國小新移民學童英語學習成就、學習態度及學習挑戰之研究 - 政大學術集成

全文

(1)國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士在職專班碩士論文. 指導教授：葉潔宇博士 Advisor: Dr. Chieh-yue Yeh. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. 國小新移民學童英語學習成就、學習態度及學習挑戰之研究. ‧. A Study on New Immigrant Children’s English Learning Achievement,. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. Learning Attitude and Learning Challenge in Elementary School. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. 研究生：陳薇文撰 Wei-wen Chen 中華民國一百零一年七月 July, 2012.

(2) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v.

(3) A Study on New Immigrant Children’s English Learning Achievement, Learning Attitude and Learning Challenge in Elementary School. A Master Thesis Presented to Department of English,. National Chengchi University. 學 ‧. ‧ 國. 立. 政治大. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts. by Wei-wen Chen July, 2012.

(4) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v.

(5) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. I would like to express my deepest appreciation and the most sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Chieh-yu Yeh. Without her patience, guidance, encouragement, advice, inspiration, and profound knowledge, I would not be able to complete my thesis. I thank her for spending long time and a lot of energy reading my drafts and providing thoughtful critics, valuable comments, and helpful suggestions which all direct me to the right direction in the process of my thesis writing.. 政治大 I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. Yow-yu Lin. Without his patiently 立. ‧ 國. 學. teaching and explaining the concept of the statistics to me in my study, I could not have finished my thesis.. ‧. My appreciation also goes to the committee members of my oral defense, Dr,. y. Nat. io. sit. Chen-kuan Chen and Dr. Ming-chung Yu. Their attentive review of my thesis,. n. al. er. constructive advices and comments, and insightful suggestions really help me make my thesis better.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. I also want to thank the fourteen New Immigrant Children who participated in my study. Their optimistic demeanors and delightful outlooks on life really lessen my pressure about teaching low-achievers and make me try to look on the bright side of teaching. My most heartfelt gratitude goes to my parents. Their perpetual love and unfailing support give me the strength and courage in my hardest time of struggles to pursue my master degree. I especially thank my father for his unlimited patience and my mother for her constant nagging. I dedicate my thesis to my Pa and Ma. iii.

(6) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. iv. i Un. v.

(7) TABLE OF CONTENTS. Acknowledgment.……………………………………………………………….……iii Table of Contents………………...…………………………………………………....v List of Tables………………………………………………………………….………xi Chinese Abstract…………………………………………………………………….xiii English Abstract…………………………………………………………………... ...xv. 政治大 Chapter One: Introduction…………………………………………………………..1 立. ‧ 國. 學. Background and Motivation of the Study……………………………………….1 Purpose of the Study……………………………………………………….........3. ‧. Research Questions……………………………………………………………...3. y. Nat. io. sit. Definition of Terms……………………………………………………………...4. n. al. er. Chapter Two: Literature Review……………………………………………………7. Ch. i Un. v. Language Learning Attitude and Learning Achievement……………………….7. engchi. Language Learning Attitude………………………………………………7 Language Learning Achievement…………………………………………7 Relationship between Language Learning Attitude and Language Learning Achievement…………………………………………8 Immigrant Students’ Language Learning Condition in the USA………………..8 Immigrant Students’ English Learning Condition……………………...…9 Immigrant Students’ English Proficiency and General Academic Achievement………………………………………...10 v.

(8) Academic Achievement of NIC………………………………………………..11 NIC’s General Academic Achievement………………………………….11 NIC’s Academic Achievement in the Area of Language Art…………….12 NIC’s Achievement in Language Course………………………….13 NIC’s Achievement in English…………………………………….14 Learning Attitude of NIC………………………………………………………15 NIC’s Learning Attitude toward General Learning Areas…………….…15 NIC’s Learning Attitude toward English………………………………...15. 政治大 Purpose of This Study………………………………………………………….16 立. ‧ 國. 學. Chapter Three: Methodology………………………………………………………17 Participants…………………………………………………………………….17. ‧. Instruments…………………………………………………………………….18. Nat. sit. y. Participants’ Background Questionnaire………………………………...18. n. al. er. io. NIC’s Parents’ Educational Background and Their Careers………19. Ch. i Un. v. NIC’s Mothers’ Nationalities………………………..…………….20. engchi. NIC’s Languages Spoken at Home………………………..…...….21 NIC’s English Learning Background……………………………...23 The English Scores…………………………………………………..…..24 English Learning Attitude Scale………………………………………....24 Group Interview for New Immigrant Children……………………...…..25 Interview for English Teachers……………………………………….….26 Procedure………………………………………………………………………27 Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………..30 vi.

(9) Chapter Four: Results……………………………………………………………....33 Participants’ English Performances: NIC’s vs. TC’s……………...…………...34 Participants’ English Scores……………………………………………..34 t-test Comparison of NIC’s and TC’s English Scores………………..….34 NIC’s English Learning Attitude: NIC’s vs. TC’s……………………………..36 A Summary of the Attitude Scale Results……….....................................42 Correlation between NIC’s English Achievement and Learning Attitude……..43 Results of NIC’s Group Interview………………………………………..……44. 政治大 NIC’s Perception toward Learning English……………………………...44 立. ‧ 國. 學. NIC’s English Learning Environment at Home……………………..…..47 Challenges NIC Face in Learning English at School……………………48. ‧. Results of the Interview for the Two English Teachers…………….………….55. Nat. sit. y. Two English Teachers’ English Teaching Experiences………………….55. n. al. er. io. NIC’s Learning Attitude in English Classes……………………………..56. Ch. i Un. v. NIC’s English Learning Achievement…………………………………...57. engchi. Challenges NIC Usually Face…………………………………………...60 Feasible Ways to Help NIC……………………………………………...63 Summary of Research Discoveries…………………………………………….65 NIC’s English Learning Conditions……………………………………..65 NIC’s Own Perspectives on Their English Learning……………………66 English Teachers’ Perspectives on NIC’s English Learning………...…..68 Chapter Five: Conclusion and Discussion…………………………………………71 Major Findings and Discussions……………………………………………….71 vii.

(10) NIC’s English Achievement……………………………………………..72 NIC’s Attitudes toward Learning English……………………………….73 NIC’s English Learning Attitude vs. TC’s English Learning Attitude… .74 Correlation between NIC’s English Achievements and Learning Attitudes……………………………………………………….74 NIC’s Perspectives about Their English Learning Conditions…………..75 NIC’s Perception toward Learning English……………………….75 NIC’s English Learning Environment at Home…………………...76. 政治大 Challenges NIC Face in Learning English at School……………...77 立. ‧ 國. 學. English Teachers’ Perspectives about NIC’s English. Learning Condition………………………………………………………79. ‧. NIC’s English Learning Attitudes…………………………………79. Nat. io. sit. y. NIC’s Learning Achievement in English………………………….79. n. al. er. English Learning Challenges NIC Face…………………………...80. Ch. i Un. v. Feasible Ways to Help NIC Improve Their English…………...….81. engchi. Implications of the Findings…………………………………………………...82 NIC’s Perspectives vs. English Teachers’ Perspectives…………………83 English Teachers’ Role in NIC’s English Learning……………………..83 NIC’s Families May Have the Most Direct Impact on Their English Learning Conditions……………………………..……84 Positive Attitude May Not Simply Contribute to Better Achievement….84 Limitations of This Study and Recommendations for Further Studies………..85 References………………………………………………………………………........89 viii.

(11) Appendices…………………………………………………………………………...95 Appendix A: Participants’ Background Questionnaire………………………...95 Appendix B: English Learning Attitude Scale…………………………………97 Appendix C: Interview Questions for NIC…………………………………...101 Appendix D: Interview Questions for English Teachers…………………......107 Appendix E: Participants’ Parents’ Consent Form……………………………111 Appendix F: Participants’ Original English Scores…………………………..113 Appendix G: Internal Consistency Reliability of. 政治大 the English Learning Attitude Scale…………………………...115 立. ‧ 國. 學. Appendix H: Average Score of Each Question on. English Learning Attitude Scale……………………………….117. ‧. Appendix I: Partial Verbatim Transcription of NIC’s Group Interview……...121. Nat. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Appendix J: Partial Verbatim Transcription of English Teachers’ Interview…131. Ch. engchi. ix. i Un. v.

(12) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. x. i Un. v.

(13) List of Tables. Table 3.1 NIC’s Gender and Their Mothers’ Nationalities…………………………...20 Table 3.2 Languages Spoken with NIC’s Fathers at Home……………………….….21 Table 3.3 Languages Spoken with NIC’s Mothers at Home…………………..……..22 Table 3.4 NIC’s English Learning Background……………………………………...23 Table 4.1 English Average Scores of All NIC and TC Participants…………………34 Table 4.2 Independent t-test of Participants’ English Scores………………………..35. 政治大 Table 4.3 t-test Comparison – Dimension 1: Students’ Attitude toward 立. ‧ 國. 學. School English Course…………………………………………………….36 Table 4.4 t-test Comparison – Dimension 2: Students’ Attitude toward. ‧. Learning English Autonomously…………………………………………..37. Nat. io. sit. y. Table 4.5 t-test Comparison – Dimension 3: Students’ Attitude toward. n. al. er. Doing English Homework…………………………………………………38. Ch. i Un. v. Table 4.6 t-test Comparison – Dimension 4: Students’ Attitude toward. engchi. the English Teachers……………………………………………………….38 Table 4.7 t-test Comparison – Dimension 5: Students’ Attitude toward the English Teaching at School……………………………………………39 Table 4.8 t-test Comparison – Dimension 6: Students’ Motivation toward English Learning…………………………………………………..………40 Table 4.9 t-test Comparison – Dimension 7: Students’ English Learning Efficacy…………………………………………………41. xi.

(14) Table 4.10 t-test Comparison of NIC’s and TC’s English Learning Attitude as a Whole……………………………………..42 Table 4.11 Pearson Product-moment Correlation of NIC’s English Total Score and English Learning Attitude…………………………………………………44. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. xii. i Un. v.

(15) Chinese Abstract 國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士在職專班碩士論文提要. 論文名稱：國小新移民學童英語學習成就、學習態度及學習挑戰之研究指導教授：葉潔宇教授研究生：陳薇文. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. 論文提要內容：. 由於國小新移民學童的逐年增加，研究新移民學童的學習情況有其必要性。. ‧. 本研究主旨在專門調查中台灣一所國民小學新移民學童的英語學習狀況。研究主. y. Nat. io. sit. 要在探討：(1)新移民學童的英語學習成就；(2)新移民學童的英語學習態度；(3). n. al. er. 新移民學童的英語學習成就與其英語學習態度之關係；(4)新移民學童學習英語. Ch. i Un. v. 所面臨的挑戰；(5)新移民學童對自己英語學習的看法；以及(6)教學現場的英語. engchi. 教師對新移民學童英語學習的看法。. 本研究的研究對象為十四名五、六年級的新移民學童，並以六十名台灣學童做為比照。研究比較七十四名學童的英語成績，且所有七十四名學童完成一份英語學習態度量表。十四名新移民學童則參與一次訪談，兩名教學現場的英語教師也經歷一次訪談。研究所收集的資料經統計分析及質性分析後，所得的結果如下：(1)大部分新移民學童的英語學習成就不佳；(2)大部分新移民學童英語學習態度是正面的；(3) 新移民學童的英語學習成就與其英語學習態度並無相關性； (4)新移民學童面臨的英語學習挑戰不少，包括他們對不同英語老師的教學風格 xiii.

(16) 的適應能力、他們上英語課時產生的焦慮感及緊張感、他們不易牢記英語生字、他們不會寫英語作業、他們沒有辦法去上英語補習班等；(5)新移民學童大部分對自己的英語學習持樂觀看法；(6)英語教師對新移民學童的英語學習則持較悲觀看法。根據本研究的發現，研究者在本研究報告最後提出數點建議及未來相關研究的研究方向。. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. i Un. v. 關鍵字：新移民學童，英語學習成就，英語學習態度，英語學習挑戰. engchi. xiv.

(17) English Abstract. With the increasing of New Immigrant Children in elementary schools, studies to understand New Immigrant Children’s learning conditions become imperative. The purpose of this study was to investigate New Immigrant Children’s English learning conditions in an elementary school in central Taiwan. The study focused on exploring: (1) New Immigrant Children’s English learning achievement; (2) New Immigrant Children’s English learning attitudes; (3) The relationship between New Immigrant. 政治大 Children’s English learning achievement and their learning attitudes; (4) New 立. ‧ 國. 學. Immigrant Children’s English learning challenges; (5) New Immigrant Children’s own perspectives about their English learning; (6) English teachers’ perspectives. ‧. about New Immigrant Children’s English learning.. y. Nat. sit. The participants in this study included 14 New Immigrant Children in fifth and. n. al. er. io. sixth grades, with 60 Taiwanese Children working as comparison. These 74 children’s. Ch. i Un. v. English scores were compared, and they all responded to an English learning attitude. engchi. scale. The 14 New Immigrant Children then underwent a group interview. Two English teachers were also interviewed. The data collected were then analyzed with statistical and qualitative analyses. The following results were drawn: (1) Most New Immigrant Children were English low-achievers; (2) New Immigrant Children’s English learning attitudes were generally positive; (3) No correlation was found between New Immigrant Children’s English learning achievement and their learning attitudes; (4) New Immigrant Children faced several challenges in learning English, including their adaption to different English teachers’ teaching styles, their feelings of xv.

(18) anxiety and nervosity during English classes, their problems to memorize new words and do English homework, their not being able to go to English cram-schools, etc.; (5) New Immigrant Children in general were optimistic about their English learning; (6) English teachers in general were pessimistic about New Immigrant Children’s English learning. Based on the findings of this study, some implications were provided and several suggestions for further studies were offered at the end of the report.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Key Words: New Immigrant Children, English Learning Achievement, English Learning Attitude, English Learning Challenge. xvi.

(19) CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION. Background and Motivation of the Study In recent years, there have been more and more cross-country marriages in Taiwan. More and more families are conjoined by cross-cultural unions. These inter-country families are mostly formed with husbands who are Taiwanese and wives who came from countries other than Taiwan, usually in Southeast Asia. As a result,. 政治大 children spawned from these inter-ethnic marriages are on the increase. These 立. ‧ 國. 學. children are now called New Immigrant Children since one or both of their parents immigrated into Taiwan from countries including Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines,. ‧. Thailand, and so on. New Immigrant Culture is now a special and unique. y. Nat. io. sit. phenomenon in Taiwan and definitely needs to be observed and researched.. n. al. er. All over the world in developed countries, new-born children are on the decrease. Ch. i Un. v. year by year. This universal trend is no exception in Taiwan. While fewer and fewer. engchi. children enter into first grade in elementary schools each year, on the contrary, the proportion of New Immigrant Children entering into elementary schools becomes larger year after year. According to a recent report by Ministry of Education(MOE, 2012), in the year 2011, more than one hundred and ninety thousand New Immigrant Children enrolled in junior high schools and elementary schools all over Taiwan. It is estimated that in 2012, one out of six newcomers in elementary schools will be New Immigrant Children. Because of their peculiar family circumstance, with at least one parent coming from outside of Taiwan, New Immigrant Children’s learning condition 1.

(20) might be different from Taiwanese Children whose parents are both Taiwanese. It is therefore important to look into the different learning situations New Immigrant Children face and their learning outcomes. As New Immigrant Children become a significant part in Taiwan’s educational scheme, studies on New Immigrant Children’s learning are highly in demand. Lately, reports on the academic performance of New Immigrant Children in Language Arts and Mathematics, two main learning areas in Grade 1 – 9 Curriculum, are growing in numbers. The results are generally inconclusive. For the Mandarin performance in. 政治大 Language Arts area, some researchers contended that there is no disparity in 立. ‧ 國. 學. performance between New Immigrant Children and Taiwanese Children. Some researchers purported that New Immigrant Children’s achievements are slightly below. ‧. those of Taiwanese Children. Some studies, however, showed that New Immigrant. y. Nat. io. sit. Children performed way behind Taiwanese Children in Mandarin subject. Similar. n. al. er. inconsistent results were also observed in the area of Mathematics and other areas.. Ch. i Un. v. The discrepancy in research outcomes may be owing to a variety of different variables. engchi. and thus is in need of further investigations.. Since the year 2005, English education has been extended down to grade three in elementary schools in Taiwan. English is now a mandatory subject in elementary school curriculum. All students, including New Immigrant Children have to study English at school. However, studies about New Immigrant Children’s English learning condition and achievement are sparse. Also, according to the researcher’s observations, New Immigrant Children are usually more passive in their English learning. So far, very few studies explored New Immigrant Children’s attitude toward 2.

(21) English learning. It is therefore imperative to have an investigation conducted upon New Immigrant Children’s English achievement and attitude.. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to look into New Immigrant Children’s English learning achievement and learning attitude in an elementary school setting. It further examines the challenges New Immigrant Children face in learning English.. 立. 政治大 Research Questions. ‧ 國. 學. Due to the scarcity of reports about New Immigrant Children’s English learning situation, it is still unclear how New Immigrant Children perform in English in the. ‧. elementary school system. The research addresses the six questions below:. y. Nat. io. sit. 1. How well do New Immigrant Children achieve in the English subject? Are they. n. al. er. generally high-achievers or low-achievers? Are there any differences between. Ch. i Un. v. New Immigrant Children’s English achievement and Taiwanese Children’s English achievement?. engchi. 2. What are New Immigrant Children’s attitudes toward learning English? Do New Immigrant Children generally have a positive attitude or a negative attitude toward English learning at school? Are there any differences between New Immigrant Children’s English learning attitude and Taiwanese Children’s English learning attitude? 3. Is there a correlation between New Immigrant Children’s English achievement and learning attitude? 3.

(22) 4. From the perspectives of New Immigrant Children, what kind of challenges these New Immigrant Children face while they are learning English at school? 5. From the perspectives of English teachers, what are these New Immigrant Children’s English learning conditions in class? What challenges do these New Immigrant Children have to face when learning English? Are there any feasible ways to help these New Immigrant Children?. Definition of Terms Taiwanese Children (TC). 政治大. 立. ‧ 國. 學. In the present study, children whose parents are both Taiwanese are referred to as Taiwanese Children (hereafter referred to as ‘TC’). Children whose mothers came. ‧. from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao are also included as TC because their. Nat. n New Immigrant Children (NIC). sit er. io. al. y. mothers have similar language background as TC’s mothers.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. For nearly two decades, there has been an influx of immigrants from developing countries into Taiwan. Most of these immigrants are females who married Taiwanese males to form international marriages. These immigrant females’ children are called New Immigrant Children (hereafter referred to as ‘NIC’). In this study, NIC refers to children whose mothers came from Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, etc.. 4.

(23) English Learning Achievement In this study, the English learning achievement refers to students’ English Score in the first academic semester of 2010. In this score, both summative assessment score and formative score are included, consisting of 20% mid-term paper-and-pencil test score, 10% pop-up quiz score, 30% oral test score, 20% assignment score (homework, worksheet…), 20% English class participation score.. English Learning Attitude. 政治大 In this study, English learning attitude consists of seven dimensions pertaining 立. ‧ 國. 學. to students’ attitudes toward the English subject: students’ attitude toward school English course, students’ attitude toward learning English, students’ attitude toward. ‧. doing English homework, students’ attitude toward his/her English teacher, students’. Nat. sit. y. attitude toward the English teaching at school, students’ motivation toward English. n. al. er. io. learning, and students’ English learning outcome. A positive English learning attitude. Ch. i Un. v. in the classrooms refers to students’ eagerness to actively take part in all kinds of. engchi. English classroom activities. A negative English learning attitude refers to students’ reluctance to actively participate in classroom activities.. English Learning Challenge In this study, English learning Challenge refers to the challenges students have to face to do well in the English subject. Three aspects of challenges are looked into: students’ own perception toward English learning, students’ English learning environment at home, and students’ English learning at the school setting. 5.

(24) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 6. i Un. v.

(25) 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. 政治大 learning attitude toward English. Fifth, the purpose of this study is restated. 立. ‧ 國. 學. Language Learning Attitude and Learning Achievement. ‧. In this section, the definitions of language learning attitude and language. y. Nat. io. sit. learning achievement are presented. The relationship between language learning. n. al. er. attitude and language learning achievement is also addressed.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. 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 7.

(26) 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. 政治大 learning situation are related to achievement in the second language. Positive attitudes 立. ‧ 國. 學. 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. y. Nat. io. sit. effect of each other. Gardner, as cited by Cochran, McCallum and Bell (2010),. n. al. er. proposed that attitudes and perceptions toward foreign language learning presumably. Ch. i Un. v. contribute to success in learning that language. Brown (2007) also believed that. engchi. 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 8.

(27) 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. 政治大 Concerning immigrant students’ English learning condition in the USA, 立. ‧ 國. 學. 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. y. Nat. io. sit. environment magnified the academic challenges immigrant students faced. Bajaj. n. al. er. (2009) stated that immigrant families today receive less support than ever to learn. Ch. i Un. v. English. Olsen (2000) also expressed a pessimistic view about immigrant students’. engchi. 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 9.

(28) 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. 政治大 cognitive abilities. Limited English proficient students’ frequently poor performance 立. ‧ 國. 學. 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. y. Nat. io. sit. English proficiency is the biggest predictor of the academic achievement of. n. al. er. immigrant students. Hao and Bonstead-Bruns (1998) studied the academic. Ch. i Un. v. achievement of eighth graders from four immigrant groups and three native groups. engchi. 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 10.

(29) 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. 政治大 schools, including studies on NIC’s general achievement and studies focusing on 立 ‧. ‧ 國. 學. specific subjects, such as language courses.. NIC’s General Academic Achievement. Nat. io. sit. y. Studies on NIC’s general academic achievement yields different results. Some. n. al. er. reports contended that NIC do as well as TC in various learning areas. For instance,. Ch. i Un. v. Cheng (2004) compared fifty NIC’s performance on intelligence, language ability and. engchi. 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 11.

(30) 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. 政治大 in the overall learning in elementary schools. Ko (2004) conducted a comparative 立. ‧ 國. 學. 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. Nat. sit. y. Achievement Test to compare 218 NIC’s and 218 TC’s academic performance and. n. al. er. io. concluded that NIC’s academic achievements were poor compared to TC’s. Wang et. Ch. i Un. v. al. (2006) conducted a comprehensive survey on NIC’s academic achievement. NIC. engchi. 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 12.

(31) 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;. 政治大 Chen, 2004; Huang, 2005; Yeh, 2005; Lee, 2006). The results were inconclusive. 立. ‧ 國. 學. 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. Nat. io. sit. y. investigate NIC’s academic performance in Tainan County and observed that NIC. n. al. er. performed as well as their peers in learning Mandarin phonetic symbols and Chinese language.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. 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 13.

(32) 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. 政治大 Pingtung County. A written English literacy test was administered to find out the 立. ‧ 國. 學. 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. y. Nat. sit. rural areas in Taichung County. The English reading and writing proficiency exam. n. al. er. io. was used to identify students’ English learning achievement in four schools in urban. Ch. i Un. v. or rural areas. It was found that English reading and writing achievement of NIC in. engchi. 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.. 14.

(33) 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. 政治大 Most studies regarding NIC’s learning attitude toward general learning areas 立. ‧ 國. 學. 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. Nat. sit. y. questionnaires to inspect NIC’s learning attitude in Hsinchu City and concluded that. n. al. er. io. NIC’s overall attitude toward learning was better than moderate. She also indicated. Ch. i Un. v. that there were significant correlations between NIC’s learning attitude and academic. engchi. 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 15.

(34) 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. 政治大 courses. The results of these studies were inconsistent. A few reports investigated the 立. ‧ 國. 學. 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,. Nat. io. sit. y. 2009). So, NIC’s English learning was still an under-researched area. To date, no. n. al. er. research had been conducted upon the challenges NIC face when learning the English. Ch. i Un. v. language in Taiwan. No research had been conducted upon the relationship among. engchi. 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.. 16.

(35) CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY. This study aims to investigate New Immigrant Children’s English learning achievement, learning attitude and learning challenges. This chapter deals with the methodology of the research, including the introduction of the participants, the instruments, the procedures, and data analysis.. 立. 政治大 Participants. ‧ 國. 學. The participants in this research include two groups of students and two English teachers. All participants come from the public elementary school the researcher. ‧. teaches in a county in central Taiwan. The school is located in the semi-urban area of. y. Nat. io. sit. the county with five to seven classes in each grade, making the total classes. n. al. er. thirty-seven in the school. Each class contains about thirty students. Because of its. Ch. i Un. v. location, the school can represent a mix of both urban and rural schools. Students in. engchi. this school come from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and their academic performances are heterogenous. According to the school’s English curriculum, all students are required to attend two forty-minute sessions of English class each week from grade three to grade six. The first group of participants consists of NIC and the second group consists of TC. All NIC in fifth and six grades except those whose mothers are from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao were asked to participate in this investigation, including nine students in fifth grade and five students in sixth grade. All students in fifth grade were taught by one English teacher, while all 17.

(36) students in sixth grade were taught by the other English teacher. Students in fifth and sixth grades were chosen because they are old enough and have the maturity to clearly express their feelings and viewpoints. Moreover, in fifth and sixth grades, they have been learning English for two to three years at school, so their English learning achievement would not fluctuate too much and would be stable. Children whose mothers were from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao would be viewed as TC because they have similar L1 language backgrounds as children whose parents are both Taiwanese. As for the other group of children, one class in fifth and six grades. 政治大 were randomly chosen as comparison group. A total of fourteen NIC and sixty TC 立. ‧ 國. 學. took part in this study. Two English teachers teaching at the school, one is a formal teacher and the other is an experienced substitute teacher, also participated in this. ‧. study.. n. er. io. Ch. sit. y. Nat. al. Instruments. i Un. v. The instruments employed in this study include NIC’s Background. engchi. Questionnaire, the English Scores of all student participants, English Learning Attitude Scale of all student participants, a Semi-structured NIC Group Interview, and an Interview for English Teachers.. Participants’ Background Questionnaire This background questionnaire is designed to collect a comprehensive background data of all participants. Most questions in this questionnaire are multiple-choice questions with some open-ended questions. The construction of this 18.

(37) questionnaire is based up Yang’s research (2009). In this questionnaire, participants were asked to answer questions such as “Which class are you in?”, “Are you a male or a female?”, “What language do you usually speak at home?”, “Which country do your mother come from?”, “What is your mother’s native language?”, “Does your mother talk to you in her native language at home?”, “What is your father’s profession?”, “What is your mother’s profession?”, “Do you have prior experience in learning English before third grade?”, “Do you go to English cram-school after school?”, “Does your father/mother help your review your English homework?”, etc.. 政治大 For a review of the entire questionnaire, please refer to Appendix A. The following 立. ‧ 國. 學. section presents the background information of NIC collected with this Background Questionnaire.. ‧. Nat. sit. y. NIC’s Parents’ Educational Background and Their Careers. n. al. er. io. With the exception of four NIC, most NIC’s fathers and mothers have an. Ch. i Un. v. educational level lower than high schools. Five of these NIC’s fathers are workers,. engchi. and three of them are unemployed. NIC’s mothers are mostly housewives, with four of them helping their husbands with their work, and two of them doing handiwork to help support the family. According to the Background Questionnaire, most of these NIC come from low socio-economic status families.. 19.

(38) NIC’s Mothers’ Nationalities Table 3.1 NIC’s Gender and Their Mothers’ Nationalities No.*. Grade th. Gender. Mother’s Nationality. NIC-1. 5. Female. Vietnam. NIC-2. 5th. Male. Vietnam. NIC-3. th. Female. Indonesia. NIC-4. 5. th. Female. Indonesia. NIC-5. 5th. Female. Vietnam. NIC-6. th. Male. Vietnam. th. Male. Vietnam. th. Male. Vietnam. Male. Indonesia. 6. Female. The Philippines. 6th. Male. Indonesia. Female. Vietnam. 5. 5. NIC-7** NIC-8. 5 5. th. NIC-9. 5. NIC-10. 6th. NIC-11. th th. th. NIC-14** 6. ‧. ‧ 國. NIC-13. 6. 學. NIC-12. 立. 政治 Male Indonesia 大 Male Vietnam. *NIC’s numbers are arranged according to which class they are in.. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. **7 and 14 are siblings.. i Un. v. Table 3.1 shows the fourteen NIC’s mothers’ nationalities. Eight of them came. Ch. engchi. from Vietnam, five from Indonesia, and one from The Philippines. NIC-5, 6, 7, and 14’s parents are divorced, and they all reside with their fathers. NIC-5’s mother visits her often. NIC-7 and 14’s mother visits them occasionally. NIC-6’s mother never visits him.. 20.

(39) NIC’s Languages Spoken at Home Table 3.2 Languages Spoken with NIC’s Fathers at Home No.. Grade. NIC-1. 5. NIC-2. 5th. NIC-3. th. NIC-5. 5th. NIC-6. th. NIC-9. 100% Hakka Wa (100%) 100% 50%. 50%. 5. 100%. th. 100%. th. 100%. 5 5. th. 5. 立. th. NIC-11 6. NIC-14 6. 100% 100% 100%. ‧. th. ‧ 國. NIC-13 6th. 100%. 學. NIC-12 6. 政治大40% 80%% 20% 60%. NIC-10 6th th. Others. 100%. th. 5. NIC-8. Taiwanese Dialect. 5. NIC-4. NIC-7. Mandarin. th. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. Table 3.2 shows that NIC mostly communicate with their fathers in Mandarin or. i Un. v. Taiwanese Dialect at home. NIC-3 communicates with her father in Hakka Wa (客家話) mostly.. Ch. engchi. 21.

(40) Table 3.3 Languages Spoken with NIC’s Mothers at Home No.. Grade. NIC-1. 5th. NIC-2. 5th. NIC-3. 5th. NIC-4. 5th. NIC-5. 5th. NIC-6. 5th. Taiwanese Dialect. Mandarin 80%. Vietnamese (20%). 100%. Vietnamese (0%). 80%. Indonesian (10%). 90%. Hakka Wa (10%). 80%. Vietnamese (20%). NIC-9. 5th. ‧ 國. 5. Vietnamese. 100%. (0%) Vietnamese (0%). Nat. 100%. sit Indonesian. a l 10% (10%) i v n Ch e n g cVietnamese hi U. n. 80%. 40%. er. io. NIC-11 6th. 60%. y. 100%. NIC-10 6th. (0%). th. NIC-12 6. NIC-13 6th NIC-14 6th. (0%). ‧. NIC-8. th. Hakka Wa (10%). 學. 5th. Others. 政治大 Vietnamese. He doesn’t know. His mother never visits him.. 立. NIC-7. Mother’s Native Tongue. Filipino (90%) 100%. Hakka Wa (0%). 100%. Vietnamese (0%). English (10%). Table 3.3 shows that most NIC communicate with their mothers in Mandarin at home. NIC-12’s mother talks to her in Filipino daily (90%) and English occasionally 22.

(41) (10%). NIC-5, 6, 7, and 14’s parents are divorced. When NIC-5’s mother visits her, she talks to her mostly (80%) in Mandarin and occasionally in Vietnamese (20%). When NIC-7 and 14’s (they are siblings) mother visits them, she talks to them completely in Mandarin. NIC-6’s mother never visits him, so he doesn’t know what language his mother will speak to him. NIC-6, however, talks to his father completely in Taiwanese Dialect.. NIC’s English Learning Background. 立. 政治大. Table 3.4 NIC’s English Learning Background. 5. 5. th. 6. 5th. 7. 5. th. 8. 5th. 9. 5th. y. 5th. Mother. sit. 4. √ √. a√l. √. Ch. er. 5. ‧ 國. 3. th. Review English with Someone’s Help. ‧. 5th. n. 2. io. 5th. Go to English Cram School After School. Nat. 1. Start Learning English Before 3rd Grade. 學. No. Grade. n engchi U. √. iv. Older Sister. √ Older brother. th. 10. 6. 11. 6th. √. 12. th. √. th. √. 6. 13. 6. 14. 6th. √. Mother Mother. Table 3.4 shows that only three out of the fourteen (21%) NIC go to English cram-schools after school, which is well below the estimated 75% ratio of TC that go 23.

(42) to cram-schools. Five of these NIC receive help from their mothers or older siblings at home in learning English.. The English Scores In this study, all student participants’ English learning achievement were represented by their English Scores. The English teachers in the school discussed the criteria to evaluate students’ English performances at the beginning of each academic year. In these English scores, students’ formative assessment results and summative. 政治大 assessment results such as paper-and-pencil test scores, oral test scores, assignment 立. ‧ 國. 學. scores, and English class participation scores in the first semester of 2010 of all student participants were collected and compared.. ‧ y. Nat. sit. English Learning Attitude Scale. n. al. er. io. An English Learning Attitude Scale adapted from Chen’s study (2004) is used to. Ch. i Un. v. look into participants’ English learning attitude. All student participants were asked to. engchi. fill out the English Learning Attitude Scale. Results of the scale would be computed, analyzed and compared. This four-point Likart-type scale has been adopted in a lot of studies pertaining to English learning attitude and has both content validity and high reliability (α=.9479). The attitude scale is divided into six dimensions: (1) Students’ attitude toward school English course; (2) Students’ attitude toward learning English autonomously; (3) Students’ attitude toward doing English homework; (4) Students’ attitude toward the English teacher; (5) Students’ attitude toward the English teaching at school; (6) Students’ motivation toward English learning. A seventh dimension 24.

(43) pertaining to students’ English learning efficacy was added to examine whether or not students’ achievement meet the demands made by MOE’s English Curriculum Guidelines. All of the questions in this scale were discussed and adjusted by the researcher and her advisor before formalization to ensure validity. Eleven elementary school teachers teaching the fifth and sixth grades and a university TESOL professor were consulted to further ensure the content validity of the scale. Items not suitable for this research were rejected. Cronbach α coefficient was measured to insure internal consistency reliability. The Cronbach α Coefficient of this attitude scale is. 政治大 0.967 (Appendix G), which denotes that this scale has a very high internal consistency 立 ‧. ‧ 國. B.. 學. reliability. For a review of the entire attitude questionnaire, please refer to Appendix. y. Nat. sit. Group Interview for New Immigrant Children. n. al. er. io. In order to get an in-depth understanding about students’ perception about their. Ch. i Un. v. English learning, a semi-structured group interview was employed in this study to. engchi. learn more about students’ English achievement, attitude and learning challenges. NIC in five and six grades were asked to attend a group interview to discuss about their achievement, their attitude, and the challenges they face while learning English. As Nunan (1992) contended that “semi-structured interview gives interviewee a degree of power and control over the course of the interview. It also gives the interviewer a great deal of flexibility. Most importantly, it gives one privileged access to other people’s lives.”, it would be suitable to be applied in this study to learn more about NIC’s English learning situation. In the interview, three aspects about English 25.

(44) learning challenge were investigated. The first aspect looked into participants’ own perception toward learning the English subject. Question such as “Do you work hard to learn English? How?”, “What do you think you can do to learn English well?” were asked. The second aspect looked into participants’ English learning environment at home. Questions such as “Do you review English at home?”, “Does your father/mother help you review your English at home?” were discussed. The third aspect looked into the challenges participants face in learning English at the school setting. Questions such as “Do you enjoy learning English at school?”, “Do you think. 政治大 it is difficult to learn English at school? Why?” were asked. All questions in the 立. ‧ 國. 學. interview were generated by discussions and negotiations among the researcher and her English-teaching colleagues to ensure their adequacy. Before implementation, the. ‧. researcher discussed with her advisor about each question to make sure that each. y. Nat. interview questions, please refer to Appendix C.. n. al. Ch. engchi. er. io. sit. question was appropriate to answer the research question. For a review of the entire. i Un. v. Interview for English Teachers A semi-structured interview exploring English teachers’ perspectives about students’ English learning is designed by the researcher. Two English teachers, one formal teacher with four years experience in teaching elementary school English, the other substitute teacher with more than eight years experience in teaching English, participated in an interview to share their experiences and opinions about NIC’s English learning situation. These two English teachers were the only English teachers other than the researcher herself teaching at the school at the time of the study. The 26.

(45) two English teachers were given a list of NIC and asked by the researcher a half year earlier to pay special attention to NIC’s learning behaviors in their English classes. All the interview questions were generated through discussions between the researcher and her advisor. In this interview, teachers’ viewpoints about NIC’s English learning achievement, attitude and challenges were discussed. Teachers were encouraged to elaborate on their perspectives about NIC’s English learning situation. Teachers were also encouraged to come up with some feasible ways to help English-learning low-achieving students. For a review of the entire interview questions, please refer to Appendix D.. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學 Procedure. ‧. The procedures (See Figure 3.1) in this study are as followed:. y. Nat. sit. Before conducting the study, a form (Appendix E) asking for student. n. al. er. io. participants’ consent to take part in this study was given to all potential participants to. Ch. i Un. v. take home to their parents. In this form the purpose and procedure of this study were. engchi. briefly explained. Potential participants’ parents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with their children’s partaking in this study. If they disagreed, their children would simply be dropped out of this research. All the participants’ names and identities would be kept in secret.. 27.

(46) Figure 3.1 shows the procedures of this study.. Figure 3.1 Procedures of the Study. Asking for participants’ consent. NIC’s Background Questionnaire. English Score of all participants. 立. 政治大. 學. ‧ 國. English Learning Attitude Scale of all participants. NIC Group Interview. Data Analysis. n. al. Ch. engchi. er. io. sit. y. ‧. Nat. Interview for English Teachers. i Un. v. Result and Conclusion. For the formal study, first, all NIC were given a Background Questionnaire to fill out. They could take this questionnaire home to finish it with the help of their parents and then return it back to the researcher. Second, all student participants’ English scores, including NIC’s and TC’s, were collected. 28.

(47) Third, all participants were gathered together at the same time to fill out English Learning Attitude Scale at school. The participants had forty minutes to finish this scale. All participants were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with these questions by marking one of the four responses ranging from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’. When ‘strongly agree’ was marked, the participant scored ‘4’ points in that question; when ‘agree’ was marked, ‘3’ points was scored; when ‘disagree’ was marked, ‘2’ points was scored; when ‘strongly disagree’ was marked, ‘1’ point was scored. The mean score of the forty-five questions stood. 政治大 for the participant’s attitude toward learning English. The higher the mean score was, 立. ‧ 國. 學. the more positive the participant’s attitude toward learning English was. The score for the reverse-coded questions in this scale would be the opposite of the positive-coded. ‧. questions, which meant that the higher the score was, the more negative the. Nat. io. sit. y. participant’s attitude toward learning English was.. n. al. er. Fourth, a group interview for NIC was conducted in this study. The researcher. Ch. i Un. v. notified these participants one week before the interview to assure their participations.. engchi. The day before the interview, the researcher informed these participants to confirm their attendances. The participants sat in circle with the researcher in the center of the circle and took turns answering the questions. Discussions in the interview were recorded and transcribed for further analysis. Finally, the two English teachers in the school negotiated with the researcher for an appropriate time for the interview. Discussions in the interview were recorded and transcribed for further analysis.. 29.

(48) Data Analysis The SPSS/PC 18.0 for Windows was used for quantitative data analysis. In this study, descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, and Pearson product-moment correlation were adopted to answer different research questions. To answer research question 1: “How well do NIC achieve in 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?”, independent sample t-test was used to compare NIC’s English scores and TC’s English scores to. 政治大 find out whether NIC were high-achievers or low-achievers in the English subject, 立 ‧. ‧ 國. achievement.. 學. and whether there was a significant difference between NIC’s and TC’s English. To answer research question 2: “What was NIC’s attitude toward learning. y. Nat. io. sit. English? Did NIC generally have a positive attitude or a negative attitude toward. n. al. er. English learning at school? Are there any differences between New Immigrant. Ch. i Un. v. Children’s English learning attitude and Taiwanese Children’s English learning. engchi. attitude?”, the scores of all the participants’ responses to the questions on the four-point Likart-type attitude scale were computed. Descriptive statistics was used to illustrate NIC’s and TC’s English attitudes. Independent sample t-tests were then adopted to compare the scores of NIC and the scores of TC to find out whether there existed a discrepancy between NIC’s and TC’s English learning attitude. The scores of the respective seven dimensions and the whole attitude scale would all be compared to find out if there were significant differences. To answer research question 3: “Was there a correlation between NIC’s English 30.

(49) achievement and learning attitude?”, Pearson product-moment correlation would be performed to examine the relationship between individual NIC’s English achievement and learning attitude. To answer research question 4: “What kind of challenges do these NIC face while they are learning English at school?”, the verbatim transcription of NIC’s group interview was organized by the researcher into appropriate categories on the basis of the pre-determined three aspects: (1) NIC’s own perception toward learning the English subject; (2) NIC’s English learning environment at home; (3) The challenges. 政治大 NIC face in learning English at the school setting. Common themes were singled out 立. ‧ 國. 學. for further exploration.. To answer research question 5: “What are English teachers perceptions about. ‧. these NIC’s English learning?”, the verbatim transcription of the interview for English. y. Nat. sit. teachers was examined by the researcher. The content of the transcription was. n. al. er. io. analyzed on the basis of the three aspects: (1) NIC’s English learning condition; (2). Ch. i Un. v. Challenges NIC face when learning English; (3) Feasible ways to help NIC improve their English.. engchi. 31.

(50) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 32. i Un. v.

(51) 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. 政治大 section answers Research Question 2 - What is NIC’s attitude toward learning English? 立. ‧ 國. 學. 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. Nat. io. sit. y. Question 3 - Is there a correlation between NIC’s English achievement and learning. n. al. er. attitude? The fourth section shows the results of the interview for NIC to answer. Ch. i Un. v. Research Question 4 - From the perspective of NIC, what kind of challenges these. engchi. 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.. 33.

(52) 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. 治 Children 政 Taiwanese 5 Graders 大. New Immigrant Children th. th. th. 6 Graders. Average:. 立. Average: 82.30. Average: 89.73. 80.69. 6th Graders. 學. Average: 79.79. ‧ 國. 5 Graders. Average:. Average: 88.39 89.06. ‧. *For the original English scores of all NIC and TC participants, please refer to Appendix F.. y. Nat. al. er. io. sit. Table 4.1 shows that all NIC’s English mean score is 80.69, while all TC’s. v. n. English mean score is 89.06. It appears that NIC perform not as well as TC on the English subject.. Ch. engchi. i Un. 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.. 34.