Being a multicultural country is a goal enshrined in the Constitution. This implies the importance of promoting diversity, whether in the areas of legislation, administration, or justice. As individual differences in cultural backgrounds form different values, affirming diversity in the Constitution can be regarded as valuing multicultural values. The Constitution of our country was founded on liberalism; therefore, it values multicultural perspectives. As the supreme document over the land, it impacts all national power, including the textbook review and approval system. To clarify the prescribing functions of multicultural values in the Constitution, this paper employs literature review as it explores the implications of being a multicultural country as set forth in the Constitution. Based on such a view, it also examines the legitimacy of the national textbook review and approval system and analyzes the multicultural values in textbook editing and review. It concludes that the textbook review and approval system has legitimacy in the Constitution, but it needs to be modified as society develops. It should also allow editors to develop their discourse to enable the existence of different versions. Additionally, textbook editors should respect multiculturalism to ensure the diversity of learning content.

　　This article records how the editorial board for the “New Taiwan Image” used “communicative reflexivity”, “autonomous reflexivity”, and “meta reflexivity” in the curriculum design and development process. We extracted the wisdom behind the resource integration and curriculum design and development from this self-designed teaching materials project. Finally, this research extracted seven items of practical wisdom, including four related to resource integration and three dealing with curriculum design and development.

　　This paper aims to explore what and how “Taiwan Images” are represented in secondary school Chinese history and geography textbooks published by the People’s Education Publishing House. Texts and figures in textbooks were scrutinized based on a conceptual framework. The results show that Taiwan Images are represented under the framework of Chinese nationalism and patriotism. The strategies employed to construct this “Taiwan Image” can be summarized into four: (1) textbook structure is arranged so that content related to Taiwan is incorporated into Chinese history and geography; (2) Taiwan is included in all Chinese maps and zoomed in in illustrations containing Taiwan to emphasize the idea that “Taiwan is part of China” visually; (3) certain parts of Taiwan history are selected; and (4) emotional links between Taiwan and China are emphasized. As the results show, Taiwan’s unique temporal and spatial development is ignored and denied. The history and geography of Taiwan introduced to Chinese textbooks is fragmentary and could cause wrong and negative perceptions among Chinese students. A non-real image of Taiwan has been gradually constructed. In order to produce a more appropriate understanding of Taiwan, it is necessary to develop a set of textbooks that incorporate Taiwan consciousness and multiple views for international students.

　　English textbooks play an important role in English learning. Textbook readability and student reading comprehension are often strongly correlated. However, few studies have investigated the readability of textbooks used in junior and senior high schools in Taiwan. Thus, this study employed the Lexile Analyzer, a widely-used readability tool, to investigate the readability of six different sets of textbooks commonly used in junior and senior high schools. The readability scales of different sets of textbooks were analyzed and compared. In addition, the results were compared to American textbooks. The main findings of this study are: (1) the readability scales of different sets of textbooks, and even those within the same volume, often vary greatly, leading to significant readability gaps between volumes. (2) The significant readability gaps were found between volumes 1 and 2 as well as 2 and 3 in junior high school textbooks and between volumes 2 and 3 as well as 5 and 6 in senior high school textbooks. (3) The decisions concerned with using different sets of textbooks in junior and senior high schools might lead to reading difficulties. (4) The level of reading difficulty in some textbooks does not increase with grade levels.

　　The curriculum guidelines of the Twelve-year Basic Education, a new educational reform in Taiwan, will be released in December, 2016. The new curriculum will start at elementary and high schools in August, 2018. Textbook publishers have about two years for textbook writing and review. Based on the major innovations in the curriculum, and informed by the mainstream practices in English teaching at all levels of schools in Taiwan, this study proposes eight important issues to be considered in textbook writing: (1) a progressive and integrative framework for textbook writing; (2) integration of different curriculum ideologies; (3) introduction of learning strategies and autonomous learning; (4) development of thinking skills; (5) promotion of reading strategies and extensive reading; (6) clear roles assigned to phonics and phonetic symbols; (7) contextualization of grammar instruction, as well as distinction between “structure for production” and “structure for recognition”; and (8) flexible materials for differentiated instruction. Each issue is discussed in the context of English teaching and learning in Taiwan. Some suggestions for textbook writing are also made. It is hoped that these suggestions would help depict an ideal and feasible outlook of English textbooks for the Twelve-year Basic Education.