The Academic Aural/oral Difficulties Taiwanese ESL Students Experience on the US Campus and Their Coping Strategies to Improve Related Proficiency

台灣留學生的學術英語聽講困難與因應策略初探

10.29688/MHJ.201102.0012

何延光(Yen-Kuang Ho)

學術聽講技能 ； 基礎人際溝通技能 ； 學術語言成就 ； 學習策略 ； Academic aural/oral skills ； basic interpersonal communicative skills BICS ； cognitive/academic language proficiency CALP ； learning strategies

明新學報

37卷1期（2011 / 02 / 01）

149 - 164

英文

此質性研究從語言輸入／互動／輸出假設以及語言習得的社會文化理論的角度出發，探討台灣留學生在美國校園裡學術英語聽講的困難和因應的策略。研究問題有三：1)台灣學生在美國校園裡參與課堂討論時所面臨的挑戰為何？2)他們如何利用全英語的環境來提升學術英語聽講能力？3)在此全英語的環境下有無獲得溝通機會的困難從存在？四位來自不同學院的台灣學生接受半結構式訪談，他們在美國居留的時間由半年至三年以上不等。訪談內容經錄音並謄寫為逐字稿以便內容分析，逐字稿並交由受訪者核對以提高效度。資料歸納為影響學術英語聽講表現的四個向面：個人特質、環境功效、困難形態、策略運用。資料分析結果顯示台灣留學生的學術英語聽講困難在於字彙運用能力與基礎聽講能力不足、欠缺美國當今社會文化的背景知識、怯於參與臨場討論。因應的策咯包括善用日常生活資源增進基礎能力，積極尋求社會參與，以及充分為課堂做準備。

This qualitative study examines the academic aural/oral difficulties Taiwanese ESL students experience on the US campus and the coping strategies they use in improving related proficiency. They are discussed within a framework of input/interaction/output theory, socio-cultural theory, and from perspectives of affective factors in second language acquisition. The research questions include: What challenges does participation in classroom discussion present? How do students exploit the all English environment to gain the sought-after proficiency? What problems are there in acquiring communication opportunities in the environment? Participants in this study were four Taiwanese graduate students majoring in special education, business, linguistics, and electronics engineering at the University of Kansas. Their stays on campus vary from four months to more than three years. Data are collected through semi-structured interviews, which are recorded and transcribed for analysis that results in four dimensions: Personal attributes, environmental impacts, difficulty types, and strategy repertoire. There are further subcategorized into: background effects, motivation & attitude effects, environmental advantages, impeding situations, linguistic deficiency, content & cultural barriers, strategies to overcome difficulties, and strategies to gain communication opportunities. The main difficulties Taiwanese ESL students experience include insufficient vocabulary and basic listening/speaking skills, lack of background knowledge about the current American society, and being shy from risk-taking in spontaneous discussions. The strategies to cope with such difficulties contain making the most of the environment to improve basic competence, taking an active role in social participation, and engaging in adequate preparation for class meetings.

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