government agencies operateadministrative, legislative affairs andjudicial procedures, indigenous peoplesmay express their views in theirindigenous languages;all suchgovernment agencies shall employtranslators for interpretation.
The central competent authority shallestablish a database of indigenouslanguage professionals for governmentagencies at all levels to employ asneeded.
Article 14
Official documents of governmentagencies, schools and public enterprisesin indigenous regions shall be writtenin regional languages.
Article 15
Public transportation, stations andcompetent authority of relevant agenciesin indigenous regions shall increase thebroadcast of regional languages.
Public transportation, stations andcompetent authority of relevant agenciesin non-indigenous regions shall proceedwith the preceding item according to thecharacteristics and needs of localindigenous peoples.
Article 16
Government agencies, schools and publicenterprises in indigenous regions shallset up signs in regional languages.
All government authorities shall set upsigns with traditional names in regionallanguages for mountains and rivers,monuments, tribes, streets, and publicfacilities in indigenous regions.
The components, range and method ofplacement of the signs specified in thetwo preceding items shall be issued bythe central competent authority.
Article 17
The central competent authority shallpublish decrees related to indigenousaffairs in indigenous languages.
The decrees specified in the previousitem shall be issued by the centralcompetent authority in accordance withthe Freedom of Government InformationLaw.
Article 18
The central competent authority, centralcompetent education authority, centralcompetent health and welfare authority,and the competent authority of specialmunicipality and county(city) shallprovide the opportunity for indigenousinfants and children to study indigenouslanguages.
Article 19
Schools shall provide courses onindigenous language in accordance withthe provisions of the 12-year CompulsoryEducation Native Language Curriculum tomeet the needs of indigenous students,and encourage instruction in indigenouslanguages.
Article 20
The central competent educationauthority shall encourage allinstitutions of higher education to setup indigenous language courses andestablish relevant faculty, department,college, division, or degree program tofoster talents in indigenous languages.
Article 21
The competent authority of specialmunicipality and county(city) shalloffer classes for the public to studyindigenous languages.
Article 22
The central competent educationauthority shall train teachers ofindigenous languages, and assist thecompetent authority of specialmunicipality and county(city) to employindigenous language teachers. Theemployment shall be full-time inprinciple.
The qualification and employment methodof teachers of indigenous languagesspecified in the preceding item shall bedetermined by the central competenteducation authority in conjunction withthe central competent authority.
Article 23
Government-funded indigenous televisionand broadcast organizations shallproduce programs in indigenous languagesand language learning courses, andpublish publications in indigenouslanguage.
The use of indigenous languages inindigenous language programs and coursesspecified in the preceding item shallnot be less than fifty percent of thetotal number of hours of saidorganizations.
Article 24
The central and local competentauthority shall assist, reward andsubsidize films, televisions,advertisements, and broadcasts which useindigenous languages.
Article 25
Three years from the implementation ofthis act, indigenous peoples whoparticipate in the Special CivilService Examinations for IndigenousPeoples and the Examination ofGovernment Sponsorship for OverseasStudy shall obtain certification inindigenous language proficiency.
Civil servants of indigenous-dedicatedauthority (agencies or units) who havenot obtained indigenous languageproficiency certification shall studyindigenous language every year. Thenumber of hours of study shall bedetermined by the central competentauthority.
Article 26
When employing personnel, governmentagencies, public schools and publicenterprises shall prioritize those withindigenous language skills in accordancewith Indigenous Peoples EmploymentRights Protection Act.
Article 27
The central competent authority shalldesignate budgeting and accept donationsfrom private, legal persons or groupsto establish the Foundation for Researchand Development of IndigenousLanguages for the purpose ofadministering research and developmentin indigenous languages.
The establishment and relevant mattersof the foundation specified in thepreceding item shall be otherwiseprovided by law.
Article 28
The central competent authority shallsubsidize and reward preservation,development and research of indigenouslanguages.The object, criteria,application procedure and otherregulations for the requirements of thepreceding subsidy and reward shall bedetermined by the central competentauthority.
Article 29
The government shall designate budgetingever year for the advancement of allmeasures of indigenous languagedevelopment set forth in this act.
Article 30
This act shall become effective as ofthe day of promulgation.