Amid crowds and the rhythmic sounds of gongs and drums, a group of international students walked alongside devotees in one of Taiwan’s most iconic religious events—the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage. The Language Center of National University of Kaohsiung recently led a small group of 11 international students to Xingang, Chiayi. Through on-site participation and cultural instruction, the program extended language learning into authentic cultural contexts, creating an immersive learning experience that could not be reproduced inside a conventional classroom.

According to Language Center Director Jyh-wen Chern, the program focused on one of Taiwan’s most representative forms of religious culture and integrated language education with local field experience. By participating in the pilgrimage, students were able to understand how language is used in authentic social and cultural settings, while strengthening their cross-cultural communication skills. The program also demonstrated how a university can transform local history, belief, and community practices into meaningful educational resources.

Mandarin instructor Pei-yin Tsai explained that the course adopted a “culture-first, contextual participation” approach. Before entering the field, students learned key vocabulary, ritual meanings, and the cultural background of Taiwanese folk belief. This preparation enabled them to move beyond simply attending the event and begin understanding its cultural logic and symbolic meanings. Instructor Ching-miao Wang added that immersive learning encourages active questions and communication. Conversations with pilgrimage participants and observations of religious behavior offered forms of learning that are difficult to reproduce in a classroom and helped students understand Taiwanese society from a cultural perspective.

The field course incorporated multiple forms of cultural experience. Students first visited an incense culture park, where they participated in incense making, incense appreciation, and sachet crafting. These sensory activities helped them understand the symbolic and emotional role of incense in Taiwanese religious culture. In the afternoon, students entered the core pilgrimage area in Xingang and walked alongside devotees. They observed the rhythm of the moving procession and its collective rituals, and participated in traditional practices such as passing under the palanquin. Within the movement of the crowd and the rhythm of the ceremonies, students became more than observers—they became participants in the cultural setting.

Vietnamese student Nguyen Cui-ren shared:

During the event, Indonesian student Susan spoke with a devotee who explained that they had joined the pilgrimage to fulfill a promise made to Mazu. This cycle of “making a vow, fulfilling it, and expressing gratitude” helped students understand that Taiwanese folk religion is not merely a collection of abstract rituals. Instead, it is a form of practice deeply embedded in everyday life. Many students felt that entering the pilgrimage in person allowed them to understand the cultural meanings and social values carried by language more clearly than classroom study alone.

The Language Center emphasized that small-group learning improves the depth of learning and quality of on-site interaction. It allows students to engage more closely with cultural settings, strengthen their observation skills, and develop more meaningful interpretations of what they encounter. This program represents an important application of immersive cultural learning. The center continues to promote a culture-based Mandarin teaching strategy grounded in the idea that “culture is the teaching material, and the field is the classroom.” Following ecological field trips in Maolin and hands-on food culture workshops, the inclusion of religious culture further expands the center’s curriculum. These programs allow international students to deepen their language application and cross-cultural understanding through direct participation in Taiwanese society.