Taiwanese English-as-a-Second-Language learners' experiences of individualized online learning from United States partners /
This study investigated a telecommunications project for Taiwanese students to learn the English language and American culture through online technologies. Three purposes of this study were first, to understand the Taiwanese English as a Second Language (ESL) learners' perceptions of learning t...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
2000.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=727843091&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | This study investigated a telecommunications project for Taiwanese students to learn the English language and American culture through online technologies. Three purposes of this study were first, to understand the Taiwanese English as a Second Language (ESL) learners' perceptions of learning through distance technologies; second, to identify the learning strategies they employed during online learning; and third, to explore cultural phenomena related to online intercultural communications. Participants in the study included 40 U.S. preservice teachers (PSTs) at Texas A&M University, 40 Taiwanese students who were studying in the Department of English Language at Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taipei, Taiwan, and three Taiwanese professors who were monitoring the Taiwanese students. I, the researcher, acted as a participant observer. The Taiwanese students were matched one-on-one with the U.S. PSTs to practice online learning for ten weeks. The e-mail correspondence, the Web-board responses, the PSTs' and Taiwanese students' pre-connection surveys, the PSTs' midterm surveys, the PSTs' and Taiwanese students' post-connection surveys, the PSTs' reflective journals, the Taiwanese students' final reports, and the Taiwanese students' and Taiwanese professors interview transcripts were the sources of data. The data collection and analyses were simultaneous throughout the research following the naturalistic paradigm. The three findings were: (a) Taiwanese learners' perceptions of language acquisition and cultural understanding via telecommunications; (b) online learning stages, outcomes, strategies, and influential elements ; and (c) cultural issues and phenomena of intercultural communication. Furthermore, the participants recommended improvements on future connections. Findings showed that the Taiwanese participants were positive about online ESL acquisition and cultural learning both before and after the connection. They went through several stages of learning and employed ten learning strategies to achieve online learning. They preferred the one-on-one e-mail exchange to the Web-board environment. Future coordinators are recommended to acquaint their learners with online learning strategies and intercultural communication skills in pre-connection training sessions in order to accomplish learning and to eliminate misunderstandings between participants of two collaborating countries. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Curriculum and Instruction". |
| Physical Description: | xiv, 255 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-233). |