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CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS
This chapter reports the results of the statistic and qualitative data collected and analyzed in this study. The results consist of six sections. The first section reports the results for Research Question 1 - How well do NIC achieve on the English subject?
Are they generally high-achievers or low-achievers? Are there any differences between NIC’s English achievement and TC’s English achievement? The second section answers Research Question 2 - What is NIC’s attitude toward learning English?
Do NIC generally have a positive attitude or a negative attitude toward English learning at school? Are there any differences between NIC’s English learning attitude and TC’s English learning attitude? The third section reports the results for Research Question 3 - Is there a correlation between NIC’s English achievement and learning attitude? The fourth section shows the results of the interview for NIC to answer Research Question 4 - From the perspective of NIC, what kind of challenges these NIC face while they are learning English at school? The fifth section reports the results of the interview for English teachers to answer Research Question 5 - From the perspective of English teachers, what are these NIC’s English learning conditions in class? What challenges do these NIC have to face to learn English? Are there feasible ways to help these NIC? In the sixth section, a summary of all the findings in this study is presented.
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Participants’ English Performances: NIC’s vs. TC’s
This section reports the comparison of NIC’s and TC’s English Scores to examine whether or not NIC perform as well as TC on the English subject.
Participants’ English Scores
Table 4.5 shows the average English scores of all NIC and TC participants.
Table 4.1 English Average Scores of All NIC and TC Participants New Immigrant Children Taiwanese Children
5th Graders 6th Graders 5th Graders 6th Graders
*For the original English scores of all NIC and TC participants, please refer to Appendix F.
Table 4.1 shows that all NIC’s English mean score is 80.69, while all TC’s English mean score is 89.06. It appears that NIC perform not as well as TC on the English subject.
t-test Comparison of NIC’s and TC’s English Scores This section shows the comparison of participants’ English scores with independent t-test to see whether there are any differences between NIC’s English achievement and TC’s English achievement.
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Table 4.2 Independent t-test of Participants’ English Scores
Grade Participants
English Score
Levene’s test t-test
No. Mean SD
Table 4.2 shows that with independent t-test, fifth grade NIC’s English average score (Mean=79.79) is not significantly different from fifth grade TC’s English average score (Mean=88.39; t=-1.96, p=0.058). Sixth grade NIC’s English average score (Mean=82.30) is also not significantly different from sixth grade TC’s English average score (Mean=89.73; t=-1.82, p=0.078). As a whole, TC’s English average score (Mean=89.06) is significantly higher than NIC’s English average score
(Mean=80.69; t=-2.79, p=0.007), which means NIC are generally lower-achievers in the English subject compared to TC. Standard Deviation of NIC (SD=12.55) is larger than that of TC (SD=9.48), which indicates that NIC perform more divergent than TC.
Their English performances are not distributed as average as those of the TC’s. The finding that looking separately, fifth grade NIC’s English score is not different from that of fifth grade TC, and sixth grade NIC’s English score is not different from that of sixth grade TC is probably due to the fact that there are only nine fifth grade NIC
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participants and five sixth grade NIC participants. With so few participants, it is improper to make an evidently comparison with t-tests.
NIC’s English Learning Attitude: NIC’s vs. TC’s
In this section, on the basis of participants’ responses on the English Learning Attitude Scale, NIC’s English learning attitude is compared statistically with that of TC’s to find out whether NIC have a positive or negative attitude toward learning English. For the average score of each question responded by the participants, please refer to Appendix H. Table 4.3 to 4.10 present the results of the comparisons with independent t-tests. A brief summary is shown at the end of this section.
Table 4.3 t-test Comparison – Dimension 1: Students’ Attitude toward School English Course
Dimension 1: Students’ Attitude toward School English Course
Participants No. Mean SD Levene’s test t-test
F value p value t value p value NIC 14 2.75 0.70 0.976 0.327 -1.654 0.102 TC 60 2.38 0.77
*p<0.05
**df=72
Table 4.3 shows that in Dimension 1, in regard to students’ attitude toward school English course, NIC’s mean score (Mean=2.75) is higher than that of TC’s
(Mean=2.38), thus indicating that NIC may have a more positive attitude toward school English course than TC.
With t-test comparison, no significant difference between NIC’s and TC’s attitude
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toward school English course (t=-1.624, p=0.102) is found. This indicates that although NIC’s score is higher than TC’s, statistically, there is no difference between their attitudes toward school English course.
Table 4.4 t-test Comparison – Dimension 2: Students’ Attitude toward Learning English Autonomously
Dimension 2: Students’ Attitude toward Learning English Autonomously Participants No. Mean SD Levene’s test t-test
F value p value t value p value NIC 14 2.80 0.54 2.564 0.114 -0.467 0.642 TC 60 2.70 0.73
*p<0.05
**df=72
Table 4.4 shows that in Dimension 2, concerning students’ attitude toward learning English autonomously, NIC’s mean score (Mean=2.80) is higher than that of TC’s (Mean=2.70), thus signifying that NIC may have a more positive attitude toward learning English autonomously than TC.
With t-test comparison, no significant difference between NIC’s and TC’s attitude toward learning English autonomously (t=-0.467, p=0.642) is found. This signifies that although NIC’s score is higher than TC’s, statistically, there is no difference between their attitudes toward learning English autonomously.
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Table 4.5 t-test Comparison – Dimension 3: Students’ Attitude toward Doing English Homework
Dimension 3: Students’ Attitude toward Doing English Homework
Participants No. Mean SD Levene’s test t-test
Table 4.5 shows that in Dimension 3, pertaining to students’ attitude toward doing English homework, NIC’s mean score (Mean=2.75) is exactly equal to that of TC’s (Mean=2.75), denoting that NIC and TC have similar attitude toward doing English homework.
With t-test comparison, no significant difference between NIC’s and TC’s attitude toward doing English homework (t=0.039, p=0.969) is found. This denotes that statistically, there is no difference between their attitudes toward doing English homework.
Table 4.6 t-test Comparison – Dimension 4: Students’ Attitude toward the English Teachers
Dimension 4: Students’ Attitude toward the English Teachers
Participants No. Mean SD Levene’s test t-test
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Table 4.6 shows that in Dimension 4, regarding students’ attitude toward the English teachers, NIC’s mean score (Mean=2.89) is higher than that of TC’s
(Mean=2.62), thus indicating that NIC may have a more positive attitude toward the English teachers than TC.
With t-test comparison, no significant difference between NIC’s and TC’s attitude toward English teachers (t=-0.157, p=0.294) is found. This indicates that although NIC’s score is higher than TC’s, statistically, there is no difference between their attitudes toward the English teachers.
Table 4.7 t-test Comparison – Dimension 5: Students’ Attitude toward the English Teaching at School
Dimension 5: Students’ Attitude toward the English Teaching at School Participants No. Mean SD Levene’s test t-test
F value p value t value p value NIC 14 2.93 0.78 0.014 0.907 -2.022 0.047 TC 60 2.48 0.75
*p<0.05
**df=72
Table 4.7 shows that in Dimension 5, which is about students’ attitude toward English teaching at school, NIC’s mean score (Mean=2.93) is a lot higher than that of TC’s (Mean=2.48), thus denoting that NIC’s attitude toward English teaching at school may be a lot better than that of TC’s.
With t-test comparison, NIC’s attitude is significantly better than that of TC (F=0.014, p=0.907; t=-2.022, p=0.047<0.05). In Levene’s test, F value is 0.014, which is smaller than 0.05. However, the p value of Levene’s test is 0.907, which is
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larger than 0.05, signifying that the two groups of participants’ variances are not significantly different.
The possible reason that NIC’s English learning attitude concerning English teaching at school is better than that of TC is perhaps due to the fact that most NIC in this study do not go to English cram-schools while most TC have the chances to go to English cram-schools. For NIC, learning English at school is their only English learning experience, while TC have a variety of English learning experiences in English cram-schools. While NIC maintain a sense of freshness in learning English at school, TC probably get tired of learning English at school because they have already learn a lot in English cram-schools. This presumably accounts for NIC’s better English learning attitude regarding English teaching at school.
Table 4.8 t-test Comparison – Dimension 6: Students’ Motivation toward English Learning
Dimension 6: Students’ Motivation toward English Learning
Participants No. Mean SD Levene’s test t-test
F value p value t value p value NIC 14 3.31 0.58 0.500 0.482 -0.452 0.652 TC 60 3.22 0.69
*p<0.05
**df=72
Table 4.8 shows that in Dimension 6, regarding students’ motivation toward English learning, NIC’s mean score (Mean=3.31) is higher than that of TC’s
(Mean=3.22), thus signifying that NIC’s motivation toward English learning may be better than that of TC’s.
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With t-test comparison, no significant difference between NIC’s and TC’s motivation toward English learning (t=-0.452, p=0.652) is found. This signifies that although NIC’s score is higher than TC’s, statistically, there is no difference between their motivation toward English learning.
Table 4.9 t-test Comparison – Dimension 7: Students’ English Learning Efficacy Dimension 7: Students’ English Learning Efficacy
Participants No. Mean SD Levene’s test t-test F value p value t value p value NIC 14 2.64 0.61 1.023 0.315 1.023 0.310 TC 60 2.88 0.80
*p<0.05
**df=72
Table 4.9 shows that in Dimension 7 concerning students’ English learning efficacy, NIC’s mean score (Mean=2.64) is smaller than that of TC’s (Mean=2.88), thus indicating that NIC may be less confident about their English learning efficacy than TC.
With t-test comparison, no significant differences between NIC’s and TC’s English learning efficacy (t=1.023, p=0.310) is found. This indicates that although NIC’s score is lower than TC’s, statistically, there is no difference between their English learning efficacy.
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Table 4.10 t-test Comparison of NIC’s and TC’s English Learning Attitude as a Whole
NIC’s and TC’s English Learning Attitude as a Whole
Participants No. Mean SD Levene’s test t-test
F value p value t value p value NIC 14 2.87 0.52 1.056 0.308 -0.820 0.415 TC 60 2.72 0.63
*p<0.05
**df=72
Table 4.10 shows that looking at NIC’s and TC’s English learning attitude as a whole, NIC’s mean score (Mean=2.87) is higher than that of TC’s (Mean=2.72), thus indicating that NIC may have a more positive attitude toward English learning than TC.
With t-test comparison, no significant difference between NIC’s and TC’s English learning attitude (t=-0.820, p=0.415) is found. This indicates that although NIC’s score is higher than TC’s in the English Learning Attitude Scale, statistically, there is no difference between NIC’s and TC’s English learning attitude. Levene’s test (F=1.056, p=0.308) shows that the two groups of participants do not manifest an inequality in variances.
A Summary of the Attitude Scale Results
Comparing the mean score of the seven dimensions in the attitude scale, it is found that five dimensions, including students’ attitude toward school English course, students’ attitude toward learning English autonomously, students’ attitude toward the
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English teachers, students’ attitude toward the English teaching at school, and
students’ motivation toward English learning, show that NIC have higher scores than TC. Dimension 3 shows that NIC’s score is equal to that of TC’s concerning their attitude toward doing English homework. Only Dimension 7 shows that NIC’s score is lower than TC’s regarding their English learning efficacy.
With t-test comparisons, the whole scale shows that there is no significant
difference between NIC’s English learning attitude and TC’s English learning attitude.
Of the seven respective dimensions in the scale, six dimensions, including students’
attitude toward school English course, students’ attitude toward learning English autonomously, students’ attitude toward doing English homework, students’ attitude toward the English teachers, students’ attitude toward the English teaching at school, and students’ motivation toward English learning, show that there are no significant differences between NIC’s and TC’s English learning attitude, meaning that NIC’s English learning attitudes in these six dimensions are just as good as those of TC’s.
Only Dimension 5 shows that NIC’s attitude toward the English teaching at school is significantly better than that of TC’s.
Correlation between NIC’s English Achievement and Learning Attitude This section reports whether there exists a correlation between NIC’s English achievement and learning attitude conducted with Pearson product-moment correlation.
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Table 4.11 Pearson Product-moment Correlation of NIC’s English Total Score and English Learning Attitude
r-value English Total Score
All NIC TC
English Learning Attitude 0.004 -0.151 0.060
p value 0.972 0.606 0.651
*p<0.05
According to Table 4.11, there is no correlation between NIC’s English Total Score and English learning attitude (r=-0.151, p=0.606). There is no correlation between TC’s English Total Score and English learning attitude (r=0.060, p=0.651) as well.
Results of NIC’s Group Interview
This section addresses the results of NIC’s group interview pertaining to their English learning condition. In accordance with the verbatim transcription of the interview, NIC’s own perception toward learning the English subject, NIC’s English learning environment at home, and the challenges NIC face in learning English at the school setting are presented as followed. For part of the verbatim transcription of the interview, please refer to Appendix I.
NIC’s Perception toward Learning English
Almost all NIC believe that learning English is important, except for NIC-1, who believes that because English is not our native language, it is not important. She
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expressed her reasoning:
“I don’t think learning English is that important. It’s not our native language. We should learn our native language well first before we think of learning a foreign language.” (5/26/2011)
Some NIC convey the reasons that they think learning English is very important.
Several of them believe English is the language for commerce. They think if somebody wants to do business internationally, he/she has to learn English. NIC-2 thinks that English is the language for traveling. If someone has plans to travel abroad in the future, he/she has to learn English. NIC-2 also thinks that in order to get into a good college, he has to learn English well. NIC-9 likes to cook, and he would like to share and exchange his cooking recipes with people from other countries. This is the reason he believes that learning English is important. Three of the sixth grade NIC, NIC-10, 11 and 13, like to surf the Internet and play on Facebook. They think in order to communicate on the Internet, they have to learn English well.
Of all the NIC, only NIC-1 thinks that she works hard to learn English, which is surprising since she is also the only student to think that learning English is not important. The other thirteen NIC are very honest to admit that they do not work hard enough on the English subject even though they agree learning English is important.
They give various reasons:
NIC-9: “Learning English is more tiring than learning other subjects.”
(5/26/2011)
NIC-5: “There’re just too many letters in an English word. It’s very hard for me to memorize long words. So, I just give up.” (5/26/2011)
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NIC-11: “I’ve already learned what is taught in English classes in cram-school. I think learning English at school is boring. It’s also too much pressure.”
(5/26/2011)
NIC-10: “Learning English interferes with learning other subjects. If I have to learn English and math at the same time, I will choose learning math, since I think English is of no use to me at present.” (5/26/2011)
NIC-13: “I just don’t feel the need to learn English.” (5/26/2011)
Even though almost all NIC admit that they did not work hard enough to learn English, many of them promise to work harder in the future. They also propose some ways they think that can help them improve their English learning:
NIC-1: “If I have any questions, I’ll go ask my classmates or the teacher.”
(5/26/2011)
NIC-9: “I like to use the computer to search the information about English. I also like to watch English films with subtitles.” (5/26/2011)
NIC-11: “I can look up words I don’t understand on my electronic translator.”
(5/26/2011)
NIC-7: “I will try to take part in more practice activities in English classes in the future.” (5/26/2011)
NIC-2: “I have a mini English picture dictionary. I can just put it in my pocket and bring it with me all the time and look into it more often” (5/26/2011)
NIC-12: “I’ll review what the English teacher teaches right after the class. This makes it easier for me to memorize the new words and phrases.” (5/26/2011)
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NIC’s English Learning Environment at Home
Of all the fourteen NIC, only NIC-2, 5, 9, 10, 12 study English when they are at home. The other nine NIC admit that they leave English at school and do not ever study English until before English mid-term and final exams take place. The five NIC who study English at home all have someone to help them review English. NIC-2, 10, and 12 are assisted by their mothers. NIC-5 is help by her older sister, and NIC-9 is helped by his older brother. NIC-12, whose mother came from the Philippines, however, mentions that her mother can only help her when she is not too busy with work. Most of the time she studies English by herself. She described:
“Although my mother occasionally talks to me in English, she barely has time to help me study school English. It’s only when she is not busy that she will help me.
Most of the time I study English by myself. It’s when I have some questions concerning English that I’ll go ask her. She’ll then try to make time to help me.”
(5/26/2011)
The five NIC study English about three to six times a week, ten to forty minutes each time, depending on how much spare time they have after they work on other subjects.
NIC-5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13’s fathers have discussed with them the importance of learning English well, and NIC-2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14’s mothers have told them that learning English is very important. NIC-8’s father specifically told him that if he wants to study abroad in the future, he has to work hard on his English. That’s why his father sent him to English cram-school when he was in first grade. NIC-11’s father and mother are both businesspersons. They instilled in him a concept that if he wants
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to do business with people from other countries and make a lot of money, he has to learn English well.
Several NIC have English extra reading materials other than textbooks at home, which includes English picture books, story books, comic books and cartoon DVDs.
They all said that they enjoy reading these English after-school reading materials more than reading English textbooks. NIC-2 describes that he takes his English mini picture dictionary with him everywhere all the time. These NIC spend one to three hours reading English extra reading materials every week. Their parents also encourage them to read more English extra reading materials.
Two of the NIC like to watch English programs on television. NIC-2 watches
‘Let’s Talk in English’ on Public Television Channel about two to four times a week when he has time. He thinks the teachers on the program are humorous. NIC-5 likes to watch various programs on Discovery Channel. She describes:
“I enjoy watching all kinds of programs on Discovery Channel. They are all in English. I think I probably spend too much time watching programs on Discovery Channel. My father sometimes scolds me for watching too much TV. But I really like Discovery Channel. The programs are fun and inspiring.” (5/26/2011)
Both NIC-2 and NIC-5 watch these English programs by themselves without the
Both NIC-2 and NIC-5 watch these English programs by themselves without the