Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a bicultural skill-based literacy intervention program on indigenous children’s development of phonetic symbols and their identity with Rukai culture. Using a mixed-methods approach with classroom observations， documents analyses， and interviews， the researcher of the study as well as a Han preservice teacher developed and implemented a 22-hour program. A total of 14 indigenous children attending a kindergarten in eastern part of Taiwan were invited to participate in the program， and 11 classmates of the participating children were also recruited to be the control group. The results indicated that the children who joined this program outperformed on sounding out and recognizing phonetic symbols than those in the control group. Furthermore， some cultural discrepancies were observed and perceived when the preservice teacher was teaching the indigenous children. These perceptions might have stemmed from the teacher’s limited knowledge of Rukai culture， the children’s limited knowledge of Chinese vocabulary relating to their own culture， the cultural differences between the teacher and the children， and the differences in learning styles between indigenous children and mainstream children.