國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
25
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS: INDIVIDUAL CASES
In this chapter, the researcher presents the results of the in-depth interviews and analysis of each of the two English teachers, Esther and Flora. The stories are
presented in the following order. First, the researcher embodies the critical events in the participant’s FL learning experiences chronologically along with her beliefs as a FL learner right after related events. So the learning contexts are constructed for her beliefs to be easily understood. Second, the researcher introduces the experience of the participant’s English teaching. Third, the researcher shows the teacher training the participant received. By presenting the participant’s teaching experience and teacher training, the context for her beliefs as an English teacher is constructed.
Then, the researcher presents the participant’s beliefs as an English teacher. Finally, the researcher discusses the participant’s teaching decisions which are inconsistent with her beliefs as a FL learner.
Case 1: Esther
FL Learning Experiences and Belief as a FL learner
Esther is an extrovert and persistent woman in her early forties. When she was an elementary school student, she practiced the piano and joined the school choir.
Since the first time she heard an English song, her strong interest in beautiful melodies aroused her enthusiasm about learning English and consequently nurtured her dream of being an English teacher despite difficulties and frustrations. “From the very beginning, I think English is a beautiful language,” she asserted (2/6/2013).
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
26
Esther’s FL learning experiences include four major stages: junior and senior high school, a period between senior high school and 2-year college, 2-year college, and after graduating from college. Her story is presented below.
Junior and Senior High School
Esther started to learn English in the seventh grade in junior high school. In Taiwan, a few decades ago, elementary school graduates had to take a placement exam in the beginning of the first semester in junior high schools. Then, according to the percentile ranks of their scores, the students would be divided up into three groups. The group of students whose scores ranked high in the exam would be assigned to classes labeled as “A”; medium, “B”; and low, “C”. In the seventh grade, Esther’s high ranking score allowed her to study in an A class, in which she learned the KK Phonetic Symbols, which enabled her to pronounce English words and memorize new words effectively. “The KK Phonetic Symbols helped me get a sense of English, so I could memorize English words easily,” she said (2/28/2013).
However, in the beginning of the third semester, Esther was transferred to a B class because of her unsatisfying grades in math and biology. There, unexpectedly, she found many of her classmates had problem pronouncing and memorizing English words and finally became depressed about learning English. She attributed their depression to their lack of the knowledge of the KK Phonetic Symbols.
The students in the B class didn’t learn the KK Phonetic Symbols… I [had learned the KK Phonetic Symbols and thus] established the foundation of English learning in the seventh grade. The vocabulary, articles, and grammar we learned were getting harder… Because they [her students] couldn’t read out loud and memorize [English
vocabulary], they felt frustrated. (2/6/2013)
Thus, Esther’s belief that “Learning to pronounce words of the target
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
27
language is important,” was emerged from this experience at the very start of her FL learning.
Esther’s comparatively outstanding English performance in the B class had her chosen as the helper of her English teachers in the eighth and ninth grade. She collected English homework, gave her classmates vocabulary quizzes, as well as read textbooks for her classmates to repeat in the morning-self-study session. She also represented her class to participate in reading contests and speech contests.
In senior high school, Esther was also chosen to be the helper of her English teacher and attended a speech contest in the tenth grade. By assisting her English teachers and attending contests, close relationships were established between Esther and her English teachers. In appreciation of her help, the teachers gave her English readers, a kind of simplified literary works for English learners to practice reading.
Esther not only felt proud, but also gained more chances to learn English than other students. She mentioned,
In the morning-self-study session, I would give my classmates [vocabulary] quizzes or had them repeatedly read out loud the texts after me… I got extra opportunities to practice what I had learned.
(2/6/2013)
During this period, through reading the English readers given by her teachers and watching English movies in her free time, she started to be aware of the importance of FL speaking context. She stated, “While
watching English movies, I would feel that I was at the scene. I learned how to use the language by watching movies” (2/6/2013). She also mentioned,
I learned not merely sentence structures from English readers. Stories had me understand how to use the sentences according to different situations. In the settings of the stories, I could get the intended
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
28
meanings of the sentences. (5/7/2013)
As we can see, Esther’s belief in “Learning FLs in context benefits FL learning” also sprouted at the early stage of her FL learning.
Esther’s favorite subject was English. She had pleasant experiences of learning English during the six years in junior and senior high school. She said with a smile on her face, “In my impression [of learning English in secondary school], everything went without a hitch, I did enjoy it”
(2/6/2013). Therefore, Esther determined to enter an English department in university and become an English teacher in the future. She asserted “I like English. I have aimed to be an English teacher since long time ago,” she asserted” (2/16/2013).
A Period between Senior High School and 2-Year College
After graduating from senior high school, Esther became an examinee of the JCUEE. At that time, the entrance exam was held once a year. Every year, only about sixty percent of the examinees could pass the exam and be admitted to a university. Some examinees would give up on the chances they got and choose to retake the exam in order to enter a specific department or a better university. It was thus not unusual for an examinee to take the exam more than once.
With Esther’s strong determination to enter an English Department, she took the exam five times in six years. From the age nineteen to twenty-five, alternating between studying and work, Esther tried her best in order to become an English major in a university. For every upcoming exam, she needed to study all the subjects included in the exam in cram schools. In addition to taking numerous mock tests in cram schools, she also had to study hard by herself. Her methods of learning for exams were writing English vocabulary, phrases, and sentences on small flash cards to memorize at any time. She also studied the grammar patterns taught in English
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
29
magazines and recorded the magazines’ radio programs to listen to everywhere she went.
During the third of the six years, when she was twenty-one, she tried another way to learn English at a FL learning institute (Institute A), in which she learned English from native English speaking teachers (NESTs) for thirty-six hours in a few months. She felt very confused when she spoke English with a NEST for the first time. She said, “It was strange. I had memorized so many English words. Why did I have difficulty speaking English?” (2/6/2013). She finally realized that what she had learned at school was written English, which was seldom used in daily conversation.
She also discovered the differences between learning a FL for academic purpose and for communicative purpose. She mentioned,
Since junior high school, I had to take tests and exams constantly.
Most exams were about reading and writing. Every time I tried to speak English with the NESTs, they told me the words I used were too big, not common at all. (2/6/2013)
Thus, she determined to enhance her listening and speaking abilities. After a few months, she decided to take an English course in another FL learning institute (Institute B). The course happened to be around the Christmas time. To celebrate the holiday, the NEST invited the class to go skating together at a skating rink. It was Esther’s first time to go out with a native speaker and speak English in real life. She communicated with the NEST and learned from the NEST’s feedback
For example, I talked with the NEST while [we were] putting on skating shoes. I used my body language when I didn’t know how to express an idea in English. Then I learned how to say it [from the teacher’s response]. (2/6/2013)
In the six years of being an examinee of the JCUEE, although Esther once
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
30
obtained a chance to be a Chinese major, she was never admitted to be an English major. Taking a friend’s suggestion, she finally took the 2-year College Entrance Exam and was admitted to the Early Childhood Education Department of a college.
2-Year College
Esther became an Early Childhood Education major at a college at the age of twenty-six, but she was still working on learning English and trying to figure out ways to be an English teacher. She asserted,
I like English. I have aimed to be an English teacher since long time ago. I like the language and enjoy being in the environment of it. I want to share my joy of learning English with children. (2/16/2013) In the second year of the college, Esther went to FL Learning Institute C (Institute C) to learn English. There, she made friends with a NEST, Angela (pseudonym), a Canadian who came to Taiwan alone and liked to ask her students out on weekends. By going out with Angela, Esther gained ample chances to use English in context. She stated, “When Angela was in Taiwan, I could practice speaking English with her often… Sometimes she asked us [my classmates and I] to have tea together” (2/6/2013).
Esther’s first time abroad was to attend Angela’s wedding in the U.S.A. Talking with many native English speakers there, again, Esther felt her spoken English was insufficient to carry on daily conversations with native speakers. She said, “When I was abroad, foreign friends said what I said was too formal and proper. Their conversations were full of slangs” (2/6/2013).
Esther’s experience of communicating in English in daily life reinforced her early belief that “Learning FLs in context benefit FL learning” and further broadened her scope of FL learning. She asserted, “I am impressed by the slangs and vocabulary that I have used to speak to others” (2/6/2013).
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
31
Comparing the communicative learning methods (e.g., learning in context) with the learning methods Esther adopted to learn for academic purpose (e.g., memorizing vocabulary, phrases, and sentences, and studying grammar patterns), the former were connected to her positive experience of achieving communicative purpose and social interaction, while the latter were
connected to her negative experience of learning under academic pressure and failing to communicate in daily life.
In addition, because her spoken English improved much by speaking with native speakers and learning from their feedback, her belief that
“Learning FLs through speaking benefits FL learning” was also emerged.
She stated, “I learned how to apply slangs, vocabulary, and sentences [in daily conversations] by communicating with the NESTs” (2/28/2013) and
When I didn’t know how to say something in English, I asked them [the NESTs] how to say it. Then I knew what to say when I encounter the same situation next time. (2/6/2013)
She wanted to dispense with the old learning methods for academic purpose. She said, “If I learn a sentence by rote instead of using it in context, I will forget it after a few days” (2/6/2013).
Furthermore, she also started to believe that “The goal of FL learning is to communicate”. She asserted, “I don’t want to learn English for exams anymore. I want to learn to communicate in daily life” (2/6/2013).
After Graduating from College
At twenty-nine, with the satisfying experience of learning English at the first three FL learning institutes, Esther went to FL Learning Institute D (Institute D) to further develop her English. However, unexpectedly, she felt discouraged because she could only practice speaking fixed sentences with her classmates. She described,
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
32
In the eighteen hours [of learning English] in Institute D, most of the time, the teacher had us [my classmates and I] practice speaking fixed English sentences with each other. Unless I had questions, I didn’t have a chance to talk with the NEST. (2/6/2013)
This experience reinforced the importance of Esther’s belief that “Learning FLs through speaking benefits FL learning.” She recognized that learning FLs through speaking rather than practicing fixed sentence structures would benefit long-term retention. She uttered,
Although I memorized many [English] words that can be used in conversation, without chances to speak them out, I tended to forget them (2/6/2013).
When Esther was thirty-three, she took on an interpreting job for some missionary group as a short-term project in India. While the missionary was
preaching, Esther translated his Chinese into English, and then an Indian interpreter translated her English into the Indian language. Although Esther was very nervous while interpreting, she thinks this experience was interesting. She stated, “It was a very special experience. I was like a newborn calf which fears no tigers”
(2/16/2013).
The interpreting job triggered her motivation to learn interpretation in a Bible College after a few months. In the twelve months of learning at the Bible College, she took the course of interpretation for one semester; writing, one semester; and Bible English, two semesters. In particular, she also regarded the experience as the compensation for her dream of being an English major that could not be realized.
She asserted, “I just wanted to fulfill my dream of studying in an English department”
(2/6/2013).
Now, in the fourteenth year of her English teaching career, Esther still learns
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
33
English on Thursdays. She attends a free course offered by Let’s Talk in English. The NEST is a missionary who has been in Taiwan for over ten years. She asserted, “I will go wherever I can learn English” (2/6/2013).
Throughout Esther’s FL learning experiences, Esther’s attitude toward FL learning has always been positive. She always built good relationships with her teachers and classmates since she started learning English. At the very start, she obtained a sense of superiority and got positive feedback from being an English teachers’ helper. After learning English from NESTs, using English to communicate and make friends with them further reinforced her positive attitude towards English learning. She said,
I went to FL learning institutes and accumulated sentences that can be used in daily conversations. I gradually became able to express myself. I could also help my classmates with learning in class. I think I built up confidence at that time. (2/28/2013)
Her positive learning attitude and motivation enabled her to overcome problems and difficulties and consequently made her dream of being an English teacher come true. It is found that she holds the belief that “Positive learning attitudes benefit FL learning.” She provided an example,
If learners don’t open their hearts to learn a FL, they can’t learn it well. If they open their hearts to learn it and are willing to get in touch with everything about it, they can learn it well… It depends on whether they want to learn it or not. (2/28/2013)
In summary, at the very start of Esther’s FL learning, she learned to recognize the KK Phonetic Symbols. The ability enabled her to read out loud and memorize English words easily, and she thus performed better in English than her classmates.
Her belief that “Learning to pronounce words of the target language is important”
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
34
was emerged from the experience. Receiving English readers as presents from her teachers, she gained opportunities to learn English in context by reading the English readers. Her belief “Learning FLs in context benefits FL learning” also sprouted at the early stage. Her fondness for English and the fulfillment gained from being the teachers’ helper encouraged her to pursue the goals of entering an English
Department and being an English teacher eventually. Although Esther could not make her dream of being an English major come true, she still tried to learn English by other means. Her experience of speaking English to communicate with NESTs reinforced her early belief that “Learning FLs in context benefit FL learning.” She also started to be aware of language functions and hold the belief that “The goal of FL learning is to communicate. Her belief that “Learning FLs through speaking benefits FL learning” also derived from her experience of communicating with native speakers because her spoken English improved much by learning from the native speakers’ feedback. Her beliefs as a FL learner and related critical events are listed in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1 Esther’s Beliefs as a FL Learner and Related Critical Events
Related Critical Events Beliefs as a FL learner Her ability to pronounce English words by
recognizing the KK Phonetic Symbols enabled her to memorize English words effectively.
“Learning to pronounce words of the target language is important.”
At the early stage, she learned how to use words and sentence patterns in context by learning from English readers and English movies. At the later stage, she learned English by communicating with
“Learning FLs in context benefits FL learning.”
‧
native speakers in daily life.She learned spoken English efficiently from the feedback of NESTs and obtained long-term retention of what she had said.
“Learning FLs through speaking benefits FL learning.”
She achieved the communicative purpose and social interaction by communicating with native speakers.
“The goal of FL learning is to communicate.”
Her positive learning attitudes toward learning enabled her to overcome problems and difficulties throughout her learning experiences.
“Positive learning attitudes benefit FL learning.”
English Teaching Experience
Esther has been teaching English to students aged from two to fifteen outside the formal educational system for 14 years. The wide spread of experience and teaching contexts that Esther has in English teaching is shown in Table 4.2 and further described in the following paragraphs.
Table 4.2 Esther’s Experience of Teaching English
Time Esther’s
Age
Institutes Students’
Ages
Duration
1999-2000 27-28 After-School-Care Center A 7-9 12 months
1999-2000 27-28 Preschool A 2-6 12 months
2001-2004 29-32 Preschool B 2-6 4 years
2002-2010 30-35 English Tutoring Studio 6-13 8 years
2003-2008 31-36 English Supplementary School A 7-15 5 years
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
36
2004-2005 32-33 Preschool C 2-6 12 months
2005-2007 33-35 English Supplementary School B 7-15 About 2 years
2008-2013 36-41 Tutees’ places 12-15 5 years
2011-2013 39-41 After-School-Care Center B 2-6 2 years
In the second year of the college, when Esther was 27, she attended a book club in which all the members read Bilingual Weekly in advance of their discussion of the content in their gathering. There, Esther got acquainted with the owner of
In the second year of the college, when Esther was 27, she attended a book club in which all the members read Bilingual Weekly in advance of their discussion of the content in their gathering. There, Esther got acquainted with the owner of