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CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW
This section addresses five issues. First, research on the relationship between language learning attitude and learning achievement is examined. Second, reports on immigrant children’s language learning condition in the USA are inspected. Third, the academic learning achievement of NIC is explored, including their achievement in English. Fourth, studies on NIC’s learning attitude are looked into, including their learning attitude toward English. Fifth, the purpose of this study is restated.
Language Learning Attitude and Learning Achievement In this section, the definitions of language learning attitude and language learning achievement are presented. The relationship between language learning attitude and language learning achievement is also addressed.
Language Learning Attitude
According to Brown (2007), language learning attitudes refer to a set of personal feelings, opinions, or biases about learning languages. It is an affectively related variable concerning language learning. Brown (2007) also concludes that negative attitudes can affect success in learning a language.
Language Learning Achievement
According to Harmer (2007), language learning achievement refers to how
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successful the language learner can master the target language. It is usually evaluated by an achievement test, a test taken at the end of a course of study to see how well students have learned what they have been studying.
Relationship between Language Learning Attitude and Language Learning Achievement
Language learning attitude has a relationship with learning achievement.
According to Masgoret and Gardner’s meta-analysis (2003), attitudes toward the learning situation are related to achievement in the second language. Positive attitudes seem to be related to better performance. Huguet (2006) stated that language learning will rarely occur if students do not show positive attitudes toward the language in question. He also points out that attitudes and achievement may be both the cause and effect of each other. Gardner, as cited by Cochran, McCallum and Bell (2010),
proposed that attitudes and perceptions toward foreign language learning presumably contribute to success in learning that language. Brown (2007) also believed that language learners benefit from positive attitude, while negative attitudes may affect success in learning the target language.
Based on the aforementioned literatures, English learning attitudes generally have a positive connection with English learning achievement. English learners’
positive attitudes may contribute to better achievement in their learning outcomes.
Immigrant Students’ Language Learning Condition in the USA According to Onchwari, Onchwari, and Keengwe (2008), immigrant children
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are the fastest growing segment in the USA child population, yet they are an under-researched group. While immigrant children in Taiwan learn English as a foreign language (EFL), immigrant children in the USA learn English as a second language (ESL). Although the learning situation is not exactly the same, the condition of immigrant children in the USA learning a second language, which is English in their case, deserves review.
Immigrant Students’ English Learning Condition
Concerning immigrant students’ English learning condition in the USA, Mendieta (2006) indicated that because of the special political and social situation in the USA, the classroom might be a hostile environment for immigrant and minority students because of a “nation-wide anti-immigrant movement”. This hostile
environment magnified the academic challenges immigrant students faced. Bajaj (2009) stated that immigrant families today receive less support than ever to learn English. Olsen (2000) also expressed a pessimistic view about immigrant students’
English learning condition. He described that language minority children experience
“language shock” when trying to learn a new language in a new country. These
children need to learn English in order to survive in an English-speaking society. They want to learn English, but find that there are limits to the opportunities to learn and practice English in the general school settings. They start out with hope and
determination to learn a second language. However, they encounter discouragement as they learn English. Their lack of English language fluency often leads them to fall further and further behind academically. While most immigrant students continue to
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struggle to learn English, many of them give up eventually. These aforementioned phenomena, fortunately, do not manifest too obviously in NIC’s English learning condition in Taiwan since English is a foreign language here and does not have a direct impact on learners’ survival, while English is a second language for immigrant students in the USA and directly influences immigrant students’ life.
Immigrant Students’ English Proficiency and General Academic Achievement Bajaj (2009) proposed that students’ lack of English skills may mask their true cognitive abilities. Limited English proficient students’ frequently poor performance on standardized tests often does not accurately reflect their academic achievement.
Carhill, Suarez-Orozco, and Paez (2008) indicated that low levels of academic English proficiency can be an obstacle to academic success. They also suggested that English proficiency is the biggest predictor of the academic achievement of
immigrant students. Hao and Bonstead-Bruns (1998) studied the academic
achievement of eighth graders from four immigrant groups and three native groups and found that immigrant Chinese students scored higher in math and GPA than other immigrant or native groups, while immigrant Latino/Mexican students scored the lowest in all academic areas. This finding may be owing to the fact that Chinese immigrant students’ parents are more likely to have advanced education and have a higher socio-economic status, while Latin American immigrant students’ parents mostly have less than a ninth grade education and have a lower socio-economic status (Bajaj, 2009). The result is also consistent with Carhill, Suarez-Orozco, and Paez’s report in 2008 which stated that the average English language proficiency score of
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Chinese immigrant students was highest, whereas Spanish-speaking immigrant students showed the lowest mean English language proficiency score. Hao and Bonstead-Bruns also concluded that immigrant students who have greater proficiency in English have higher reading scores.
Academic Achievement of NIC
Since more and more NIC now enroll in elementary schools in Taiwan, there are an increasing number of studies on NIC’s academic achievement in elementary schools, including studies on NIC’s general achievement and studies focusing on specific subjects, such as language courses.
NIC’s General Academic Achievement
Studies on NIC’s general academic achievement yields different results. Some reports contended that NIC do as well as TC in various learning areas. For instance, Cheng (2004) compared fifty NIC’s performance on intelligence, language ability and academic achievement against fifty TC in Kaohsiung City and reported that there was no difference found between NIC and TC in intelligence, language ability and in learning achievement of most subjects except in the area of Integrative Activities, which NIC didn’t perform as well as TC. Chen (2004) used questionnaires to find out whether NIC had special problems in their learning at school in Penghu County and concluded that NIC performed as well as TC in their academic achievement. Hsiao (2005) adopted questionnaires to investigate fifty-eight NIC’s and fifty-eight TC’s academic performances in Taichung County and discovered that in all areas except in
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Life Curriculum, NIC’s performances were not different from their Taiwanese peers.
Interestingly, NIC even outperformed TC in the area of Life Curriculum. Hsieh (2007) used Test of Second Grade Math and questionnaires to measure NIC’s mathematics performance against TC in Yunlin County and found out that there were no significant differences in the mathematics performance between NIC and TC.
On the other hand, other reports contended that NIC did not do as well as TC in various learning areas. Lin (2003) used questionnaires for teachers to study NIC’s academic performance as a whole and found that NIC were indeed at a disadvantage in the overall learning in elementary schools. Ko (2004) conducted a comparative study about academic achievement of NIC in Keelung County using final-exam scores and questionnaires and concluded that the academic achievement of TC were better than NIC, especially in the area of Mathematics. Tsai (2005) used Academic Achievement Test to compare 218 NIC’s and 218 TC’s academic performance and concluded that NIC’s academic achievements were poor compared to TC’s. Wang et al. (2006) conducted a comprehensive survey on NIC’s academic achievement. NIC in 3,025 elementary schools and junior high schools were asked to fill out a ‘Taiwan NIC Compulsory Education Academic Achievement Questionnaire’. It was
discovered that the Area of Mathematics caused NIC most difficulties for them to learn. Liberty Times (2010, June 9) reported that due to their limited language ability, NIC faced most difficulties in the Area of Mathematics.
NIC’s Academic Achievement in the Area of Language Art
Language Art Area is emphasized in mandatory education in Taiwan. According
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to a news article published by the Liberty Times (2010, June 9), NIC’s performance in Language Art Area was an indicator of their performance in other learning areas. It was therefore important to inspect NIC’s academic achievement in the Language Art Area.
NIC’s Achievement in Language Courses
Almost all of the studies regarding NIC’s language achievement focused on investigating NIC’s achievement in Mandarin (Liu, 2002; Chen, 2004; Hsang, 2003;
Chen, 2004; Huang, 2005; Yeh, 2005; Lee, 2006). The results were inconclusive.
Some reports contended that NIC did as well as TC in the Language Arts Area. Chen (2004) contended that NIC were not different from TC in Mandarin ability. Hsang (2003) conducted a qualitative study using interviews and classroom observations to investigate NIC’s academic performance in Tainan County and observed that NIC performed as well as their peers in learning Mandarin phonetic symbols and Chinese language.
However, other reports contended that NIC did not do as well as TC in the Language Arts Area. Liu (2002) adopted semi-structured interviews to investigate NIC’s academic achievement and behavioral development and found that NIC commonly displayed delay in their language development. Lu (2004) used in-depth interviews and non-obtrusive observation to investigate NIC’s adaptation in schools and concluded that NIC’s disadvantage in the Mandarin Area caused them to achieve lower in other academic areas. Lee (2006) used questionnaires and average grades of Mandarin to study NIC’s and TC’s academic achievement in the Language Arts area
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in Hsinchu City and concluded that NIC’s achievement was statistically significantly lower than TC’s. To sum up, the results of NIC’s academic achievement in the language course were inconsistent.
NIC’s Achievement in English
A few reports regarding NIC’s academic achievement focused on the English subject. Kao (2005) conducted an investigation to study English literacy proficiency of the Han students, the indigenous students and the New Immigrant Children in Pingtung County. A written English literacy test was administered to find out the disparity among these three groups. It was found that almost all NIC were
low-achievers in English literacy proficiency. Liao (2007) investigated the English reading and writing proficiency of Southeast Asian immigrant’s children in urban and rural areas in Taichung County. The English reading and writing proficiency exam was used to identify students’ English learning achievement in four schools in urban or rural areas. It was found that English reading and writing achievement of NIC in the urban schools were better than that of students in the rural areas. Yang (2009) studied the correlation of family factors to New Immigrant Children’s English learning attitude and English learning achievement at an elementary school in Taoyuan County. English Total Score was used to compare NIC’s English achievement against TC’s English achievement. Most NIC were found to be low-achievers in the English subject.
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Learning Attitude of NIC
Besides academic achievement, some studies concerning NIC looked into their learning attitude. Brown (2007) contended that language learners benefit from
positive attitude. To date, most reports studied Taiwanese students’ general learning attitude. Only a few reports specifically explored NIC’s learning attitude. The results were generally positive.
NIC’s Learning Attitude toward General Learning Areas
Most studies regarding NIC’s learning attitude toward general learning areas concluded that NIC generally showed positive attitude toward school learning. Chien (2004) studied NIC’s learning attitude in Penghu County with questionnaires and concluded that in general, NIC’s attitude toward learning was fine. Huang (2005) used questionnaires to inspect NIC’s learning attitude in Hsinchu City and concluded that NIC’s overall attitude toward learning was better than moderate. She also indicated that there were significant correlations between NIC’s learning attitude and academic achievement. Yeh (2005) used questionnaires to study relationships among NIC’s home literacy environment, academic achievement and learning attitude in Taipei County and found that NIC’s learning attitudes were generally positive. She also reported that the academic achievement and learning attitude of NIC are slightly positively related.
NIC’s Learning Attitude toward English
Up until recently, only one study specially looked into NIC’s English learning
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attitude in Taiwan. In Yang’s research (2009), a three-point Likart-type English Learning Attitude Scale was administered to twenty-six NIC to measure their attitude toward learning English. It was found that most NIC expressed positive attitude toward English learning. They also expressed anxiety toward the English subject.
Purpose of This Study
In Taiwan, studies on NIC’s academic performances mostly focused on their general academic achievement with some looking into their achievement in language courses. The results of these studies were inconsistent. A few reports investigated the relationship between NIC’s learning attitude and their academic achievement.
Previous studies upon NIC’s English learning achievement were rare and only one report, as far as I was concerned, looked into NIC’s English learning attitude (Yang, 2009). So, NIC’s English learning was still an under-researched area. To date, no research had been conducted upon the challenges NIC face when learning the English language in Taiwan. No research had been conducted upon the relationship among NIC’s English achievement, learning attitude, and learning challenges. To bridge this gap, this study intends to find out NIC’s English learning achievement and attitude and their relationship. It also reviews NIC’s perspectives about the challenges they face while learning English at school. Also, to date, no research had been conducted upon teachers’ perspectives about NIC’s learning condition in any school subjects.
This study intends to explore English teachers’ perspectives about NIC’s English learning condition as well.
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