Shelly’s English Proficiency

國

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

37

full of new things, but with some familiar English courses and classmates. As pointed out in Mr. Chen’s interview.

…Shelly has an active personality. When I asked some of her classmates who go to the same English classes with her to take care of her…. It turns out that there is no need to do so. She is extrovert enough, and she only transfers from one program to another in the same school. Her ability to adapt is better than other transfer students. (The interview with Mr. Chen, January, 22, 2014)

4.1.3. Shelly’s English Proficiency

Thirdly, in order to fully explore what roles Shelly’s English proficiency plays, the discussion about the learner’s English proficiency will be described through two perspectives—Shelly’s contact with English before the transfer and her language using experiences during the first semester in the international school.

The delineation of Shelly’s previous exposure to English covers three aspects:

attitude toward English, English using experiences, and English learning path. To begin with her attitude toward English, it is more about a tool to communicate than a subject to learn. This concept has been rooted before Shelly receives schooling.

Shelly spent her early childhood with her parents in Canada when her parents were in pursuit of their master degree there. Shelly recalled the experiences of listening to

‧ 國

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

38

English songs and watching English cartoons when she was two years old in Canada.

I learned a little English….like listening to the songs for many times, and I could sing along; watching TV, I knew how to say thank you…. (The first interview with Shelly, August, 31, 2013)

Shelly’s first contact with English happens in an authentic context. However, Shelly and her parents move back to Taiwan after her parents completed their studies.

Then she continues such exposure to natural English annually by taking trips and visiting relatives with her parents during winter and summer vacations in the U.S.

Shelly explains that “you have to use English for everything, such as buying things.”

These English using experiences make Shelly believes that “English is a language she must learn and use for communication” either in the situation of overseas travelling or future job hunting.

Regarding the English learning experiences, Shelly’s family moved back to Taiwan when she is about the age of kindergartener, and then the parents registered Shelly at K school in Taiwan. Thus, Shelly receives her formal education, including the learning of English since then. Yet, Shelly’s English learning takes place not only in the school but also at home. Shelly’s father asked her to memorize every word in

‧ 國

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

39

a children’s English dictionary before elementary school, and this activity stopped when she had acquired all the vocabulary. English is never a difficult language to learn for Shelly. There is almost no obstacle that Shelly encounters during

kindergarten and elementary school. Shelly described in the interview,

….English (courses) is easy because I have learned it since little, and I have been to Canada. But I just hate doing homework. It makes me really tired….As for English learning, I can pick it up quickly. Teachers always love me because I get good grades (mostly in English classes)…. (The first interview with Shelly, August, 31, 2013)

When the researcher asks Shelly about her feeling for English courses, she always responds that “It’s just as usual.” When she says that, it means the grades are as good as usual. This excerpt also represents a typical attitude that Shelly has toward schooling－considering homework as a tiresome routine but still being able to keep top scores. Again, more discussion concerning her responses to the

curriculum will be found in the second section.

Shelly continues her academic path in K school. Students in this school receive English education from a specialized English program, offering two courses for students from grade one to grade twelve. In general, the students in this program are

‧ 國

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

40

equipped with four skills through student-centered practice. It is their aims to develop each individual as critical thinker, independent life-long learner, and effective communicators. More specifically, one of the courses, English Literature, purports to foster students’ ability in appreciating and understanding a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts, and the other, Language Art, intends to enhance students’ ability in grammar construction, various form of writing, oral fluency, vocabulary acquisition, and reading comprehension skills. All English courses are divided into four levels: intermediate, advanced, mainstream, and honors. Currently, Shelly attends the mainstream English classes. Immersing in an English learning environment like this, there is no doubt that Shelly possesses a high level of English ability. Evidence is also shown in the interview with Mr. Chen.

….Shelly does not have difficulties in learning. I did not find any. Other

students who transfer from the other programs in K school or other school have an adjustment period. However, Shelly’s adjustment period is relatively short because she has the tool. This adjustment period is more about adopting English as a medium of instruction. For those students, English was a subject, but now a tool. If you do not have this tool, you might fail…. (The interview with Mr. Chen, January, 22, 2014)

‧ 國

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

41

Mr. Chen’s evaluation of Shelly’s English proficiency is in agreement with Shelly’s own evaluation. Shelly regards English as a tool she had already mastered;

transferring to an English-medium environment does not cause her any anxiety.

Besides, according to the research notes taken from conversations with Shelly during the break of tutoring hours, Shelly appears to be a good language learner and she is good at using the language to learn new content. For example, Shelly thinks Biology is a little challenging when she was in the secondary school; yet, she is quite engaged in the Science class in the international school. She compares the two courses under different course titles and considers they are actually similar on the content level. She described,

….Explaining these concepts in Chinese are more complicated in English. For example, when I see the English word “corrosion”, I know it contains the meaning that something is destroyed slowly. On the other hand, I did not see this meaning by just looking at the Chinese character. (An informal interview with Shelly on the eighteenth week, January, 8, 2014)

This excerpt manifests that Shelly takes advantage of her tool, English, in acquiring content knowledge. On another occasion, the researcher/tutor reviews the school work with Shelly, and there is a new term that is unknown to both of them.

‧ 國

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

42

When the researcher/tutor is about to check the dictionary to translate the unknown word into her native language, Chinese, for better comprehension, the attempt is stopped by Shelly. She says, “You’ll know the meaning if you keep reading. The following paragraph will explain it.” From this example, it is clear that Shelly did not rely on her native language to learn things; rather she is certain that the meaning of unknown word exists in the larger context, so she decides to adopt a

“whole-context strategy” for reading comprehension instead of a “dictionary strategy”.

What is more, Shelly is now viewing both Chinese and English as major tools to communicate. When it comes to casual conversations with peers on smart phone or iPad, she chooses the most convenient typing system to convey the message rather than deciding a language that she is more familiar with to use.

Furthermore, concerning Shelly’s language use during the first semester in the international school, the researcher analyzes the language choices in the diary reports, it is found that Shelly uses an English term to indicate the new knowledge she learned from the Science class. The following excerpt presents the original language in the diary entry (cf. p50).

Science class lǎo shī gěi wǒ men mián huā táng zuò model，gěi lǎo shī jiǎn chá wán jiù kě yǐ chī diào，rán hòu zài huà yì zhāng tú，gěi tóng xué cāi nǐ zuò de

‧ 國

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

43

shì na ge element. (The thirteenth diary of Shelly, December, 6, 2013)

According to the above descriptions of Shelly’s English learning and using experiences, she is undoubtedly equipped with optimal English proficiency to learn in an English-medium environment. Bedsides, K school has its own evaluating method to make sure that the English proficiency of the students they are recruiting are qualified to acquire content knowledge through English as a medium of

instruction.

For Shelly, in a nut shell, her high English proficiency, satisfaction of her own education, and good social relationship create a smooth start of her first semester in the international school, which is enough for her to sense accomplishment as a student.