Analysis of Classroom Observations, Interviews, Informal Conversations,

In order to find out more in-depth information of learners’ motivation towards English learning and listening anxiety, field notes and audio recordings from

classroom observations, interviews, and informal conversations were implemented as supplementary qualitative data. These data were transcribed first and analyzed. In order to understand how FTAs support learners in class, patterns and issues were identified based on classroom observations, interviews, and informal conversations.

Patterns identified were then also used to triangulate with findings from quantitative data so that a more holistic picture can be provided.

For example, one pattern came from the quantitative data was regarding culture learning. In the motivation scale, statement 16 (“I would like to learn more about a foreign culture.”) measured students’ desire to learn foreign cultures and their perception of it was decreased in the second questionnaire. The quantitative result showed that students generally reduced their motivation toward foreign culture learning after taught by the FTAs for a year. In the classroom observations the FTAs liked to share cultures and in the interview some students remembered teachers’

teaching culture. They were impressed by St. Patrick’s Day Customs and the

experience of cooking mashed potato on Thanksgiving Day in person. Students often seemed happy in culture learning from qualitative instruments. The discrepancy between the two data was the possible area for the researcher to further explore. As a result, further evidences with regard to this area would be required to understand why students’ motivation to learn culture decreased while they seemed happy learn about culture.

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The present study aimed to explore the influence of the presence of FTAs on the seventh graders’ English learning motivation, listening anxiety, and listening

performance To answer the three research questions, the data were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative procedures.

To answer the first two research questions, students’ level of English learning motivation and listening anxiety was assessed by a modified questionnaire based on the AMTB, FFCAS, and FFLAS. Students’ responses at the beginning and end of the school year were compared using paired-sample t-tests. For analytical purposes, only statements that had reached a significant level are discussed. Although those

statements that did not reach a significant level will not be discussed in this paper, they are not regarded as unimportant. Because of the exploratory nature of this study, it was decided to focus on the statements that reached a .05 significant level in the statistical analyses. By focusing on the specific aspects in which FTAs might actually influenced Taiwanese students, meaningful implications could be drawn. The

statistical results were supported by qualitative data collected from classroom observations, interviews, and informal conversations.

To answer the third research question, a modified listening test was used to assess the students’ listening performance. Students’ first and second listening scores were compared using paired-sample t-test. The results are reported and discussed in the following three sections.

4.1 Influence of the FTAs’ Presence on Students’ English Learning Motivation

The English learning motivation scale was composed of 20 items on a 4-point

Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). A score of 3 or 4 was considered as positive perception of learning motivation, whereas a score of 1 or 2 was considered as negative perception. Table 3 shows a marginal decline from 2.808 at the beginning of the school year to 2.698 at the end of the school year (t (82) = 2.056, p < .05). The result indicates that the students’ learning motivation slightly Table 3

Students’ Overall Perceptions on the First and the Second Motivation Scale

Component First (n=83) Second (n=83) t p-value

M1 SD M2 SD

overall 2.808 .4878 2.698 .6278 2.056 .043*

Note. *p < .05

decreased and they felt slightly less motivated with the presence of FTAs. Half of the statements in the scale reached a significant level (see Appendix C for more details) and were further separated into two categories. One was positively increased

motivation (No.13), and the others were negatively decreased motivation (No.5, 6,11,12,14,15,16,17,18). Different aspects of motivation influenced by the presence of FTAs were presented and discussed in the following sections.

4.1.1 Increased Motivation

Students’ perceptions on one statement (No. 13) showed the increased motivation (see Table 4). As can be seen in Table 4, although an average low score of 2 was given Table 4

Statements Shown Increased Motivation

Number Statements First (n=83) Second (n=83) t p-value

M1 SD M2 SD

13 I can talk to foreigners in English easily.

2.000 .8462 2.21 .871 2.452 .016*

Note. *p < .05

for the first and the second questionnaire, there was a significant increase in the second score. In other words, the students had an enhanced positive perception on talking to foreigners in English (No. 13). There seemed to be a tendency that the students showed an enhanced confidence in their ability to speak with FTAs after the whole year. In brief, the interaction with FTAs resulted in students’ positively

increased perception of English learning. The qualitative data further supported the statistical finding of the increased confidence in talking to foreigners in English with the presence of FTAs.

Statement 13: I can talk to foreigners in English easily.

Statement 13 implied that students had gotten more used to speaking English and felt more comfortable speaking English to foreigners by the end of the year. An evidence to support the above quantitative result came from one classroom observation at the end of the school term. In this example, students greeted an unfamiliar FTA and talked about the spotlights of Taitung where the FTA lived last year. They had a quick chat with the new FTA and spoke in English with ease. In addition, the results of the increased confidence might be associated from more opportunities for students to communicate in English. In classes, students often talked with FTAs to complete various tasks. For example, they bargained with the FTA in English to make money for their team or they played as detectives and asked the FTA several questions in English to solve a mysterious crime. Throughout the whole year, they might get accustomed to speaking English with foreigners. One of the students being interviewed, from the asking for teachers’ help group, stated, “At the beginning of the school year I intentionally avoided talking to the FTA outside the classroom due to nervousness, but at the end of the term, I did not run away from interacting with the

FTA.” (Elsa, March, 24, 2016). Therefore, because of the increased opportunities to interact and communicate with the FTAs, the students had a better perception of themselves when speaking English to foreigners with the presence of FTAs for one year. At the same time, they generally felt more at ease when speaking English.

4.1.2 Decreased motivation

Statistically decreased scores in reported motivation between the initial and end of the school year were found in questionnaire statements about students’ perceptions of the importance of English, self-devotion, learning situation, foreigners, foreign culture learning, co-teachers as well as parents’ influence. Table 5 shows both descriptive and t test results. These statements were separated into three categories:

attitude toward English (No.5, 6, 18), foreign class (No.11, 12, 17), and foreign culture (No.14, 15, 16). Statement 5, 6, and 18 were grouped together because they were asked about attitude toward the subject of English. Statement 11, 12, and 17 belonged to the perception of FTAs’ English class so that they were put together in the foreign class category. As for the foreign culture category, statement 14, 15, and 16 were included because they were related to perceptions of foreigners and foreign culture.

18 My parents think English is important.

3.494 .7867 3.241 .9185 2.091 .040*

Foreign class 11 I pay more attention to class taught by the foreign teacher.

3.195 .7443 2.95 .830 2.630 .010*

12 I feel that classes with foreign 3.407 .7207 3.19 808 2.169 .033*

teachers are more interesting and fun

17 I hope that every English class in the future will be taught by a native teacher and a foreign teacher.

15 I feel I understand American culture.

Statement 5: I think English is important.

In the first and the second statements analysis, it was found that students gave a high score of over 3 on this statement. It seemed students were positive toward the importance of English. However, interestingly, in the second questionnaire their perception regarding this statement slightly reduced yet it was still positive score of 3.229. The decreased score though significant was quite small. Students’ reflections in the interviews also indicated that they still considered English important. As one of the interviewees pointed out:

“小時候覺得如果以後不出國的話，應該也不會用到英文，所以我沒有 很認真在讀, 現在我發現上生英課(此指外師課)聽不懂會很丟臉，或是 考試英文考不好會被笑之類，現在會更想把英文學好。有時候中師會 說英文很重要，到哪裡都用得到，然後英文也很有趣，而且生英課讓 我覺得學語言可以用得到, 所以我現在覺得英文很重要。”

(When I was in the elementary school, I thought I would not use English if not going abroad. So I did not study hard in English. But now, I want to learn English well because I am very conscious of my “face” (mien tzu) if I

don’t comprehend what the FTA is saying or I don’t get a good grade in English. Sometimes the LET tells us that English is important wherever I go.

I feel English is interesting and I can use the language is what I benefit most in the FTA’s class. So, now I think English is important.”) (Anna, June, 22, 2016)

In the interview, the girl believed the importance of English and expressed the desire to learn English because she was able to practically use the language with the presence of the FTA. Similarly, a LET once mentioned that employing a FTA in the school made students feel that learning English was meaningful because they had more opportunities using it in reality. For example, besides the classroom teaching, FTAs also joined students’ clubs and chatted with them during the break or the lunch time. It could be assumed that more chances to interacting with FTAs resulted in the students’ positive attitudes towards learning English and perception of the importance of English language. In today’s world, English is served as a widely used international language. Many non-native English speakers use English to communicate with others from different countries (Crystal, 2012). With the presence of FTAs in the class, the students as EFL learners seemed to be aware that the English language is essential to interaction and communication. This positive attitude on the importance of English might lead to better learning. As Gardner (1985) and Dörnyei (1998) argued that learners’ attitude is a part of motivation to learn a language well, students report a positive attitude towards learning English could imply that they had a positive learning motivation.

Statement 6: I work very hard to learn English.

The students seemed to realize the importance of English, then the statement about whether students worked hard to learn English was discussed. At the initial of the school year, an average high score of 3 was found on this statement, whereas a mean score of 2 was obtained at the end of the school year. The decrease in the

students’ perception of their efforts suggested that students felt that they did not work hard in the end of the year compared with the beginning. A possible external factor affecting students’ perceived efforts might be the pressure from the final exam at the end of the school year when the second questionnaire was administered. During the time of administration, the students had to prepare for their final exams and worked on a large amount of schoolwork. As the students had to deal with multi-subjects in a limited time, they might experience a greater pressure from their school work and thus might not feel well prepared in their English learning. Studies in Taiwan have shown that academic stress is the major source causing life stress of junior high school students (Chen, 2001; Shih, 2004). The participants in this study might be overloaded with exam stress and might find it difficult to allocate time for every subject; thus, they felt that they might not work hard enough to learn English.

Statement 18: My parents think English is important.

After the students reported that they worked somewhat hard, the researcher of this study looked into the parental influence on the students’ attitude towards English learning since research in the past argued that parents play a significant role in

learners’ English learning (Gonzalez-DeHass et al, 2005). A high score of 3.494 in the first questionnaire indicates a high level of encouragement from the parents as

perceived by the learners even though it decreased a little bit in the second

questionnaire. The outcome of the statement could be inferred that students shared their involvement in FTAs’ classes with their parents, resulting in indirectly enhancing parents’ perceptions on the importance of English practice. This is quite a significant finding because most of the participating schools were schools which were considered to be remote where learning resources were quite limited. The opportunity for these families to interact with foreigners tends to be quite rare. As a result, parents in these schools might not consider English learning to be vital for their children. When

parents’ awareness is raised with regard to the importance of learning English, parent might be more willing to encourage their children to make more efforts on English learning. This discussion is supported by the reflection made by one interviewee from the asking for help group. The quote below demonstrates the importance of parental encouragement.

“在經過一年後，我聽得懂更多一點內容，而且家人都說英文很重要，

我自己也覺得英文很重要，會更想學。”

(“I can comprehend much more content after listening to the FTA’s

instruction for a year. Besides, my parents say that English is important. So do I. I am more willing to learn English.”)(Edward, June 22, 2016)

The student’s parents considered that English is important, which indirectly motivated him to be more eager to learn English. Previous research has explored and recognized the importance of parental encouragement as an external force to increase SL/FL learners’ motivation towards language learning (Gardner, 1985). Although this study did not explore the extent to which parents influenced the learners’ views of the importance of English, the results of questionnaire confirmed that students perceived that their parents supported them to study English. Therefore, the indirect influence of parents’ positive perceptions on English learning might be a source which helped shape students’ positive attitude and motivation towards learning English.

However, in the statistical results, students perceived their parents’ perception of the importance of English slightly dropped from the first to the second motivation scale. Possible reasons are difficult to predict since parents do not actually respond to the questionnaire, so this could not ensure whether the parents truly have decreased perception of the importance of English. Perhaps, after continuous learning of English, students have a negative perception of the importance of English language

from their own perspectives; therefore, they had a little dropped feeling about this statement when filling in the questionnaire. It is thus recommended that future researchers explore the extent to which parents influenced the learners’ views of the importance of English.

4.1.2.2 Foreign class

Statement 11: I pay more attention to class taught by the foreign teacher.

Following the attitude towards English after being taught, the students’ feelings about FTAs’ class were analyzed. In the first questionnaire, an average high score of 3 was seen on this statement, but in the second questionnaire, a slightly lower score of 2 was given by the learners. The results showed that, towards the end of the year, students had a lower perception of their attentiveness to their FTAs. Two possible underlying reasons came from classroom observations which could illustrate the results. For the first reason why the students have diverted attention away from FTAs’

classes was likely due to teacher turnover. In the beginning of March, 2017, a LET of one class resigned her job due to illness. The school was not able to find a local substitute teacher until the middle of April. During this period, the students were seen more unruly than usual. They frequently chatted with their friends and were distracted easily so that the FTA had to spend more extra time on classroom management.

Perhaps the students’ disruptive behavior could be explained by the “compositional”

effect of teacher turnover on students learning (Ronfeldt et al, 2013). With teacher turnover, students have to take time to adjust themselves to different teaching styles between teachers who leave and those who replace them. Previous research on teacher turnover, student engagement, and learning achievement has revealed negative

correlations (Kraft et al, 2016); that is, teacher turnover has a detrimental influence on student learning. As a result, the instance of teacher turnover probably contributed to the students’ perception of less attention in the FTA’s class.

The second reason was considered related to the classroom seating arrangements.

One FTA used the style of cluster seating in class which allowed the students to learn cooperatively. Because of the cluster seating, the students were able to interact and share knowledge in groups and the co-teacher could monitor their’ behaviors.

However, during the group work, the students could talk to each other easily instead of paying attention to the FTA. In addition, the students, especially those facing the back of the classroom, easily avert attention from the FTA’s instruction because if they wanted to look at the FTA or the blackboard, they had to turn their heads and bodies half way around. These students had to frequently adjust their sitting posture during the class. A LET once mentioned that because of the seating arrangement, these students appeared to be less attentive to the FTA in class. The LET also pointed out that she had to repeatedly remind them, “Eyes to the front,” to help the students stay focused. These situations suggested that students’ less attentiveness might be

influenced by this seating arrangement.

Classroom seating arrangements, according to McCorskey & McVetta (1978), have a profound impact on the overall classroom atmosphere and the stage for teacher-student relationship. Also, a certain seating arrangement could influence learners’ personal investment in the class and their general degree of participation (Burke, 2008). Simmons et al (2015) conducted an experiment in order to investigate students off-task behaviors in response to three seating arrangements (cluster,

horseshoe, and row) across four dimensions: inappropriate talking, students out of their seats without permission, students not following directions, and students not starting independent work promptly. They found that students displayed the fewest off-task behaviors in row seating, which suggests that row seating is appropriate for promoting learners’ attention. As for promoting teacher-students interaction or learners’ active engagement, the u-shaped and split-half or semicircular seating

arrangements help exhibit more teacher-to-student verbal interactions and students’

participations (i.e., asks questions, student-initiated talk, etc.) than in the typical row

participations (i.e., asks questions, student-initiated talk, etc.) than in the typical row