This paper aims to examine students’ English language learning as an aspect of social practice. The focus is on two groups of undergraduates who studied in the English Department at a university in Taiwan. The research is ethnographic, combining intensive interviews, observation, and systematic collection and analysis of documents and students’ assignments in English. The results reveal that English literacy learning was shaped by the institutional contexts, which include the course contents, the task requirements and the teaching approaches. These students seem to adopt a low-level or a high-level transmission model of learning, depending on the levels of their English language proficiency. Specifically, the process of individual students’ learning appears to be dynamic and ongoing culturally embedded in the educational settings in Taiwan. Consequently, the paper proposes that teachers of English as a foreign language should consider the use of an ecological approach to needs analysis and encourage students to take an ethnographic stance towards their language learning. This may assist teachers in designing appropriate curricula and, in the long run, improve the quality of student learning both inside and outside academic institutions.
목차
THE RATIONALE OF THE STUDY THE RESEARCH CONTEXTS THE RESEARCH FINDINGS CONCLUDING REMARKS THE AUTHOR REFERENCES
저자
Su-Jen Lai (Jane) [ Chang Gung University, Taiwan ]
The goals of Asia TEFL are to promote scholarship, disseminate information, and facilitate cross-cultural understanding among persons concerned with the teaching and learning of English in Asia. In order to accomplish this, Asia TEFL will pursue the following goals:
1. To link ELT professionals in joint research on issues and concerns regarding English teaching and learning in the Asian context.
2. To publish an academic journal, The Asia TEFL Journal, as an internationally recognized journal in the field of English language teaching.
3. To host conferences and seminars addressing important issues concerning ELT in Asia.
4. To develop proficiency guidelines and assessment methods designed for the needs of the Asian context.
5. To develop programs for Asian learners and teachers of English to build their English language proficiency and cultural understanding and provide them with the skills required to be efficient English teaching professionals.