大高雄地區高中英文教師使用溝通式教學法教科書教學實務之研究 - 政大學術集成

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(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. Yeh, Chieh Yu. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. 大高雄地區高中英文教師使用溝通式教學法教科書教學實務之研究. ‧. A Study of Senior High School English Teachers’ Classroom Practices. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. with CLT-based Textbooks in Greater Kaohsiung Area. Ch. engchi. i n U. 研究生：余孟樵撰 Meng-chiao Yu 中華民國 99 年 5 月 May, 2010. v.

(2) A Study of Senior High School English Teachers’ Classroom Practices with CLT-based Textbooks in Greater Kaohsiung Area. A Master Thesis Presented to Department of English,. 政治大 National Chengchi University 立 ‧. ‧ 國. 學 sit. y. Nat. n. er. io. In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of a l Master of Arts iv. Ch. n U engchi. By Meng-chiao Yu May, 2010.

(3) Acknowledgements. My deepest thanks go to my professor, Prof. Chieh-yu Yeh, for her inspiring guidance and advice throughout my research for this work. Her encouragement gave me confidence and strength to complete this thesis. I am also grateful to the committee members of my thesis, Prof. Chen-Kuan Chen and Prof. Yi-Ping Huang, who were willing to spend time reading my thesis and attending the oral defense. Their insightful comments and suggestions have helped. 政治大 Finally, I would like to extend my heart-felt thanks to my family. My parents’ 立. better my study.. endless love and support, and especially my husband’s dedication have made this. ‧ 國. 學. work possible.. ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. iii. i n U. v.

(4) Table of Contents. Acknowledgements……………………………………………..…………………...iii Table of Contents……………………..……………………………………………..iv List of Tables………………………………………..……………………………….vi Chinese Abstract………………………………….…………………...……………vii. 政治大 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION………………….……………………………1 立 English Abstract………………………………………..……………..…………...viii. Background of the Research……………………...……………………………..1. 1.2. Motivation of the Study…………………………………………………………5. 1.3. Purposes and Research Questions………………………………………………6. 1.4. Significance of the Study………………………………………………………..7. 1.5. Overview of the Study…………………………………………………………...8. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. 1.1. er. io. sit. y. Nat. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW………………...……………………10. al. n. v i n C School Revision of Senior High Curriculum Standards in Taiwan……10 U h e nEnglish i h gc. 2.1 2.2. Language Teaching Materials…………………………………………………..12. 2.2.1 Physical property of language teaching materials………………...……………13 2.2.2 Content of language teaching materials……………………..…………………15 2.3. Communicative Language Teaching……………………...……………………17. 2.3.1 Communicative competence…………………………...………………………18 2.3.2 Characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching………………..………21 2.3.3 Communicative activities………………………………………………………26 2.3.4 PPP Approach to CLT…………………………………………………………..26 2.4. Teachers’ Beliefs and Teaching Practices………………………………………29 iv.

(5) CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY…………………...……………………..39 3.1. Subjects………………………………...…..…...….……………….…………39. 3.2. Instrument…………………………………………….…………….………….41. 3.2.1 Pilot Study…………………………...……..……………...……….………….41 3.2.2 Questionnaire…………………………...…………………………...…………42 3.3 Procedures…………………………….………………………………………..45 3.4. Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………..46. CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS……………………….…………………….……….47 4.1 4.2. 政治大 Results of Research Questions…………………………………………………48 立 Basic Information of Questionnaire Subjects………………………….………47. 4.2.1 Results of Research Question 1……………………………………….………..49. ‧ 國. 學. 4.2.2 Results of Research Question 2……………………………………….………..50. ‧. 4.2.3 Results of Research Question 3……………………………………….………..51. sit. y. Nat. 4.2.4 Results of Research Question 4……………………………………….………..52. io. er. 4.2.5 Results of Research Question 5…………………………………….…………..64 4.2.6 Results of Research Question 6……………………………….………………..66. al. n. v i n C h AND CONCLUSION………………………….68 CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION engchi U. 5.1 Summary……………………………...………………...………….…………….68 5.2 Findings and Discussion…………………………………………………………70 5.3 Pedagogical Implications and Suggestions………………………………………78 5.4 Limitations of the Study and Recommendations for Future Studies…………….81 5.5 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….82 References………………………………………………...…………………………85 Appendix A: Questionnaire (Chinese)…………………………………………….94 Appendix B: Questionnaire (English)……………………………………………..98. v.

(6) List of Tables. Chart 2.1 Clark and Peterson’s (1986) Model of Teachers’ Thought and Action…....34 Table 3.1 Distribution of the Subjects………………………………………….…….40 Table 4.1 Percentage of English as Instruction Language……..…………….……....49 Table 4.2 Time allocation for Presentation, Practice and Production Stages…….…..50 Table 4.3 Classroom Practices Distribution in Presentation, Practice and Production. 政治大 Table 4.4 Classroom Practices in terms of Teaching…….………………….……….53 立 Stages……………………………………….…………………….……….51. Table 4.5 Classroom Practices in terms of Listening……………………….……….56. ‧ 國. 學. Table 4.6 Classroom Practices in terms of Speaking………………………….……..57. ‧. Table 4.7 Classroom Practices in terms of Reading…………………….………..59. sit. y. Nat. Table 4.8 Classroom Practices in terms of Writing………………………….………60. io. er. Table 4.9 Classroom Practices in terms of Grammar………………………….…….62 Table 4.10 Classroom Practices in terms of Assignment……………………….……63. al. n. v i n C hSubjects’ Backgrounds Table 4.11 Correlation between and Instruction Guidelines..65 engchi U. Table 4.12 Correlation between Subjects’ Backgrounds and Classroom Practices….65 Table 4.13 Classification of Activities in Production Stage…………………………67. vi.

(7) 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：大高雄地區高中英文教師使用溝通式教學法教科書教學實務之研究. 指導教授：葉潔宇博士. 研究生：余孟樵. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. 論文提要內容：本研究旨在探討用溝通式教學法所編寫之教科書對高中英文教師教學實務之影響，並試圖了解高中英文教師教學實務是否符合教育部頒布的高中英文教學要領。本研究以問卷調查方式進行，對象為大高雄地區(高雄縣市)21 所高中的 254 位高中英文教師，共計回收問卷 205 份，回收率為 80.7%。問卷內容改編自 Littlewood (1981)溝通模式及教育部頒布的高中英文教學要領。本研究主要結果摘要如下： 1. 部份符合溝通式教學法的項目為授課語言、文法教學、課堂時間分配及溝通式活動等四項。 2. 多數高中老師花最多課堂時間在講授課程，練習活動次之，最少時間於英文說寫活動。 3. 多數高中老師的課堂活動主要為溝通前之練習，而非溝通式活動。 4. 老師的教學實務包括聽力、口說、閱讀及寫作較符合溝通式教學法之精神。 5. 和男性教師相較之下，女性教師的教學較符合高中英文教學要領且和溝通式教學法有正相關。此外，和未修過 TESOL 教師相較之下，修過 TESOL 之教師的教學也和溝通式教學法有正相關。根據問卷調查結果，本研究最後提供相關建議以供參考。. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. vii. i n U. v.

(8) Abstract. The major purpose of this study is to know how English teachers conduct teaching activities concerning four skills in their classes with CLT-based textbooks. In spite of the popularity and prevalence of CLT approach, it is by no means applied and practiced without any impediments or constraints. In actual teaching practice, there exist a variety of differences for senior high school English teachers when conducting teaching activities with CLT-based textbooks. In this study, the focus will be on senior. 政治大 Kaohsiung area. In addition, the consistency of teachers’ classroom practices and the 立 high school English teachers’ teaching practices with CLT-based textbooks in greater. Instruction Guidelines is examined as well.. ‧ 國. 學. The 254 participants selected in this study were English teachers from 21. ‧. different senior high schools in greater Kaohsiung area. 205 questionnaires were. sit. y. Nat. collected from the targeted 254 respondents, yielding a return rate of 80.7%. The. io. er. questions in the questionnaires were mainly adapted from the communicativeness model of Littlewood (1981) and the Instruction Guidelines issued by the Ministry of. n. al. Education.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The major findings are summarized as follows: 1. Instruction language, grammar teaching, classroom time for PPP and the communicativeness of activities conformed only partially to the creed of CLT. 2. Senior high school English teachers spent most of the classroom time for presentation, less time for practice, and least time for production. 3. Most teachers’ classroom activities were mainly pre-communicative activities, instead of communicative ones. 4. Teachers’ teaching practices, including listening, speaking, reading and writing, are consistent with the core of CLT. viii.

(9) 5. Female senior high school teachers conform more to the Instruction Guidelines and correlated more positively in classroom practices than male teachers. Besides gender, teachers who had taken TESOL-related courses before correlated more positively in classroom practices than those who did not. Based on the findings, some suggestions have been made for pedagogical implications and further studies. The limitations of the study are mentioned as well.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. ix. i n U. v.

(10) Chapter One Introduction Background The importance of English cannot be overemphasized, globally and domestically speaking. There are approximately 570 million people in the world today who have a native or native-like command of English. That is, no other language has. 政治大. spread around the world so extensively (Crystal, 1997). Therefore, the field of English. 立. language teaching is noteworthy.. ‧ 國. 學. According to the Nine-year Integrated Curriculum Guidelines for Junior and. ‧. Elementary School Education issued by the Ministry of Education of Taiwan, English. Nat. io. sit. y. has become one of the required courses in primary schools. Teaching English to the. er. pupils in fifth and sixth grades in primary schools was first implemented in Taiwan in. al. n. v i n 2001. Three years later, in 2004,C the hgovernment i U lowered the age of English e n g c hfurther. learning to the third grade. The policy implied that English is increasingly important for students in Taiwan. People in Taiwan learn English as a Foreign Language because English is neither an official language nor a native language. Classroom is the main place for English learning; curriculum is the vital source for English studying. Although students do well on discrete-point tests, many of them fail to react spontaneously in real communication. To have students develop communicative. 1.

(11) 2. abilities, such as interpretation and negotiation (Richards & Rogers, 1986), various communicative drills and activities are designed to provide opportunities for students to use English in class. English language teaching (ELT) is a heated issue not only for the authority but English teachers as well. Bower (1986) pointed out that successful language teaching was decided by political, social, affective, economic and many other factors. The. 政治大. language instruction materials and textbooks should be taken into consideration.. 立. Instructional materials are important because studies (Durkin, 1983; Gollnick, Sadker. ‧ 國. 學. & Sadker 1980; Komoski, 1985) have shown that most of the classroom time is spent. ‧. on instructional materials. In addition, Cunningworth (1995) further pointed out that. Nat. io. sit. y. course books have multiple roles in English language teaching and can serve as:. al. er. 1. a resource for presentation materials (spoken and written),. n. v i n C hpractice and communicative 2. a source of activities for learner interaction, engchi U 3. a reference source for learners on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc. 4. a source of stimulation and ideas for classroom language activities, 5. a syllabus (where they reflect learning objectives which have already been determined), 6. a resource for self-directed learning or self-access work, and 7. a support for less experienced teachers who have yet to gain in confidence..

(12) 3. (Cunningsworth, 1995, p.7) Textbooks do play a crucial role in English language teaching. In Taiwan, the right to select English textbooks had not been granted to English teachers until 1999. In 1999, the Ministry of Education released the right of textbook compilation to publishers. Before that, English textbook in Taiwan used to be compiled and published by National Institution for Compilation and Translation (NICT). All senior. 政治大. high schools around the island used the same English textbooks. Needless to say, this. 立. failed to meet the different needs of teachers and students, whose English proficiency. ‧ 國. 學. levels vary greatly. The centralization and standardization of teaching materials has its. ‧. own merits and demerits. Yang (1988) listed the following advantages of centralized. io. sit. y. Nat. textbooks.. n. al. er. 1. It saves the teacher quite a bit of preparation time in terms of selecting and. Ch. engchi. creating teaching materials before classes.. i n U. v. 2. The quality of the contents is under central control so there will be few problems of censorship of the contents. 3. The centralized teaching materials also provide a controlled battery of testing items, in terms of quantity, quality, and level. (p. 11) Although the traditional centralized textbooks enjoy the above advantages, there are inevitably some criticisms. The centralized textbooks are often criticized due to.

(13) 4. the standardized selection of articles, without taking different students’ needs into consideration. All senior high students in Taiwan, regardless of their English proficiency, use the same set of textbooks. The uniformity of article selection in centralized textbooks is another disadvantage. The articles embodied in centralized textbooks tend to be out of date and lack diversity and articles about current affairs are not eligibly included.. 政治大. Due to the dissatisfaction with the traditional English education, the Ministry of. 立. Education has initiated a series of reforms in the English curriculum. One of the most. ‧ 國. 學. important moves in this direction is the incorporation of Communicative Language. ‧. Teaching (hereafter CLT) into the standards of the English curriculum for junior high. Nat. io. sit. y. and senior high schools. To meet the requirements of the new curriculum, new. al. er. textbooks are designed based on CLT approach. The ultimate aim of the new. n. v i n C h students’ linguistic curriculum and textbooks is to develop e n g c h i U repertoire and. communicative ability (Chang & Huang, 2001; Huang & Huang, 2000, Wang, 2001). This year is the tenth year since textbook liberation and it is worth examining how senior high school English teachers design teaching activities in their teaching practices concerning four skills with CLT-based textbooks. Further, whether teachers conduct teachings in accordance with the Instruction Guidelines was examined in the study as well..

(14) 5. Motivation The present study is motivated from the researcher’s five-year English teaching experience in senior high school. During the five years of teaching, the researcher keeps hearing complaints from some experienced teachers, who used to teach with the centralized textbooks. Those teachers claimed that the old centralized textbooks were better than the currently used ones in terms of teaching practices. One researcher. 政治大. (Chen, 2002) summarized the discussions about the currently used CLT-based. 立. textbook as follows:. ‧ 國. 學. 1. The content was too rich and the activities are too many to be finished within the. ‧. Nat. io. sit. curriculum, were reduced in the new curriculum.. y. time limit because the instruction hours for English, compared with the old. al. er. 2. The most dominate teaching approach in recent years has been the. n. v i n C h with the students Communicative Approach. Compared e n g c h i U in the past, students using the new textbooks spent more time on the exercises of speaking. As a result, the students were more skillful in speaking English. They spent relatively less time doing grammar exercises.. 3. Compared with the old textbooks published by Ministry of Education, the new textbooks published by commercial publishers were less literary. Thus, the students were less capable of appreciating the beauty of literature.. (p. 3).

(15) 6. Various opinions from experienced teachers concerning teaching practices with the CLT-based textbooks keep coming out. CLT-based textbooks do influence English teachers. How CLT-based textbooks influence English teachers in terms of teaching practices is what the researcher attempts to find out. Besides, the researcher is concerned with whether teachers’ language instructions conform to the Instruction Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education. Thus, the researcher decides to have a. 政治大. deeper investigation into these questions and tries to clarify teachers’ time allocation. 立. Purposes and Research Questions. 學. ‧ 國. and language learning activities with CLT-based textbooks.. ‧. The major purpose of this study is to know how English teachers conduct. Nat. io. sit. y. teaching activities concerning four skills in their classes with CLT-based textbooks. In. al. er. spite of the popularity and prevalence of CLT approach, it is by no means applied and. n. v i n C hor constraints. In actual practiced without any impediments e n g c h i U teaching practice, there. exist a variety of differences for senior high school English teachers when conducting teaching activities with CLT-based textbooks. In this study, the focus will be on senior high school English teachers’ teaching practices with CLT-based textbooks in greater Kaohsiung area. To be more specific, the present study intends to address the following research questions: 1. How much English is used for instruction by senior high school English teachers?.

(16) 7. 2. What is the time allocation for Presentation Stage, Practice Stage and Production Stage respectively with CLT-based textbooks? 3. What are senior high school English teachers’ classroom practices with CLT-based textbooks at Presentation Stage, Practice Stage, and Production Stage? 4. How do senior high school English teachers conduct their classroom practices concerning teaching, four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and. 政治大. writing), linguistic knowledge (grammar) and assignment with CLT-based. 立. textbooks?. ‧ 國. 學. 5. Do senior high school English teachers’ different backgrounds such as gender,. ‧. years of teaching, education background and courses taken, influence their. Nat. sit er. io. Ministry of Education?. y. teaching practices in conformity to the Instruction Guidelines issued by the. al. n. v i n C hteachers’ classroomUpractices at Production Stage Are senior high school English engchi. 6.. pre-communicative activities or communicative activities? Significance of the Study While abundant studies are related to English teachers’ teaching beliefs about Communicative Approach, little research on the different activities and teaching practices regarding CLT-based textbooks has been explored. Therefore, the study is conducted to probe into senior high school English teachers’ teaching practices,.

(17) 8. including presentation, practice and production with CLT-based textbooks. This study enables us to understand (1) the possible factors influencing teachers’ teaching practices, such as teacher’s gender, educational background, teaching experience etc., (2) the situation of teachers’ teaching practices with CLT-based textbooks, and (3) the consistency between English teachers’ teaching practices and the Instruction Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education. Furthermore, the implications from. 政治大. this study can assist educational authority in understanding more about the current. 立. Overview of the Study. 學. ‧ 國. situation of English teaching in senior high schools.. ‧. The study is comprised of five parts. In Chapter Two, we review language. Nat. io. sit. y. teaching materials, the theoretical basis and characteristics of communicative. al. er. language teaching, teachers’ beliefs and teaching practices. With the understanding of. n. v i n the basic principles of CLT, we C turnhto examine to what e n g c h i Uextent teachers’ teaching. practices accord with the CLT-based textbooks and to what extent teacher’s teaching practices follow the Instruction Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education. In Chapter Three, the research design of the present study is elaborated. Chapter Four discusses the findings and results of the questionnaire in depth. Overall quantitative data are presented.. The final chapter presents the conclusions and recommendations, followed by a closer examination and detailed discussion. The findings in the present.

(18) 9. study are summarized and the pedagogical implications are discussed. Given the limitations of the present study, we also propose suggestions for further research on similar topics.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(19) Chapter Two Literature Review There are four main sections in this chapter. The first section deals with the revision of senior high school English curriculum standards in Taiwan. The second section reviews language teaching materials, especially textbooks. The third section deals with literature regarding communicative language teaching (CLT), for most. 政治大. senior high school new English textbooks are complied and edited under the. 立. principles of CLT. The fourth section focuses on teacher’s beliefs and teaching. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. practices.. Revision of Senior High School English Curriculum Standards in Taiwan. Nat. io. sit. y. The EFL contexts in Taiwan had undergone some changes and the changes. er. correlated with those in educational reform. According to Wang and Savignon (2001),. al. n. v i n C hthree innovations U the Ministry of Education has made e n g c h i in its language policy in order to raise English communication proficiency for students in Taiwan. One of the innovations was the teaching of English in elementary schools. Another was the implementation of multiple enrollment programs to universities. The other was the revision of new curriculum standards for English textbooks. The brief history of the revision of curriculum standards in the compilation of textbooks is herein stated. According to Y. Shih (1998), the MOE has revised and. 10.

(20) 11. re-edited curriculum standards for senior high school English textbooks for five times, in 1948, 1962, 1971, 1983, and 1995 respectively. She pointed out that curriculum standards in 1948 and 1962 were based on principles of grammar-translation. The teaching objectives in the 1971 revision of curriculum standards mainly focused on reading and writing, but it also highlighted the importance of listening and speaking. The 1983 revision emphasized the development of students’ four language skills in realistic situations (Shih, 1998).. 立. 政治大. Subsequently, the MOE in 1995 developed the latest revision of curriculum. ‧ 國. 學. standards for senior high school English textbooks. The term CLT in this version was. ‧. initially used as a principle to compile and design textbooks. Under the CLT-based. Nat. io. sit. y. principles, textbooks contained interactive activities, such as games, simulations, role-. al. er. plays, among other things, in real-life or authentic contexts. In addition, subject. n. v i n C hincluding greetings,Uapologies, shopping and so matters were relevant to daily life, engchi forth. Thus, students might have more opportunities to practice and engage in the language activities. Further, in 1999, the government agreed that private publishers could publish English textbooks under the condition that the design of textbooks conformed to senior high school curriculum standards established by the MOE. From then on, The National Institution of Compilation and Translation was in charge of examining.

(21) 12. whether the textbooks published by private publishers adhered to these standards. The designs of CLT-based textbooks shared the following features. First, the curriculum designs adhered to the principles of CLT and the development of students’ communicative competence. Second, the importance of communicative function and topics were emphasized. Third, the textbooks concentrated on students’ four language skills, rather than on reading or writing skills only. Fourth, subject matters reflect. 政治大. multiplicity, practicality and authenticity in creating English learning contexts in a. 立. natural way. Last, the learner-centered curricula comply with students’ interests, needs. ‧ 國. 學. and learning goals.. ‧. The innovations initiated by the MOE in curriculum standards have engendered a. Nat. io. sit. y. wide range of attention from English teachers because of their indispensable roles in. al. er. implementing English instruction with CLT-based textbooks. As Whitley (1993) noted,. n. v i n C h a revolutionary U “communicative teaching represented e n g c h i way to teach and test” (p. 145). Changes in teaching materials, textbooks in particular, invariably made impact on teachers. Therefore, it is of necessity to review literatures concerning language teaching materials. Language Teaching Materials It is a common practice that teachers use teaching materials, textbooks in. particular, as the major instructional resource. Young and Riegeluth (1988) found that.

(22) 13. students spent as much as 90% to 95% of classroom time interacting with textbooks. They also pointed out that in many cases the textbook is the curriculum for the course. As far as students are concerned, textbooks offer a tangible object for them to preview, to review, and to prepare for tests. For teachers, Huang (1999) provides an illustration on the status of textbooks: For most teachers, the textbooks are the most significant resource for their. 政治大. teaching and have long served not only to support instruction but also to symbolize. 立. instruction; in other words, the textbooks define curriculum. (p. 9). ‧ 國. 學. Furthermore, Rivers (1981) claimed that textbooks sure influenced the major part. ‧. of teachers’ instruction and students’ learning.. Nat. io. sit. y. By and large, teaching materials appear more prominent than any other element. al. er. in the curriculum. This is due to the fact that “materials are the tangible manifestation. n. v i n C h 1989, p. 98) In other of the curriculum in action” (Nunan, e n g c h i U words, teaching materials. can not only provide concrete models of desirable classroom practice but also act as a curriculum model. Teaching materials are the main resource both for teachers’ instruction and for students’ learning. Physical property of language teaching materials The content of language teaching material is no doubt the primary concern, but the physical property is of importance as well. Gall (1981) considered knowledge.

(23) 14. about the physical properties of materials an important factor. The beautiful cover, illustrations and pictures can attract the users’ attention, arouse their interest, and make the learners more willing to interact with the teaching material. Collette and Chiappetta (1994) pointed out that the quality and quantity of illustrations must be considered. Dubin and Olshtain (1986) said, “A good book really begins with an agreed-. 政治大. upon size and shape (p. 172). Teachers have to pay attention to the size of the book. 立. and take time limitation into consideration. Collette and Chiappetta (1994) thought. ‧ 國. 學. that the size of the book should not be too big because a big-sized book might. ‧. intimidate students; besides, small books were easy to carry and students could bring. Nat. io. sit. y. them about without heavy burden. Students in high schools are usually energetic and. n. al. er. playful; therefore, the binding of a book should be strong enough to endure students’ careless handling of the book.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The illustrations in textbooks are factors to be considered as well. Osborn, Jones, and Stein (1985) revealed that “pictures closely integrate with the meaning of the text may markedly increase comprehension while those that are not directly relevant or are unclear may actually decrease comprehension” (p.14). Collette and Chiappetta further stated that “the illustration should amplify the material printed on the same page, and the caption should tie in closely with the paragraphs around it”.

(24) 15. (1994, p. 317). In addition, photographs should be clearly reproduced, and diagrams should be carefully made and attractive. Content of language teaching materials The content of language teaching materials is definitely the most crucial dimension of curriculum materials. It consists of the facts, concepts, generalizations, skills, and attitudes contained in the materials. Bruner (1960) pointed out that ideal. 政治大. materials would challenge the student while not destroy the confidence and will-to-. 立. learn of those who were less fortunate. Bruner (1971) further indicated that. ‧ 國. 學. accomplishment was crucial in learning, and the eagerness came from the increased. ‧. confidence in one’s ability to understand the materials.. Nat. io. sit. y. Ausubel (1968) claimed that the difficulty of the content was related to the. al. er. length of the task, the logical structure, lucidity and the sequentiality of the material.. n. v i n C h background, U Furthermore, students’ prior educational e n g c h i age, intelligence quotient,. motivation, and social class and cultural membership are factors affecting difficulty. Ausubel also suggested that all meaningful learning required the relating of new material to knowledge already acquired and that the only way it was possible to make use of previously learned idea in the processing (internalization) of new ideas was to relate the latter nonarbitrarily to the former. Armbruster (1985) identified a “considerate” textbook as including a clear and logical structure, obvious main ideas,.

(25) 16. clear relationships connecting ideas, accurate information, and information that is important to and understandable by students (Good and Shymansky, 1986, p. 34). Liang (1993) proposed several criteria for constructing language teaching materials: 1.. Materials must be designed on the basis of correct theories of learning.. 2.. The contents can arouse and maintain students’ interest and attention.. 3.. Materials should meet students’ background and needs.. 4.. Materials should offer examples to use language.. 5.. Materials should provide meaningful activities.. 6.. Materials should provide students with opportunities to use language as a. 政治大. 學 ‧. ‧ 國. 立. Nat. io. sit. y. communicative means. (p.73). n. al. er. Nunan (1989) further mentioned the characteristics of the “good. Ch. communicative language” materials:. engchi. i n U. v. 1.. They should derive input from authentic sources.. 2.. They are supposed to involve learners in problem-solving activities in which they are required to negotiate meaning.. 3.. They should incorporate tasks which relate to learners’ real-life communicative needs.. 4.. They are supposed to allow learners choices in what, how, and when to learn..

(26) 17. 5.. They should allow learners to rehearse, in class, or real-world language tasks.. 6.. They are supposed to require learners and teachers to adopt a range of roles, and use language in a variety of settings in and out of the classroom.. 7.. They should expose learners to the language as a system.. 8.. They are supposed to encourage learners to develop skills in learning how to learn.. 9.. 政治大. They should involve learners in creative language use. (p.132). 立. In sum, textbooks aim at encouraging students to perform tasks appropriate to. ‧ 國. 學. their communicative purpose and helping them build their language skills at the same. ‧. time (Clarke, 1989; Cunningsworth, 1984; Dubin and Olshtain, 1986; Nunan, 1988;. Nat. io. sit. y. Widowson, 1983; Yalden, 1983). The well-designed effective and user-friendly. al. er. textbooks can motivate students and accelerate their language learning process.. n. v i n C h in the present study The language teaching material e n g c h i U refers to the commercially. published textbooks after textbook right release in 1999. These commercially published textbooks are based on Communicative Language Teaching approach. Thus, in the following section, we will review Communicative Language Teaching approach to know what construct the underlying teaching principles of CLT. Communicative Language Teaching In the past, the grammar-translation approach was the most prevailing teaching.

(27) 18. method and the centralized textbooks used in all senior high schools were grammaroriented rather than communication-oriented. This trend changed with the passage of time. The English teaching waves changed from grammar translation and behaviorism to communicative approach, which reflected on second language teaching. Nowadays, senior high school textbooks published after 1999 are claimed to be compiled according to the theories of communicative language teaching. In light of this, a basic. 政治大. understanding of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is of necessity and. 立. significance. The following subsections review on four parts: the communicative. ‧ 國. 學. competence, characteristics of CLT, communicative activities and PPP approach to. Nat. io. sit. Communicative competence. y. ‧. CLT.. al. er. According to Hymes (1971), an adequate theory of competence must take. n. v i n C hCompetence shouldUbeen seen as “the overall communication into consideration. engchi underlying knowledge and ability for language use which the speaker-listener possesses” (p. 13). In other words, Hymes’ notion of competence involves not only knowledge of the language, but also ability for use of the language. Subsequent to Hymes’ coinage of the term “communicative competence”, myriads of theorists have offered their interpretations upon the jargon, which has swept the field of language teaching for the past few decades. Bachman (1990).

(28) 19. defines communicative language ability as “consisting of both language, or competence, and the capacity for implementing, or executing that competence in appropriate, contextualized communicative language use” (p. 84). It is obvious that Backman’s definition echoes Hymes’ notion that communicative competence includes knowledge of the target language and ability to use that knowledge of the target language in an appropriate manner.. 政治大. Savignon’s (1997) definition of communicative competence serves as another. 立. path to grasp communicative competence. For Savignon, communicative competence. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. is defined as:. Functional language proficiency; the expression, interpretation and negotiation. Nat. io. sit. y. of meaning involving interaction between two or more persons belonging to the. n. al. er. same (or different) speech community (communities), or between one person and. Ch. a written or oral text. (p. 272). engchi. i n U. v. Savignon views communication as a process of interaction, which involves expressing, interpreting, and negotiating meanings between two or more parties. From Savignon’s viewpoints, a proficient communicator is capable of performing a fluent interaction under either written or oral situations. Likewise, Richards (2001) describes communicative competence as “the capacity to use language appropriately in communication based on setting, the roles of.

(29) 20. the participants, and the nature of the transaction” (p. 36). In Richards’ definition, using language appropriately is paramount, which shows little difference from Bachman’s and Savignon’s points of view. What deserves particular attention is that Richards specifies the components involved in appropriate language use, which include the setting, the participants, and the nature of transaction. That means in order to attain communicative competence; it demands communicators to make utterances. 政治大. by the target language in accordance with different contexts, different interlocutors,. 立. and different purposes of interactions.. ‧ 國. 學. In addition, Canale and Swain (1980) also propose four dimensions of. ‧. communicative competence, namely, grammatical competence, sociolinguistic. Nat. io. sit. y. competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence. Grammatical. al. er. competence refers to the mastery of grammatical rules and the ability to utilize lexical,. n. v i n Ch morphological, syntactic, and phonological of a language to form words and e n gfeatures chi U sentences. Sociolinguistic competence means social rules of using a language. A communicator with sociolinguistic competence knows how to adapt linguistic rules. and further use the rules properly in different situations. As for discourse competence, it is concerned with the connection of a series of sentences within the entire discourse. Savignon (1997) defines discourse as “a global meaning that is always greater than the sum of individual sentences or utterances” (p. 43). To achieve such a global.

(30) 21. understanding of a text undoubtedly requires discourse competence. With regard to strategic competence, it refers to strategies utilized to compensate for imperfect knowledge of rules or communicative breakdowns. To sum up, communicative competence is not merely knowledge of linguistic system such as vocabulary and grammar. Instead, communicative competence integrates mastery of language forms and performance of communicative functions. A. 政治大. successful communicator must be aware of the appropriate use of a certain linguistic. 立. item depending on specific contexts. The communicators must perform their capacity. ‧ 國. 學. for using language to convey meanings as effectively as possible under certain. ‧. situations. With this understanding of communicative competence in mind, we can. Nat. teaching practices are influenced accordingly.. n. al. er. io. sit. y. further examine the approach of communicative language teaching and how teachers’. i n C Characteristics of Communicative h Language TeachingU engchi. v. The fundamental principle underlying all communicative approaches: learners must learn not only to make grammatically correct, propositional statements about the experiential world, but also to develop the ability to use language to get things done (Nunan, 1989). Some of the CLT features proposed by Finicchiaro and Brumfit (1983) are summarized as follows: 1. Meaning is paramount and contextualization is a basic element..

(31) 22. 2. Dialogues center on communicative functions and are not memorized. 3. Language learning is learning to communicate effectively. And attempts to communicate may be encouraged from the very beginning. 4. Judicious use of native language and translation is accepted, as long as students need or benefit from it. 5. The sequence of teaching unit is determined by any consideration of content,. 政治大. function, or meaning which maintain interest.. 立. 6. Teachers help learners in ways that motivate them to work with the target language.. ‧ 國. 學. 7. Fluency and acceptable language is the primary goal; accuracy is judged in context.. ‧. According to Howatt (1984), there were a strong and a weak version of CLT. He. io. sit. y. Nat. proposes:. al. er. The weak version which has become more or less standard practice in the last ten. n. v i n years stresses the importance ofC providing with opportunities to use their h e n learners gchi U. English for communicative purposes and, characteristically, attempts to integrate such activities into a wider program of language teaching. (p. 279) The strong version sees language ability as being developed through activities which actually simulate target performance. That is to say, class time should be spent on activities which require learners to do in class what they have to do outside, not on language drills or controlled practice leading to communicative language use..

(32) 23. Chastain (1988) referred to CLT as an emphasis or as an aim instead of an approach. Taylor (1983) made a list of characteristics of CLT: 1.. Students should participate in extended discourse in a real context.. 2.. They should share information that the others do no know.. 3.. They should have choices about what they are going to say and how they are going to say it.. 政治大. 4.. They should communicate with a definite purpose in mind.. 5.. They should talk about real topics in real situation.. 學. ‧ 國. 立. Wilkins (1985) listed six features of CLT;. ‧. Conversational interaction is prior over other modes of language behavior.. 2.. A syllabus is expressed in terms of notions and functions rather than structures.. 3.. Learning is based on individual or group needs rather than generalized language. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. 1.. content.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 4.. Materials are authentic.. 5.. The emphasis is put on “process” rather than “product.”. 6.. Learning is based on genuine communication rather than pedagogically motivated and structured activities. (p. 13) Although CLT focus mainly on communicative facet, it does not mean that. grammar is totally discarded in CLT. Thompson (1996) pointed out that in CLT,.

(33) 24. grammar was learned through a retrospective approach, and the focus was shifted away from the teacher covering grammar to the learners discovering grammar. The importance of linguistic mechanics, such as vocabulary and grammar, is not neglected in CLT. As a matter of fact, grammatical competence has long been regarded as one component of the communicative competence. According to Johnson (1983), “many approaches to language teaching begin. 政治大. life as reactions to old approaches” (p. 5), communicative language teaching might be. 立. viewed as a response to a problem which both teachers and students had been aware. ‧ 國. 學. of for a long time. It was the problem of students who might be structurally competent,. ‧. but who could not communicate appropriately (Huang, 1999; Johnson, 1979).. Nat. io. sit. y. Teachers of foreign languages had long known that mastery of the mechanics of a. al. er. language did not ensure the ability to use the language for communication. As. n. v i n Clanguage Williams (1995) denoted, second studying in CLT classrooms could h e n glearners chi U communicate more successfully in general than their predecessors who received instruction focused on structure solely. Huang (1997) outlined eight characteristics of CLT: 1.. Meaning/message is the primary concern, not structure.. 2.. Communicative competence is the desired goal.. 3.. Language should be used contextually..

(34) 25. 4.. Language is learned best through the process of struggling to communicate and interact with others in the target language.. 5. Fluent and acceptable language is aimed at and accuracy is judged in context. 6. The learner is expected to interact with other people either in speech or in writing. 7. The learner should be taught to deal with unpredictable communicative situations. 8. The learner’s intrinsic motivation to learn and use the target language comes from. 政治大. his interest and ability to communicate in the target language. (as cited in Huang,. 立. 1999, pp.13-14). ‧ 國. 學. In light of the prevalence of CLT in Taiwan, Shi (2001) proposed five. ‧. characteristics of CLT:. Nat. sit. al. v i n C h ability derives U The development of language e n g c h i mainly from activities. n. 2.. er. io. competence.. y. 1. The goal of language learning lies in the development of communicative. 3. The instruction is learner-centered. 4. The language instruction will try to strike a balance between learners’ linguistic accuracy and fluency. 5. The language instruction puts emphasis on creating an authentic English learning environment. (pp. 9-12) After reviewing the characteristics of CLT, it is equally necessary to understand.

(35) 26. the classification of communicative activities. Communicative Activities W. Littlewood (1981) divides language learning activities into precommunicative and communicative ones. The pre-communicative activities are those which aim to equip students with the skills required for communication, without actually requiring them to perform communicative acts (Littlewood, 1981:9). He also. 政治大. indicates that relating structure practices to specific meaning, to language functions,. 立. and to social context are ways to change the locations of pre-communicative language. ‧ 國. 學. in the communicativeness continuum, making them move toward the communicative. ‧. extreme.. Nat. io. sit. y. While “pre-communicative” language learning activities focus more on forms to. al. er. be learnt than meanings to be communicated, “communicative” language learning. n. v i n C h in which the learners activities provide whole-task practices, e n g c h i U use the linguistic. repertoire they have learnt, in order to communicative specific meanings for specific purposes. The success and adequacy of the learners’ performance are measured by the completion of the communicative demand and the sociocultural appropriateness. PPP Approach to CLT “PPP” stands for Presentation, Practice and Production --- a common approach to communicative language teaching that works through the progression of three.

(36) 27. sequential stages. According to Ritchie (2003), Presentation is the beginning or introduction to learning language, and Production is the culmination of the learning process, where learners have become “users” of the language. Practice is the process that facilitates progress from the initial stage to the final one. Presentation involves the building of a situation requiring natural and logical use of the new language. When the “situation” is recognized and understood by the. 政治大. students, they will then start instinctively building a conceptual understanding of the. 立. meaning behind the new language. When the situation surrounding the new language. ‧ 國. 學. and the conceptual meaning of it has been achieved, the new language should be. ‧. introduced by means of a linguistic “model”. It is this model that students will go on. Nat. io. sit. y. to practice and hopefully achieve naturally without help during a productive activity.. al. er. The Practice stage is the best known to teachers irrespective of their training or. n. v i n C h middle stage toUcommunicative language teaching objectives. It is the important engchi. teaching. The practices activities need to be appropriate to the language being learned and the level and competence of the students. Practice usually begins with what is termed “mechanical practice”. Students gradually move into more “communicative practice” involving procedures like information gap activities, dialogue creation and controlled role plays. Practice is seen as the frequency device to create familiarity and confidence with the new language. Teachers still direct and correct at this stage, but.

(37) 28. the classroom is beginning to become more learner-centered. Production stage is the most important stage of communicative language teaching. Successful production is a clear indication that the language learners have made the transition from “students” of the target language to “users” of the language. The teacher’s role here is to somehow facilitate a realistic situation or activity where the students instinctively feel the need to actively apply the language they have been. 政治大. practicing. Students are encouraged to use the new language in a freer way either for. 立. play, a simulation activity or a communication task.. 學. ‧ 國. their own purposes or in a similar context introduced by the teachers. It can be a role. ‧. Generally speaking, for communication language learning to be most effective,. Nat. io. sit. y. the three stages need to occur and they must flow easily from one stage to the next.. al. er. In conclusion, the rudimentary principle of CLT is to develop and enhance. n. v i n C h competence.UThe learners’ communicative second language learners’ communicative engchi competence receive much attention in CLT approach, but the question of how teachers conduct teachings by using CLT-based textbooks is less discussed. By adopting CLT textbooks in real classroom, teachers no doubt will encounter different challenges in teaching and will need to adjust their teachings accordingly. The present study aims to find out how teachers conduct teaching in classroom when using textbooks compiled using CLT approach..

(38) 29. The implementation of CLT approach in textbooks, nevertheless, is basically a top-down policy. How teachers respond and adjust their teachings when using CLTbased textbooks presumably depend on the degree they identify with CLT approach. Findings from many research have revealed a strong connection exist between teachers’ educational beliefs and classroom practice. Beliefs are described as the “active shaper of practice” (Mayer & Goldsberry, 1987, p. 7), and how teachers. 政治大. behave in the classroom is the result of beliefs (Pajares, 1992). Teachers hold different. 立. assumptions about teaching, learning, and students, and these assumptions influence. ‧ 國. 學. how they deal with or respond to particular classroom. Therefore, the relationship. ‧. between teachers’ beliefs and how the beliefs affect teachers’ teaching practices. Nat. Teacher’s Beliefs and Teaching Practices. al. er. io. sit. y. should be reviewed.. n. v i n C h practices, it is significant To understand teachers’ teaching to know what beliefs engchi U. they possess about teaching. Those beliefs are encapsulated in their mental images of lesson planning. Individual teachers bring to lesson planning very different beliefs and assumptions about what constitutes effective lesson planning. It is these that thereafter guide their planning and decision making over teaching. Woods (1996) defined beliefs using the “BAK” model, which stands for beliefs, assumptions and knowledge; the model describes teachers’ decision-making process. Knowledge is something people.

(39) 30. hold as facts, which can be demonstrated (e.g., the black hole). Assumption is temporary fact that is held to be true (e.g., assuming someone taking your keys). Beliefs is the accepted proposition that can not be demonstrated, and people can have different beliefs (e.g., disagreeing on education systems). Borg’s definition of beliefs (2001, p.1) “is a proposition which may be consciously or unconsciously held, is evaluative in that it is accepted as true by the individual, and is therefore imbued with. 政治大. emotive commitment; further, it serves as a guide to thought and behavior.” The. 立. propositions which people hold to be true.. 學. ‧ 國. overall consensus on the literature regarding beliefs is that they are tacit, unconscious. ‧. Kagan’s (1992, p.65) definition of teacher beliefs is “tacit, often unconsciously. Nat. io. sit. y. held assumptions about students, classrooms and the academic materials to be taught.. al. er. According to Haque (1989), attitude, the effective factor, was widely discussed in. n. v i n social psychology and was also C treated to many problems of learning. It was h easncrucial gchi U a natural part when people discuss the language life (Baker, 1992). Attitude influences the judgments and perception of others, it affects the speed and efficiency of learning, the profession one may choose, and even the philosophy one lives (Lambert and Lambert, 1973). According to Clark and Peterson (1986), beliefs are “reasonable explicit propositions about the characteristics of objects or object classes” (p. 281). They are individuals’ judgments of the truth or falsity of the world. While one.

(40) 31. incorporates others’ ideas and accumulate one’s own experiences, beliefs are created and fostered gradually through this process of enculturation and social construction (Pajares, 1992). Beliefs, the “rich store of general knowledge of objects, people, events, and their characteristic relationships” help people to understand the rapid flow of continuing social events (Nisbett & Ross, 1980). In second language teaching, how teachers conduct teachings is closely related to. 政治大. their attitudes or beliefs. The teachers’ beliefs about how learners learn also play an. 立. important role. For example, beliefs about the importance of learner autonomy may. ‧ 國. 學. lead the teacher to organize the course around learner projects. Beliefs about the role. ‧. of learners’ experience may lead teachers to organize the course around learners’. Nat. io. sit. y. stories (Wrigley and Guth, 1992). In addition, Graves (2000) proposed that beliefs. al. er. about teaching and the role of the teacher are connected to beliefs about learning,. n. v i n although this is an area in whichC what teacher does isUsometimes in contradiction to h ea n gchi what he believes, or professes to believe. The process of teaching can be viewed on a continuum in which at one end the teacher transmits knowledge to the students, and at the other end the teacher and students negotiated the knowledge and skills and methods of learning. Pajares (1992) once pointed out that teachers’ beliefs are teachers’ attitudes about education, schooling, teaching, learning, and students. They also represent “the rich storage of knowledge that teachers have that affects their.

(41) 32. planning and their interactive thoughts and decisions” (Clark & Peterson, 1986, p. 281). Beliefs about teaching are not formed only when individuals are getting in teacher programs or in the apprenticeship of teaching; instead, the beliefs are formed gradually in individuals’ school experiences and are well established by the time a student gets to colleges (Pajares, 1992). A number of factors influence teachers’ beliefs. One of these factors is the. 政治大. teachers’ personal life experience, which includes different forms of personal, familial. 立. and cultural understandings (Richardson, 1996). Teachers from Japan and Greek may. ‧ 國. 學. have different thoughts about what is suitable for their classes. The next influence. ‧. factor is one’s own learning experience, or as Lortie (1975) calls the “apprenticeship. Nat. io. sit. y. of observation”. The learning experiences teachers used to have could guide their. al. er. teaching practices. The third factor is professional training, which means the. n. v i n C toh teaching. The teachers coursework teacher received prior e n g c h i U could adopt philosophies and methodologies they learned about into their own classrooms (Borg, 2003). The fourth one refers to contextual factors, which are related to social and institutional factors that surround teachers. Richards and Lockhart (1996) point out that an established practice within a school or society dictates the type of content or teaching approaches are to be used. Take Taiwan for example. The Joint College Entrance Exam would undoubtedly prompt more grammatical content to be taught in senior.

(42) 33. high schools. The last factor of influence is teachers’ own teaching experience (Borg, 2003; Richards & Lockhart, 1996; Tsui, 2003). A teacher is likely to try out different teaching methods with certain groups of students in order to find out the best ones. Researches have showed that teachers’ beliefs can have crucial impacts on students’ behavior and academic performance. Their beliefs “act as a filter through which a host of instructional judgments and decisions are made (Calderhead, 1996, p.. 政治大. 51), and their implicit theories about the nature of knowledge acquisition also affect. 立. their behaviors and further their students’ learning (Fang, 1996). Teachers’ different. ‧ 國. 學. thinking makes them behave differently and “teachers become what they think about. ‧. and believe about themselves” (Butler, 1992, p.235). A teacher’s beliefs will help. Nat. io. sit. y. him/her in making key decisions about the content and organization of the textbooks. al. er. and the course. If teachers have a strong belief in a learner-centered curriculum, s/he. n. v i n C h on the core beliefsUor principles that are will then conduct the course to focus engchi pertinent to the curriculum.. Numerous studies have found out there is connection between teachers’ beliefs and teaching practices. Johnson (1992) examined the relationship of thirty ESL teachers’ beliefs on reading instruction practices through completing tasks and answering an inventory. The result showed that among the three approaches, skillbased approach, rule-based approach, and function-based approach, the last one is the.

(43) 34. most favored. The study supports the view that teachers’ beliefs influence their teaching practices and instruction as well. It further indicates that teachers with different sets of beliefs will conduct teachings differently from one another. Teachers’ beliefs are necessary in language teaching (Shih, S., 1998). KaravasDoukas (1996) remarked that teachers’ beliefs play significant roles in the adoption of approaches. Similarly, Li (1998) noted that a teacher’s understanding of an innovation. 政治大. is influential to its success. Specifically, a teacher’s perceptions of the viability of the. 立. CLT innovation in particular contexts affected the success (failure) of that innovation.. ‧ 國. 學. Teachers’ beliefs and teaching practices required further examination.. ‧. Clark and Peterson’s (1986) model of teachers’ thought and action process. Nat. io. sit. y. clearly depicts the influence of beliefs and practices (Chart 2.1).. n. al. er. Chart 2.1 Clark and Peterson’s (1986) Model of Teachers’ Thought and Action. i n U. v. CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES. Teachers’ Thought Processes  Teacher Planning Preactive & Postactive Thoughts  Teachers’ Interactive. Ch. engchi. Teachers’ Actions and their Observable Effects  Teacher Classroom Behavior  Students’ Classroom Behavior  Student Achievement. Thoughts & Decisions. No other models of teacher recognition have been found to directly link teachers’ thought processes and teachers’ behavior. The two circles represent two domains, the.

(44) 35. unobservable teachers’ thought process, and teachers’ actions and their observable effects. The domain of teachers’ thought process include three categories (a) teacher planning (preactive and postactive thoughts); (b) teachers’ interactive thoughts; and (c) teachers’ beliefs and theories. The first two categories refer to teachers’ thought process occurring before, after (preactive and postactive) or during the classroom (interactive). Teachers’ theories and beliefs are rich sources that influence both teacher. 政治大. planning and their interactive thoughts, and the relationship is reciprocal. Teachers. 立. may form new beliefs during their planning and executing decisions in the classroom.. ‧ 國. 學. The domain of teachers’ actions also includes three categories, namely, teachers’. ‧. classroom behavior, students’ classroom behavior and students’ achievement. The. Nat. io. sit. y. teachers’ behavior influences students’ behavior, which in turn affect their. al. er. achievement. In the same reciprocal relationship, students’ achievement may affect. n. v i n C hwhich subsequentlyUchanges student behavior, and teachers’ to change their practices, engchi eventually, students’ achievement once again. Depending on the context teachers work in, the context will impinge certain constrains and opportunities in their teaching process. Teachers may have less or more freedom in the decisions they make depending on the conditions in the environment. As a result, teachers’ thought and actions are both influenced by constraints and opportunities present in the context. The double arrow indicates a reciprocal relationship between the two domains..

(45) 36. Teachers’ actions are influenced by teachers’ thoughts, which in turn affect teachers’ actions. Several relevant studies have come to similar results. The objective-first model is the most often prescribed by pre-service teacher educators (Shavelson & Stern, 1981). However, there exists an obvious distance between theory and practice. John (1991) discovered that student teachers consider timing, activities, resources, and context. 政治大. important. Aims and objectives, however, were not generally seen as essential. John. 立. concludes that the rational planning model bears little relation to student teachers’. ‧ 國. 學. planning styles in the context of the classroom. Furthermore, Taylor (1970). ‧. discovered that the way teachers plan is often “an inversion of how theorists think. Nat. io. sit. y. about [planning]”. Theorists begin with the aims and objectives, followed by learning. al. er. experiences. On the other hand, teachers begin with the content, then decide on the. n. v i n C h for their studentsUand end with consideration of kind of learning situation appropriate engchi the purposes of the lesson and evaluation of the effectiveness of their teaching. The studies above tended to center on factors which influenced planning, and the relationship of teachers’ beliefs and their classroom practices. Such studies are insufficient in that they fail to reveal the realities of teaching practices from the teachers’ perspectives. In addition, the reviewed research has been conducted in western society. Studies conducted in Taiwan mostly are dealing with textbook.

(46) 37. selection and teachers’ perceptions of the CLT-based teaching material. (Ko, 2004; Hsu, 2003; Chen, 2000; Wu, 2004; Chen 2002). Little research that links teaching practices with the CLT-based teaching materials has been done. Therefore, we have insufficient knowledge about how Taiwanese English teachers conduct teachings when adopting CLT-based textbooks. Whether the CLT-based textbooks correspond with teachers’ teaching practices are worth exploring. Furthermore, the consistency. 政治大. degree between teachers’ teaching practices the Instruction Guidelines issued by the. 立. Ministry of Education should be examined as well.. ‧ 國. 學. To sum up, the rudimentary principle of CLT is to develop and enhance second. ‧. language learners’ communicative competence. The learners’ communicative. Nat. io. sit. y. competence receives much attention in CLT approach, but the question of how. al. er. teachers conduct teachings by adopting CLT approach is less discussed. By using CLT. n. v i n C h teachers no doubtUwill encounter different teaching materials in real classroom, engchi. challenges in teachings and will need to adjust their teachings accordingly. To what extent teachers’ adjustments in teaching practices conform to the Instruction Guidelines is worth discovering. The present study aims to find out how teachers conduct teachings in classroom when using textbooks compiled using CLT approach. When using CLT-based textbooks, the teaching practice is expected to be different from that of centralized grammar-based textbooks. The study could help English.

(47) 38. teachers better understand the current teaching situations with CLT-based textbooks, encourage teachers to reflect upon their teachings over the years, and eventually affect teachers’ teaching and students’ learning in a helpful way.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(48) Chapter Three Methodology The present study intends to obtain an understanding of senior high school English teachers’ classroom practices with CLT-based textbooks. In addition, the consistency of teachers’ classroom practices and the Instruction Guidelines is examined as well. This chapter describes the methodology of the study, including. 政治大. subjects, instrument, procedure, and data analysis. The four parts concerning. 立. Subjects. 學. ‧ 國. methodology are discussed and explained in detail as follows.. ‧. The study involved a target population of senior high school English teachers in. Nat. io. sit. y. greater Kaohsiung area. The participants selected in this study were English teachers. er. from twenty one different senior high schools in greater Kaohsiung area. The key. al. n. v i n C hthat the English textbooks criterion shared by the schools was e n g c h i U used are all compiled under the CLT approach. The twenty-one schools included twelve senior high schools in Kaohsiung County and nine senior high schools in Kaohsiung City. All senior high schools in Kaohsiung County were included, whereas the nine chosen schools in Kaohsiung City belonged to nine administrative districts respectively. Copies of questionnaires were distributed to 254 subjects in twenty one senior high schools in both Kaohsiung County and Kaohsiung City.. 39.

(49) 40. Table 3.1 Distribution of the Subjects Areas. Names of Schools. Numbers of subjects. Kaohsiung. School A.. 11. County. School B.. 2. School C.. 2. School D.. 19. School E.. 20. School F. School G.. 立. 24 10 9. 學. ‧ 國. School H.. 政治大. School I.. 8. ‧. School J. School K.. 8. y. Nat. School N.. n. School O.. Total. al. er. City. io. School M.. sit. School L. Kaohsiung. 4. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 6 9 22 9. School P.. 15. School Q.. 10. School R.. 6. School S.. 22. School T.. 14. School U.. 24. 21. 254.

(50) 41. Instrument The instruments used in the current study consisted of the pilot study and the questionnaire. The pilot study was conducted first and served as the basis to design the formal questionnaire. The questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data. The questionnaire used in this study had gone through discussions with and suggestions from experts. Pilot Study. 立. 政治大. The pilot study was conducted through questionnaires to explore perspectives. ‧ 國. 學. of classroom practices held by senior high school English teachers. The preliminary. ‧. questionnaire was distributed to senior high school English teachers attending a. Nat. io. sit. y. Master of Arts in English Teaching (ETMA) program in July, 2008. Those teachers. al. er. taught in different senior high schools, from northern to southern Taiwan. Eleven. n. v i n C h the eleven teachers, questionnaires were collected. Among e n g c h i U only two teachers ever used the centralized textbooks, while the other nine teachers, whose teaching experiences were under ten years, had never used the centralized textbooks. The preliminary findings shifted the study from comparing teachers’ classroom practices when using different textbooks to teachers’ classroom practices when using the same textbooks. Since not so many teachers ever used the centralized textbooks before, it will not be easy for them to compare the old textbooks with the new ones..