文化學習課程對於臺灣國中學生英語學習影響之探討

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(1)國立臺灣師範大學英語學系碩. 士. 技. 術. 報. 告. Technical Report of the Degree of Master Department of English National Taiwan Normal University. 文化學習課程對於臺灣國中學生英語學習影響之探討. The Impact of a Culture Learning Program on English Learning for Taiwanese Junior High School Students 指導教授：吳美貞教授 Advisor: Dr. Mei-Chen Wu 研究生：王建順. 中華民國一百零八年六月 June 2019.

(2) 摘要本研究旨在探究在國中課程架構下，學生是否能透過文化學習課程來提高跨文化覺察，並對英語學習產生影響。教師研究者亦觀察省思課程設計理念、教學方法、及教材的設計。藉由實施質性及量化研究的資料收集和分析方法，可以了解以下三個研究問題：（一）文化學習課程是否能提升學生文化相關內容的知識？（二）文化學習課程如何提升學生的跨文化覺察能力？（三）學生對文化學習課程的反應如何？教師未來能如何設計相關課程？此後續研究使用的工具包括前後測的問卷、前後測問題比較分析、學習省思札記以及非正式訪談。本研究有以下發現：（一）透過學生的四個文化學習主題之前、後測比較分析可發現，此文化學習課程之前三個主題有助於提升學生的相關知識，而第四個主題則未達顯著差異。學生對課程主題亦提供反思與回饋。（二）學生在跨文化覺察之四個面向當中，除了跨文化溝通相關知識未達顯著差異，其餘三個部分，包含跨文化互動態度、跨文化互動技巧以及跨文化覺察表現，皆有明顯提升。透過質性資料亦可證明學生在跨文化覺察能力之提升。（三）透過後測問卷的開放式問答，教師研究者發現學生對於不同文化學習主題的偏好，主要受到學習風格以及語言程度之影響。從學生的反思與回饋，教師研究者亦歸納出四點此課程帶給學生之收穫。最後，此研究之教師研究者同時是課程的設計者，透過此行動研究亦不斷反思。本研究針對國中英語教師在文化學習教學層面、課程設計及未來相關研究提出良善之建議。. 關鍵詞：語言與文化、跨文化覺察、文化學習、文化教學 i.

(3) ABSTRACT This study aimed at investigating the impact of a culture learning program on junior high school students’ English learning as well as their intercultural awareness. Also, the teacher-researcher observed and reflected on the course designing principles and learning materials. By conducting both quantitative and qualitative research method, the present study addressed three research questions: (1) Will students increase their knowledge of culture after participating in the culture learning program? (2) Do students increase their intercultural awareness after participating in the culture learning program? (3) What are students’ perceptions of the culture learning program? The data of the study were collected with multiple instruments, including preand post-questionnaires, pre- and post-test questions, learning journals, and semistructured interviews. The findings of the study were explored in three sections. First, after comparing the scores of the students’ pre- and post-test questions, the teacherresearcher found the culture learning program helpful for increasing the students’ knowledge of cultural content in the first three topics, while the descriptive statistics showed no significant difference in the last topic. The students also offered feedback toward the activities. Second, the results from the students’ pre- and postquestionnaires showed significant difference in Attitude, Skill, and Critical Awareness but not in the other dimension, Cross-cultural Communication Knowledge. In addition to the descriptive statistics, the students’ qualitative feedback offered useful insights. Last, the students’ perceptions and feedback toward the culture learning program were explored with four open-ended questions designed in the post-questionnaires. This research offered implications for designing courses to junior high school teachers in Taiwan. Suggestions for future research were also provided.. Keywords: language and culture, intercultural awareness, culture learning, culture teaching ii.

(4) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This technical report was completed due to the assistance and guidance from many people. Were it not for these people’s support and advice, I couldn’t be able to complete my technical report in a short span of time. Therefore, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all of them. First, my sincerest thanks and deepest gratitude are extended to my advisor, Professor Mei-Chen Wu. During the writing process, she offered many suggestions, guidance, and reminders. With her assistance, I have trained myself to organize my viewpoints into well-constructed paragraphs, in which the ideas are logically arranged and clearly conveyed to readers. I would always remember the time and efforts she spent on guiding me to complete the present technical report. Next, I would like to express my gratitude for my committee members, Professor Chun-Chieh Tseng and Professor Hsiao-Ping Tien. They had finished reading my technical report within a relatively short period of time. In spite of the time limitation, they still read my work very thoroughly and offered valuable comments. With their kind assistance, my study could be more complete. Also, my special thanks go to the participants, who were my students and are already in their first year of senior high school now. They were always engaged in the activities I designed for them. Without their full-hearted engagement, this technical report could not be accomplished with insightful contributions to the field of language teaching. I am also thankful for the colleagues who helped me with the data analysis. Finally, I’d like to express my special thanks to my peers, Lisa, Cece, Jane, and Sonny. It was really nice of them to be my partners and proofreaders, who always offered valuable advice as well as mental support when necessary. To complete an insightful and meaningful technical report of my own was an awesome experience.. iii.

(5) TABLE OF CONTENTS CHINESE ABSTRACT………………………………………….……………….. i. ENGLISH ABSTRACT………………………………………………………….. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………………………………………………………... ii iii. TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………… LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………….………. LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………….………... CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION…………………………….……………… CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW…………………….……………… 2.1. Language and Culture………………………………………………….. 2.2. Intercultural Awareness (ICA)…………………………………………. 2.3. The Role of Textbooks…………………………………………………. 2.4. Considerations and Practical Techniques for Culture Teaching………... CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY………………………...………………. 3.1. Settings and Participants……………………………………………….. 3.2. Instruments……………………………………………………………... 3.2.1. Pre- and Post-questionnaires……………………………………. 3.2.2. Pre- and Post-test Questions……………………………………. 3.2.3. Learning Journals……………………………………………….. 3.2.4. Semi-structured Interview……………………………………… 3.2.5. Teaching Materials……………………………………………… 3.3. Research Design and Procedure……………………………………….. 3.4. Data Analysis…………………………………………………………... CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS AND DISCUSSION…….………………………. 4.1. Analysis of Knowledge of Cultural Content…………………………… 4.1.1. Quantitative Results……….……………………………………. 4.1.2. Discussion………...……….……………………………………. 4.2. Analysis of Intercultural Awareness……………………………………. 4.2.1. Quantitative Results……….……………………………………. 4.2.2. Discussion………...……….……………………………………. 4.3. Analysis of the Students’ Perceptions of the Culture Learning Program. 4.3.1. Students’ Preferences for the Topics in the Program…………… 4.3.2. Students’ Feedback for Their Favorite Topics………………….. 4.3.3. Students’ Feedback for Their Least Favorite Topics…………… 4.3.4. Discussion of Students’ Preferences for the Topics..…………… 4.3.5. Students’ Overall Feedback for the Culture Learning Program… CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS…………………….. iv v v 1 4 4 5 8 10 13 13 14 14 16 16 17 18 20 24 26 26 27 28 29 30 31 34 38 39 40 41 47 51. iv.

(6) 5.1. Conclusions…………………………………………………………….. 5.2. Pedagogical Implications………………………………………………. 5.2.1. Culture Learning Should Be Incorporated into Formal Lessons... 51 54 54. 5.2.2. More Diverse Cultures Could Be Involved in Culture Learning.. 5.2.3. Multi-modalities Are Recommended in Culture Learning…….... 56 57. 5.2.4. Teachers Should Train Students to Explore Culture……………. 5.3. Limitations of the Study………………………………………………... 5.3.1. Program Implementation Was in Lack of Time………………… 5.3.2. Results of the Program Might Not Apply to Other Schools……. 5.4. The Teacher-researcher’s Reflections………………………………….. REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………... APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………. 58 59 60 60 61 64 68. LIST OF TABLES Table 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.. Page The Introduction of the Topics of the Culture Learning Program…….. Descriptive Statistics of the Students’ Culture Knowledge Scores Before and After the Intervention…………………………………….. Paired-sample T-test Results of the Students’ Scores of Intercultural Awareness Before and After the Intervention………………………… The Number of Participants’ Preferences for the Topics, and the Reasons for Each Dimension………………………………………… The Numbers of Each Rank for the Topics, and the Total Scores of the Topics…………………………………………………………………. 22 27 30 36 38. LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. 2. 3.. Page The Time Schedule of the Procedure of the Study………….………… The Diagram of Data Analysis………………………………………… The Main Features in a Wheel-in-action Diagram of Essential Literacies in the Official Brochure Published by Ministry of Education... v. 20 24 55.

(7) CHPATER ONE INTRODUCTION. English has played a significant role in the modern world because people of different backgrounds use it as a tool for intercultural communication. It has become a language widely used all around the world and has given rise to different varieties spoken by both native and non-native speakers. The role of English as an international language has also given rise to the English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) model, which was paid attention to by researchers such as Jenkins (2012) and Seidlhofer (2005, 2006, 2013). As Xue (2014) proposed, language is an integral part of a culture and it plays a vital role in language. That is to say, linguistic competence alone does not necessarily lead to success in interactions with English speakers of other varieties. Xue (2014) emphasized that cultural mistakes might create more serious problems or misunderstandings than linguistic ones do. Therefore, it is necessary for language teachers to help learners cultivate their cultural competence and raise their intercultural awareness (ICA). Paradowski (2013) stated that EFL interactions concentrate more on function rather than form. In other words, language education should also put more emphasis on helping learners to interact with others effectively. In order for learners to have appropriate interactions with people from diverse cultural backgrounds, teaching ICA has been strongly recommended in English education (Yılmaz & Özkan, 2016). In the field of language learning and teaching, ICA was proposed to stress the intercultural communication among users of EFL contexts. The main ideas of ICA put emphasis on the conceptions of intercultural communication via English as lingua franca settings. With the ICA, language learners could not only recognize their own culture but also interact with people from other 1.

(8) cultural backgrounds socially. English textbooks in Taiwan concentrate mostly on linguistic competence such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Though some cultural information is included in the textbooks, the amount of it is limited (Truong & Tran, 2014). Also, invisible cultural elements such as values and beliefs are not well treated in the textbooks, which thus merely expose learners to visible elements of culture (Hatoss, 2004). Even if cultural information is presented in the textbooks, most of the information is limited to cultures of specific countries such as the US or the UK. As Baker (2012) emphasizes, the role of English as a lingua franca has revealed that understanding the sociocultural norms of the US and the UK is far from enough to reach intercultural communication. English teachers relying heavily on textbooks could not provide students with sufficient cultural information. Therefore, as Kramsch (2004) suggested, besides linguistic competence, it would be much better that a modern language teacher also puts emphasis on issues concerning as diverse cultural backgrounds as possible when designing lessons for learners. The current study thus aimed at investigating the impact of a culture learning program on the students’ ICA after a series of instruction and discussion on the related topics of cultural content in class. By investigating some scholars’ studies in the field, the present study adopted the definition of ICA as having the attitude to appreciate others’ cultures and to interact with people outside of their own, having the knowledge to comprehend cultural norms and to identify cultural differences, having the skills to communicate and interact in an effective manner, and having critical cultural awareness to judge or evaluate the actions and behaviors of people from diverse cultural backgrounds critically. In the study, 48 ninth graders in a municipal junior high school in Taipei were recruited as participants. These participants followed the teacher-researcher’s instruction by using the learning materials designed by the 2.

(9) teacher-researcher. The participants were divided into groups randomly in order for the teacher to lead discussions. Some authentic materials, such as films, video clips and articles, were provided for the participants as the learning materials. The quantitative data were collected from the participants’ pre- and post-test questions as well as their pre- and post-questionnaires. The participants’ learning journals and some open-ended questions in the questionnaires were also analyzed qualitatively. The results of the study would be expected to contribute to English language teaching by investigating learners’ perspectives of culture learning. It would also provide an insight into current situations about culture learning in Taiwan. The following research questions were explored in the current study: (1) Will students increase their knowledge of culture after participating in the culture learning program? (2) Do students increase their intercultural awareness after participating in the culture learning program? (3) What are students’ perceptions of the culture learning program?. 3.

(10) CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW. 2.1. Language and Culture The relationship between language and culture has been investigated by a large number of researchers, and different points of view about this concept have also been put forward. It is widely accepted that language and culture are intertwined and thus can hardly be separated from each other (Cakir, 2006). As Xue (2014) proposed in his study, language is an integral part of a culture and it plays a vital role in language. Byram (1991) asserted that “language should ‘unlock the door’ to the culture” (p. 17), which indicated that learners usually start to make efforts to comprehend the associated culture once they begin learning a new language. Furthermore, Malinowski (1944, p.305) made a powerful argument that without relating to the culture, it is nearly impossible for people to fully understand the language. When learners start to learn a new language, it means that they also start to experience the culture in which the language is used. Byram (1989) stated, “As learners learn about language they learn about culture and as they learn to use a new language, they learn to use a new culture”. Therefore, it is of significance that language teachers make efforts to help learners to cultivate their cultural competence and to raise their intercultural awareness (ICA) by teaching learners both the language itself and its culture at the same time. If learners are not immersed in the cultural aspects when they learn a foreign language, they may not have the chance to learn and to understand the essence of that particular culture. What’s worse, language learners may also attach these meaningless symbols to the wrong meaning, which may give rise to misunderstandings or even more serious problems in interaction. Based on the above-mentioned scholars and their viewpoints, the relationship between language 4.

(11) and culture could be inseparable. 2.2. Intercultural Awareness (ICA) In order for learners to have proper communication with people of diverse cultural backgrounds, developing learners’ intercultural awareness (ICA) has been strongly recommended in English language learning and teaching (Yılmaz & Özkan, 2016). ICA has also been studied by a large number of researchers. To start with, Byram (1997) stressed the indivisible relationship of a language and its culture in language learning and teaching in his model of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) theory. The concept of ICC refers to the ability to interact with people of other cultural backgrounds in a foreign language. In his model of ICC theory, Byram (1997) proposed that intercultural competence is a combination of five key factors: (a) knowledge of the way how different social groups and identities function; (b) attitudes such as curiosity, openness, readiness to suspend disbelief about other cultures and belief about one’s own; (c) skills of interpreting and relating; (d) skills of discovery and interaction, which refers to the skills in real-time communication and interaction; and (e) critical cultural awareness, which means the ability to critically evaluate the perspectives and practices in one’s own as well as other cultures. Risager’s (2004) research also made significant contributions on intercultural awareness in relation to language learning. In the field of language learning and teaching, ICA was proposed to stress the intercultural communication among users of EFL contexts. Compared to Byram’s (1997) ICC model, the main ideas of ICA focused on the conceptions of intercultural communication via English as lingua franca settings. In Baker’s (2011) study, ICA was defined as follows:. Intercultural awareness is a conscious understanding of the role culturally 5.

(12) based forms, practices and frames of reference can have in intercultural communication, and an ability to put these conceptions into practice in a flexible and context specific manner in real time communication. Baker (2011) proposed three levels of ICA. In level 1, basic cultural awareness, learners have a general awareness of their own culture and basic understanding of other cultures. Learners at this level have the basic understanding of their first culture and the manner in which it affects beliefs, values, and behaviors. At this level, learners are able to articulate perspectives of their own culture and have the ability to compare differences between their culture and others’ at a general level. They may be able to make general comparisons between their own culture and others’ cultures, but most of them are still at the level of generalizations or even stereotypes. In level 2, advanced cultural awareness, learners have an awareness of the complexity of cultures and have the ability to compare or to step beyond the cultural stereotype at a specific level. At this level, learners are able to be aware of the common ground between specific cultures as well as some mismatch and miscommunication between specific cultures. In level 3, intercultural awareness, learners gain an awareness of the role of cultures in intercultural communication. Learners would break the “bounded entities” of cultures, and recognize cultural diversity (Baker, 2011, p.205). At this level understanding of cultures moves beyond the ‘our culture’－‘their culture’ dichotomy. According to Baker, learners don’t necessarily need to follow the three levels in order. Some important studies on teachers’ and learners’ perspectives of culture learning and teaching have been carried out. Byram and Risager’s (1999) and Zhou’s (2011) studies both revealed that language teachers agreed on the significance of teaching culture, but their actual classroom practices paid much attention to linguistic knowledge rather than cultural aspects. Even if culture was involved in the lesson, cultures of native speakers were the priority in most situations. Al Mawoda (2011) 6.

(13) interviewed some language teachers in order to find out possible reasons why learners were not provided with enough intercultural awareness. According to the findings, many of the teachers relied much on textbooks that didn’t contain sufficient cultural information. Besides, the teachers showed less confidence and felt uncomfortable when teaching cultural content because they weren’t sure how to teach culture. As for other more recent study, Wang (2014) employed a study to investigate the teachers’ and the students’ beliefs and understandings of the importance of intercultural awareness. The results in Wang’s (2014) study were quite similar to Yılmaz and Özkan’s (2016) research, which conducted interviews and questionnaires with language teachers and learners, and the two studies both reached the same conclusions. In their studies, the teachers and learners all showed positive attitudes towards intercultural awareness, but they also addressed the needs to improve the current textbooks and curriculum, to increase intercultural encounters, etc. In Yılmaz and Özkan’s (2016) study, the teachers’ and the students’ perspectives of intercultural awareness were investigated. The participants were recruited from a university prep school in Turkey, and most of them were Turkish. In the study, the concept of intercultural awareness was further divided into two minor concepts, the ownership of English and cultural integration in English language classes. A total of 45 English teachers and 92 students were required to fill out questionnaires. Semistructured interviews were employed with eight English teachers for researchers to collect further data. In addition to questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, 24 students were invited to focus group interviews. According to the findings, although both teachers and learners agreed on the importance of intercultural awareness in English learning and teaching, their perspectives didn’t reflect such awareness. According to above-mentioned scholars and their studies, the intercultural awareness (ICA) was generally defined in the current study as having the attitude to 7.

(14) appreciate others’ cultures and to interact with people outside of their own, having the cross-cultural communication knowledge to comprehend hidden social rules and to identify cultural differences, having the skills to communicate and interact in an effective manner, and having critical cultural awareness to judge or evaluate the actions and behaviors of people from diverse cultural backgrounds critically. The researchers concluded that in order to enhance intercultural awareness in English teaching and learning, it would be of help to develop a set of intercultural curriculum and textbooks along with related teacher training programs. The following section continues to investigate a few studies on the role of textbooks and how the current curriculum could be altered to help learners build upon their intercultural awareness. 2.3. The Role of Textbooks Allen (2008) indicated that textbooks are the most popular teaching materials in foreign language learning. In his study, textbooks were viewed as a framework for a classroom lesson by many language teachers and most participants agreed that textbooks provided enough organizational structure for vocabulary and grammar, while most participants disagreed that the textbooks provided meaningful cultural content. Skopinskaja (2003) employed a textbook analysis to discuss the role of culture on language teaching material. The result showed the lack of intercultural competence and the over-emphasis on linguistic competence. These studies are in line with Byram and Feng’s argument (2005), in which linguistic competence was the ultimate goal, whereas intercultural competence was neglected in foreign language education. Tomlinson (2008) indicated that teaching with textbooks designed for enhancing linguistic competence would not be helpful for learners to develop their intercultural competence. 8.

(15) Cultural issues were included in some textbooks. There still remain some limitations to overcome. Though some cultural information is included in the textbooks, the amount of it is limited (Truong, & Tran, 2014). Zhou (2011) proposed that intercultural issues remained limited in syllabus and textbooks. Even if cultural information is presented in the textbooks, most of the information is limited to cultures of specific countries such as the US or the UK. Al Mawoda (2011) advocated that English teachers often taught surfaced cultural issues of the target language from the textbooks in Kingdom of Bahrain, and there was limited time left for English teachers to mention different cultures to students. Similarly, in Taiwan, Huang (2008) conducted a research and found that textbooks in Taiwan focused mainly on the four basic skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing, since English had long been considered an important academic subject rather than a useful tool for international communication. Even if cultural content was covered in textbooks, the amount was not enough for students to acquire deeper understandings towards global cultures. Also, according to Huang’s (2008) study, the analysis of textbooks in Taiwan showed a lack of complexity in teaching culture. In other words, the cultural information presented in textbooks is either American or British culture. As Kramsch (2004) suggested, in addition to linguistic competence, a modern language teacher should also put emphasis on issues concerning as diverse cultural aspects as possible when designing lessons for learners. English teachers who rely heavily on textbooks could not provide students with sufficient cultural information. The lack of insufficient amount of cultural content in textbooks would not offer English teachers enough chances to help students develop their intercultural awareness. Due to the insufficient amount of cultural issues in the textbooks, the present study thus sought to fill the gap and to develop a culture learning program, which 9.

(16) basically extended from the learners’ textbooks and helped learners to develop their intercultural awareness. 2.4. Considerations and Practical Techniques for Culture Teaching Kramsch (1993) proposed the notion of “interculturality,” in which she considered culture as “a social construct, the product of self and others’ perceptions” (p.205). Culture learning is not merely about learning facts about other cultures. Students need to reflect on their own cultures in reference to other cultures as well. Learning and understanding other cultures would entail critical and social process in addition to knowing some facts of the target cultures. Cakir (2006) suggested that when teaching culture to the students, as abundant culture-related topics as possible should be involved in class to help the students become familiar with the target culture. He then listed some culture-based topics that the teachers could use in class, such as food, family, daily life, holidays, language, leisure activities, religion, social occasions, sport, etc. To start culture teaching, one effective way is to put emphasis on the similarities between the target culture and the students’ own culture, and then move on to compare the differences between them (Cakir, 2006). As Dai (2011) proposed in her study, when it comes to teaching culture, three different dimensions could be taken into consideration, i.e. information sources, activity types and positive interactions. Firstly, the textbooks are not the only option for the information sources. The teachers could select information or learning materials from as many sources as possible, and this would give the students an opportunity to see the target culture in a more comprehensive way. According to Dai (2011), possible sources of information which could be utilized as materials for teaching culture are as follows: illustrations, videos, newspapers, interviews, songs, films, literature, anecdotes, etc. 10.

(17) Secondly, some of the frequently used and effective classroom activities are listed in Dai’s (2011) study. (1) Conducting topic-oriented activity. The teachers present a topic or an issue first and then lead the students to talk about it. The major reason why the teachers lead some conversations or discussions is to help the students better understand the topic and mentally prepare for the following activities. (2) Taking activity logs. This refers to the journals which students write about their culture learning experiences. The students are welcomed to write down their learning experiences as well as comments or questions about the activities. It is beneficial for the students to keep journals on a regular basis throughout the process of culture learning, for the teachers could collect comments or feedback from the students to check whether they have comprehensively learned the target culture. (3) Selecting authentic materials. Authentic materials are the sources that the teachers could use in teaching culture. The biggest difference between authentic and non-authentic materials is the former ones show context, which contain abundant cultural background for the students. Films and videos are suitable materials for the students because they not only provide context but motivate the students’ learning interests. (4) Doing research-based learning. The students would learn better if they are given chances to perform tasks by doing some research. The teachers could provide the students with a few topics to choose from. Once a topic is decided, the students could start collecting materials that they need by searching the Net or going to a library for information. In this way, the students involving in active learning would have a better chance to foster long-term interests in the target culture. In addition to the abovementioned activities, readings, games, role play, discussion and other types of activity are useful techniques for the teachers to lead an effective culture classroom. Thirdly, culture learning should be not only informative but also interactive. In order to sustain the students’ interest in learning, the teachers would need to make the 11.

(18) classroom atmosphere vivid and fun enough so that the students could enjoy the class through positive interactions. The teaching materials were thus designed by the teacher-researcher according to the above-mentioned principles in the current study.. 12.

(19) CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of a culture learning program on the students in a junior high school in Taipei City, Taiwan. The study collected the feedback from the participants for the teacher-researcher. The qualitative and quantitative data also helped the teacher-researcher to improve in the course design in the future. In this study, three research questions were included, which were knowledge of cultural content, intercultural awareness (ICA), and perceptions of the learning program. 3.1. Settings and Participants The present study recruited 46 ninth graders, including 25 males and 21 females, in a municipal junior high school in Taipei City, Taiwan. All of the participants speak Mandarin Chinese as their first language and have learned English as a foreign language since they were in elementary school. Before the culture learning program, the participants did not have a lot of experience in culture learning. The participants gained knowledge about cultural content mostly from the textbooks, but the amount of it was limited. The participants followed the teacher-researcher’s instruction by using the learning materials designed by the teacher-researcher. The participants were divided into groups randomly in order for the teacher to lead discussions. The participants were randomly, not homogeneously or heterogeneous, grouped because English proficiency did not matter in the current study. Since culture learning, instead of language itself, was the main focus of the current study, all the participants were allowed to discuss in their native language, Mandarin Chinese. The participants’ qualitative feedback and quantitative data were collected throughout the whole 13.

(20) process of learning program. 3.2. Instruments To investigate the impact of the culture learning program, five instruments were applied in the current study, including pre- and post-questionnaires, pre- and post-test questions, learning journals, semi-structured interviews, and teaching materials. The three research questions were answered by collecting and analyzing the qualitative and quantitative data. First, the pre- and post-questionnaires were conducted quantitatively to examine the participants’ intercultural awareness. A few open-ended questions were also provided in the questionnaires to further collect the participants’ ideas. The participants who showed special interests or viewpoints in the learning program were invited to participate in the semi-structured interviews for the teacherresearcher to better understand their thoughts about the learning program. Second, the participants were required to take pre- and post-test questions before and after each topic. The quantitative data showed the participants’ progress in knowledge of the cultural content. After each topic, the participants were encouraged to keep a learning journal, which could serve as a reflection and also some feedback to the teacherresearcher. Last, some open-ended questions in the post-questionnaires showed the participants’ overall preferences toward the four topics of the learning program. 3.2.1. Pre- and Post-questionnaires To investigate the students’ attitudinal changes of their intercultural awareness, the pre- and post-questionnaires were employed in in the study. A total of 15 questions were presented in the form of a five-point Likert-scale, ranging from 5, meaning “strongly agree,” to 1, meaning “strongly disagree.” The questions were designed to investigate the participants’ intercultural awareness. There were two parts in the preand post-questionnaires. The first part of the pre- and post-questionnaires investigated the participants’ intercultural awareness quantitatively. The participants were asked to 14.

(21) express their experience in culture learning before this culture learning program in the second part of the pre-questionnaires. As for the second part of the postquestionnaires, the participants were required to show their preferences and reflections of the whole learning program. The questionnaire was revised from that of Chao’s (2014) study on the development and application of an intercultural competence scale for university EFL learners. In her study, five major factors were involved in the scale, including knowledge of intercultural interaction, affective orientation to intercultural interaction, behavioral performance in intercultural interaction, display of intercultural consciousness and self-efficacy in intercultural situations. The first four factors were in line with the definition of the intercultural awareness (ICA) in the present study, in which ICA was defined as having the attitude to appreciate others’ cultures and to interact with people outside of their own, having the cross-cultural communication knowledge to comprehend hidden social rules and to identify cultural differences, having the skills to communicate and interact in an effective manner, and having critical cultural awareness to judge or evaluate the actions and behaviors of people from diverse cultural backgrounds critically. Therefore, the questions in the first part of the pre- and post-questionnaires were adopted from Chao’s (2014) intercultural competence scale in her study and were revised to meet the needs of the present study, in which junior high school students were the participants. (See Appendix A.) In addition to answering the questions in the first part of the pre- and postquestionnaires, after the whole culture learning program, all participants were also asked to rank the four topics in the program based on their own preferences and to offer the reasons why they liked or disliked the topics. Also, the participants’ written feedback was collected in the later section of the second part of the questionnaire. After choosing the favorite topic of the program, the participants were also 15.

(22) encouraged to write down their overall feelings and thoughts about the whole culture learning program. These sections were carried out only in the post-questionnaires. (See Appendix B.) 3.2.2. Pre- and Post-test Questions The teacher-researcher designed some pre- and post-test questions in order to examine whether the participants gained knowledge from the culture learning program. There were four topics in the whole culture learning program, and a set of pre- and post-test questions were designed for each topic. Therefore, four sets of preand post-test questions were designed in the current study. All of the questions were designed based on the learning materials. As a member check, the teacher-researcher invited two colleagues to examine the pre- and post-test questions to confirm the validity of these questions. (See Appendix C.) Before each topic started, the participants were asked to answer the pre-test questions first, and after each topic, the participants took the post-test questions. Since the pre- and post-test questions from each topic were identical, the quantitative data would help the teacher-researcher better understand the participants’ progress through the culture learning program. 3.2.3. Learning Journals To help learners develop their intercultural awareness, reflection is effective and significant (Deardorff, 2006). Journaling is one of the ways to elicit learners’ inner thoughts and it also serves as a source of data for researchers (Dai, 2011). In the present study, the participants were required to hand in a learning journal as each topic of the culture learning program ended, so a total of 4 entries were collected from every participant at the end of the program to help the researcher better understand the participants’ attitudinal changes along with other qualitative data. The data collected from the participants’ learning journals could be used to help the teacher-researcher to explain the quantitative data collected in the present study. Since the participants of 16.

(23) the present study were junior high school students, they were guided with several simple questions or prompts as they kept the learning journal. To enable the participants to express precisely in their learning journals, all participants were allowed to express in their mother tongue, Mandarin Chinese. 3.2.4. Semi-structured Interview The participants revealing particular interests or special feedback on their questionnaires or in learning journals were invited to become candidates of individual semi-structured interviews. Some further questions were raised for those recruited in the interviews to express and elaborate their ideas based on their feedback in the questionnaires or the learning journals, either positive feedback or negative feedback. Six basic questions were raised to all participants at the beginning of the interviews, and these basic questions served to help the participants to recall the memories of the culture learning program and to feel less stressed about the interview. Once the interviewees felt more comfortable about the interview, more specific questions were raised to them based on what they said. In order to help lessen the participants’ anxiety, which might give rise to unexpected effects on the interview, the individual interviews were conducted in Chinese, and all the participants were also allowed to express their opinions in their native language so that their ideas and thoughts would be clearly conveyed. In addition to the interviews with a set of prepared questions, the teacher-researcher also collected the qualitative data by chatting with the students without any prepared questions. Under these circumstances, the students were not asked the same interview questions all the time. To sum up, there were two major purposes of the semi-structured interviews. One purpose was to gain insights into the participants’ perceptions of the culture learning program carried out in class. The other was to see the impact of the program on the participants’ intercultural awareness. (See Appendix D.) 17.

(24) 3.2.5. Teaching Materials The teaching materials as well as the activities for the present study were designed by the teacher-researcher based on the participants’ English textbooks. The present study was conducted after the 2018 Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Student (CAP), so the participants had learned junior high school English from Book 1 to Book 6. As mentioned above, the topics of this culture learning program were decided based on the participants’ English textbooks. The teacher-researcher made a quick survey of the participants’ textbooks and found that most topics were connected to their daily life. Based on what Cakir (2006) and Dai (2011) had suggested in their respective studies, the teacher-researcher chose “daily life” as the key concept of the culture learning program and then listed several potential topics related to the key concept. The participants’ interests were also taken into consideration; the teacher-researcher invited them to vote for the topics they felt interested in. With limitation of teaching hours, only four topics were included in this study. The four topics in the culture learning program were decided based on the above-mentioned considerations. The culture learning program was comprised of four topics in the current study, including Life and Death (Festival), Good Luck (New Year Custom), The Human Library (Life Experience) and Hello School (School Life). Each of the 4 topics lasted for 3 periods. According to Baker (2011), cultural content in typical English textbooks may mostly focus on the United States or United Kingdom. However, he stressed that cultural content of other cultural backgrounds could also be involved as teaching materials as long as it meets the needs of the learners. The current study accordingly provided the learners with cultural content appropriate to the participants. Some culture-related articles or video clips were provided to the learners as the learning materials in class. The participants’ overall language proficiency levels as well as the 18.

(25) topics mentioned in their English textbooks were the major concerns when selecting the articles or video clips. Dai (2011) proposed some effective activities when teaching culture to learners in her study, and the teacher-researcher incorporated these techniques or activities into the culture learning program in the present study. The four topics in this program followed the same procedures. (1) Conducting topic-oriented activity. As a warm-up activity, the teacher-researcher presented the topics or issues first and then give the students some random questions to think and discuss with their peers. Video clips were utilized to raise the students’ motivation at the beginning of all topics. This could help the students get mentally prepared for the following activities. (2) Selecting authentic materials. The main teaching part came after warming-up. Authentic materials, which contained abundant context for learners, were selected as the teaching materials in all four topics. In topic 1, the teacher-researcher played the movie clips of the movie, Coco, to introduce a Mexican festival to the students. In topic 2, video clips about new year customs were used. In topic 3, video clips about eSwatini and Palau were played to introduce the two countries to the students. In topic 4, the teacher-researcher played some clips of the movie, Mean Girls, to teach the students the differences between Taiwanese and American school lives. (3) Doing research-based learning. In this section, the students were asked to perform some tasks on a group basis. For topic 1, the students grouped up and searched for the information of the Mexican festival, Day of the Death, and then did the following discussion. For topic 2, each group was assigned two to three countries and then the students needed to surf the Net to find their New Year customs. For topic 3, before the speakers came, the students did some research on the speakers’ countries and prepared some questions to ask them. For the last topic, the teacher-research asked the students to search the Net for the information of American school lifestyle. (See Appendix E.) 19.

(26) 3.3. Research Design and Procedure The implementation phases of the current research lasted for 15 periods, from mid-May to mid-June of 2018, including four topics. In period one, the participants filled out the pre-questionnaires for the teacher-researcher to understand the starting point of their intercultural awareness. Some open-ended questions were also given to the participants and they were encouraged to share their past experiences on culture learning. From period two to period thirteen, the intervention was carried out, and the participants were engaged in the culture learning program designed by the teacherresearcher. Each topic lasted for three periods. The participants were required to keep learning journals as each topic ended. The qualitative data could be used for the teacher-researcher to better understand the participants’ inner thoughts of the lessons. For the last two periods, the post-questionnaires as well as the semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect more detailed data from the participants. Figure 1 shows the time schedule of the study. Figure 1 The Time Schedule of the Procedure of the Study. 20.

(27) Pre-test The purpose of the pre-test was to examine the participants’ knowledge of the culture content. Some multiple choices were designed by the teacher-researcher as the pre-test questions. Before the intervention of each topic, the participants were asked to answer the pre-test questions. There were four sets of pre-test questions in total. In addition to the pre-test questions, the teacher-researchers also asked the students to fill in the pre-questionnaires in order to understand the participants’ intercultural awareness in the first period. Intervention There were four topics in the culture learning program, and each of the topics lasted for three periods. Therefore, the intervention lasted for 12 periods in total. The teacher-researcher designed the learning program based on the participants’ textbooks as well as their interests. And the design of the lessons followed the techniques and recommended activities by Dai (2011). For each topic of the culture learning program, the teacher-researcher incorporated the techniques and activities into the lessons to guide the participants. In each lesson, the participants formed groups and cooperated with each other to perform the tasks assigned by the teacher-researcher. The details of the four topics of the culture learning program are described below. Table 1 showed the introduction of each of the topics in the culture learning program.. 21.

(28) Table 1 The Introduction of the Topics of the Culture Learning Program Schedule. Topic. Aim. Procedure. The students are able to Period 2-4. Life and Death (Festival). Period 5-7. Happy Lucky Year (New Year Custom). Period 8-10. The Human Library (Life Experience). Period 11-13. Hello School (School Life). understand the meaning of the Mexican festival, Day of the Dead. The students are able to 1. Topic-oriented know some New Year Warm-up customs of other cultures. 2. Main Teaching The students are able to with Authentic learn about the two target Materials countries. Also, they 3. Research-based interact properly with Learning people from other cultures. The students learn about the school lives between Taiwan and USA.. In the first topic, the teacher-researcher started from the reading material about Halloween, which learners felt quite familiar with. The participants were required to read the article first. After that, they were guided to think about two similar festivals in Taiwan and to compare these festivals. Then the teacher-researcher introduced another festival, Day of the Dead. The teacher-researcher played the movie clips of the animation, Coco, and then guided learners to know more about the Mexican festival. As the participants gained some background knowledge about this festival, they were required to compare it with the former ones. Some open-ended questions were provided for the participants to brainstorm on a group basis. In the second topic, the focus was on what people around the world do to keep away back luck and to have good luck during the New Year. The teacher started from the participants’ own culture (Chinese New Year) and then related to what people from other cultural backgrounds do to have good luck in the following year. The 22.

(29) participants needed to discuss and to think about the similarities and differences between these customs. Moreover, the learners moved beyond the surface of the festivals and tried to discover in-depth norms underlying these different cultures. Before class, the teacher-researcher assigned two countries/regions to each group and the participants were asked to search for the New Year customs of the target countries/regions on the Internet. In class, the participants did presentations and introduced these customs to the peers from other groups with supplementary video clips or pictures for better understandings. The participants were required to took notes when listening to their peers present. The teacher also led the learners to discuss and to compare these customs. In the third topic, two foreign exchange students were invited to class to share their life experiences with the participants. The participants were guided by the teacher-researcher to do some simple research on the target countries before the speakers came to the class. After the participants finished searching for some information of the target countries, they were asked to do a brief presentation on a group basis. Furthermore, the teacher-researcher guided the participants to think of some questions for the two speakers with their group members. The two speakers introduced their countries and shared their life or school experiences in class. The speakers also introduced some of the key customs or traditions in their countries to the participants, and then the participants posed some questions at the end of the lesson. As for the last topic, the students had the opportunity to compare their school life with that of American high school students. Video clips of an American movie were utilized as a way for the students to have a clearer picture about school lives in other countries. Furthermore, the teacher-researcher provided some discuss questions in the worksheets to help the learners better understand the target cultures and cultivate their intercultural awareness through these lessons. The participants were required to keep 23.

(30) a learning journal at the end of each topic, and the teacher-researcher would collect the qualitative data to examine the participants’ inner thoughts, special ideas, or advice for each topic. Post-test After the intervention of each topic, the students were given post-test questions. Four sets of post-test questions were included in total. As the whole culture learning program came to an end, the participants were asked to fill out the questionnaires again as the post-test. In addition to answering the questions, the students also wrote down what they liked and what they disliked in the learning program. Those who showed particular interests or feedback on the questionnaires or in the learning journals would become candidates of individual semi-structured interviews. A total of four further questions were raised for the students to express their viewpoints of the learning program in the present study. 3.4. Data Analysis The results of the current study were explored both quantitatively and qualitatively. Data analysis diagram is listed in Figure 2. Figure 2 The Diagram of Data Analysis. 24.

(31) The primary data came from the pre- and post-test questions, the pre-and postquestionnaires, the semi-structured interviews, and the students’ reflection journals. The reflection journals were collected throughout the whole process of the culture learning program. Based on the participants’ learning journals, the teacher-researcher prepared questions for the semi-structured interviews conducted in Mandarin Chinese. Through the interviews, the teacher-researcher would be able to probe into the participants’ subjective experiences (Peräkylä & Ruusuvuori, 2011) and their culture learning experiences. In the post-questionnaires, the participants were also asked to rank the four topics from their favorite one to their least favorite one. The participants’ perceptions of the culture learning program were investigated by analyzing these quantitative and qualitative data. To answer the first research question, the paired-sample t-tests analysis was conducted by the teacher-researcher to analyze the quantitative data. The teacherresearcher collected these quantitative data from the pre- and post-test questions before and after each topic. As for the second research question, the teacher-researcher would like to know the impact of the culture learning program on the participants’ intercultural awareness. The pre- and post-questionnaires were conducted and the paired-sample t-tests analysis was used to explain the quantitative data. A total of four dimensions, Attitude, Knowledge, Skill, and Critical Cultural Awareness, were involved in the pre- and post-questionnaires. Furthermore, the open-ended questions in the post-questionnaires were designed by the teacher-researcher to collect qualitative data for the current study. The participants’ answers in the open-ended questions showed their preferences and feelings toward the culture learning program. The participants’ learning journals also served as qualitative data to answer the third research question of the present study. 25.

(32) CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the impact of a culture learning program on junior high school students in Taiwan. Three research questions were raised and examined in the present study, so the results and discussion were also divided into three major sections. In the first section, the analysis was done to examine whether the students’ knowledge of cultural content increased after they participated in the culture learning program. In the second section, the teacherresearcher examined the impact of the culture learning program on the students’ intercultural awareness (ICA). The last section explored the students’ perceptions of the culture learning program. Both quantitative and qualitative data were used to interpret the results. 4.1. Analysis of Knowledge of Cultural Content Xue (2014) claimed that language and culture are inseparable and when it comes to learning a new language, not only language itself but also its culture are naturally learned at the same time. Learning a language along with its culture would help learners to interact with others effectively. However, the textbooks focused more on language itself than its corresponding culture (Truong & Tran, 2014). Similar results could be found in the study done in Taiwan. Huang (2008) stated that textbooks in Taiwan focused on four basic skills rather than culture. Even if cultural information was provided in textbooks, either the amount or the quality of cultural content was limited. In the present study, the teacher-researcher designed a culture learning program to see whether the learners gained some cultural knowledge after participating in the learning program. Before each topic began, the students were required to answer the pre-test 26.

(33) questions first. After the intervention, they answered the post-test questions. The preand post-test questions were identical and were designed based on the learning materials. Some quantitative results were found in the descriptive statistics and the results were discussed in the following paragraphs. 4.1.1. Quantitative Results To explore whether the students’ knowledge of cultural content increased after participating in the culture learning program, the students were required to take the pre- and post-test questions before and after each topic. There were four topics in the culture learning program in total, so four sets of pre- and post-test results were collected in the present study. Table 2 showed the descriptive statistics from the scores of the pre- and post-tests.. Table 2 Descriptive Statistics of the Students’ Culture Knowledge Scores Before and After the Intervention N=46. Pre-test. Topic. Post-test. M. SD. M. SD. t. df. p. Topic 1. 2.72. 1.61. 6.59. 1.07. -15.73. 45. *.00. Topic 2. 4.48. 1.62. 6.98. 0.86. -8.69. 45. *.00. Topic 3. 2.20. 1.17. 4.46. 0.98. -10.67. 45. *.00. Topic 4. 4.50. 0.69. 4.63. 0.90. -.83. 45. .41. Total score. 13.89. 3.15. 22.65. 1.93. -18.70. 45. *.00. * Statistically significant difference (p < .05) As seen in Table 2, there is significant difference in total score between the preand post-tests (p-value (0.00) < 0.05). The mean scores of total scores in the post-test (mean = 22.65) are higher than that of the pre-test (mean = 13.89). In addition to the 27.

(34) total score, the data of each topic could also be discussed. According to Table 2, there is significant difference in Topic 1 (p-value (0.00) < 0.05), Topic 2 (p-value (0.00) < 0.05), and Topic 3 (p-value (0.00) < 0.05) between the pre- and post-tests. However, the descriptive statistics showed no significant difference in Topic 4 (p-value (0.41) > 0.05), in which the teacher-researcher guided the students to compare the similarities as well as differences between Taiwanese high school lives and American ones by playing some movie clips and leading discussions. Though the mean scores did increase from the pre-test (mean = 4.50) to the post-test (mean = 4.63), the p-value (0.41) showed no significant difference. Among the four topics in the culture learning program, Topic 4 was the only topic that did not reveal significant difference statistically. 4.1.2. Discussion There is significant difference in total score between the pre- and post-tests (pvalue (0.00) < 0.05). The result suggested that the students’ knowledge of cultural content might have increased after the intervention. Also, there is significant difference in Topic 1 (p-value (0.00) < 0.05), Topic 2 (p-value (0.00) < 0.05), and Topic 3 (p-value (0.00) < 0.05) between the pre- and post-tests. The results implied that the students’ knowledge of cultural content might have increased after the intervention. However, the descriptive statistics revealed little significant difference in Topic 4 (p-value (0.41) > 0.05). The teacher-researcher then tried hard to find the reasons by examining the teaching materials, the pre- and post-test questions, and the students’ qualitative feedback. The data collected from the students’ learning journals, responses in the open-ended questions as well as semi-structured interviews were thoroughly investigated in order to find possible reasons to explain the results. One possible reason why the descriptive statistics did not reveal significant difference in Topic 4 might be due to the students’ familiarity with American culture. 28.

(35) The teacher-researcher’s speculation was supported by the students’ responses.. “American culture has relatively influenced Taiwan for a long period of time, and some features have already been blended into our culture. So, I don’t consider it that special.” (S27, Hsu) “Among the four topics, this one (Topic 4) is the easiest to me. I’ve watched many American movies and I even have some friends living in the US, so the differences between two countries are not new to me.” (S42, Chang). The findings from the students’ responses were in line with Zhou’s (2011) study, in which he asserted that cultures of specific countries such as the US and the UK, the so-called inner circle countries, had frequently been mentioned in most textbooks. Nevertheless, it would be much better for language learning if more diverse cultural aspects, besides American and British cultures, were introduced to the learners (Kramsch, 2004). Therefore, in the present study, the students’ knowledge in Topic 4 did not change significantly due to the fact that they already learned much knowledge about American culture and had been familiar with it before the intervention. 4.2. Analysis of Intercultural Awareness According to Cakir (2006), language and culture are intertwined and thus can hardly be separated from each other. For language teachers, it is important to teach both language and its culture to learners (Byram, 1989). Developing learners’ intercultural awareness (ICA) has been recommended in order to help learners communicate with people of other cultures properly (Yılmaz & Özkan, 2016). To investigate the impact of the culture learning program on the students’ intercultural awareness, the pre- and post-questionnaires were implemented before and after the intervention. The pre- and post-questionnaires were adapted from that of 29.

(36) Chao’s (2014) study to meet the needs of the current study, in which junior high school students were the participants. The teacher-researcher also designed some open-ended questions in the post-questionnaires in order to collect more detailed thoughts from the students. Based on the students’ answers in the questionnaires, some were selected to take part in the semi-structured interviews because they showed particular interests or expressed special ideas. 4.2.1. Quantitative Results The descriptive statistics in Table 3 showed the paired-sample t-test results of the questionnaires. Table 3 Paired-sample T-test Results of the Students’ Scores of Intercultural Awareness Before and After the Intervention N=46. Pre-test. Dimension. Post-test. M. SD. M. SD. t. df. p. Attitude. 3.95. 0.82. 4.38. 0.55. -4.51. 45. *.00. Cross-cultural Communication Knowledge. 4.09. 0.87. 3.89. 0.49. 1.55. 45. .128. Skill. 3.62. 0.82. 3.95. 0.56. 2.78. 45. *.008. Critical Cultural Awareness. 3.93. 0.87. 4.37. 0.67. -3.99. 45. *.00. Total score. 59.63. 10.20. 61.93. 6.87. -.99. 45. .059. * Statistically significant difference (p < .05) Table 3 revealed significant difference between the pre- and post-questionnaires in Attitude (p-value (0.00) < 0.05), Skill (p-value (0.008) < 0.05), and Critical Cultural Awareness (p-value (0.00) < 0.05), while the other dimension, Cross-cultural Communication Knowledge, didn’t show much difference between the pre- and postquestionnaires. Also, the p-value (0.059) of the total score showed little significant 30.

(37) difference between the pre- and post-questionnaires. 4.2.2. Discussion In the first dimension, Attitude, the p-value (0.00) showed significant difference between the pre- and post-questionnaires. The quantitative data revealed that the students might have some attitudinal changes after the intervention. It could be speculated that the students participating in this culture learning program learned to better appreciate people from other cultural backgrounds. This could be supported by the qualitative data collected from the post-questionnaires.. “Before this culture learning program, I was actually not so interested in other people’s cultures. But now, I’ve realized that the world is much bigger than I imagined before. I will continue learning other people’s cultures to broaden my horizons.” (S32, Pan) “I’ve learned a lot about foreign cultures and I look forward to meeting people from diverse cultural backgrounds and interacting with them.” (S30, Chuang). Another dimension, Skill, also showed significant difference in the p-value (0.008) between the pre- and post-questionnaires. The quantitative data indicated that the students’ skills to interpret cultural behaviors or to interact with people from other cultures might have improved after the intervention. The improvement might have something to do with the way how the teacher-researcher conducted the culture learning program. In Baker’s (2011) study, learners’ intercultural awareness (ICA) could be better developed by making comparisons between the target culture and learners’ own culture. The teacher-researcher followed his advice and led the students to make comparisons between cultures in the learning program. Also, the teacherresearcher led the students to view other cultures from different angles, which might 31.

(38) have helped the students with their skills to interpret other cultures and to interact with people from diverse cultures. For instance, in the first topic of the program, the teacher-researcher guided the students to reflect on the more familiar festivals, Ghost Festival and Halloween, before introducing the target Mexican festival, Day of the Dead, to them. Through the process of making comparisons, the students realized that people around the world don’t always see death in the same manner. The students’ growth in interpreting cultural behaviors could be observed in their feedback.. “After this learning program, I’ve noticed that people around the world see things so differently. I should know more about other people’s cultures before I interact with them to avoid misunderstandings.” (S4, Chou) “I’m impressed with the New Year customs around the world. This experience might help me a lot when I have the chance to interact with people from other countries some day in the future.” (S2, Wu). The descriptive statistics also showed significant difference in another dimension, Critical Cultural Awareness, in the p-value (0.00) between the pre- and post-questionnaires. The results implied that the students might have become more capable of evaluating the actions and behaviors of people from diverse cultural backgrounds in a critical way after the intervention. Baker (2011) mentioned in his study that once learners had the ability to compare the differences between their own cultures and the target cultures, they would better move beyond stereotypes and avoid judgements with the standard of their own cultures. The students’ qualitative feedback also showed their improvements in critical cultural awareness.. “I’ve learned that each culture has its unique way to see the world. Each culture 32.

(39) is precious and needs to be cherished. We might hold different views on the same thing, but we could not say who is right or who is wrong. The different values between us originated from our distinct cultures.” (S45, Huang). “I’ve realized the ways I behave are affected by my own culture, so naturally people of different cultures behave differently. We need to view other cultures in a more open-minded way, not just to judge them from our perspectives.” (S13, Li). The above-mentioned dimensions, Attitude, Skill and Critical Cultural Awareness, all showed significant difference in the descriptive statistics, whereas the other dimension, Cross-cultural Communication Knowledge, did not change significantly. That this dimension showed no significant difference was worth discussing in the following paragraphs. One reason might be the lack of implementation time. The whole culture learning program lasted for only 15 periods with four topics. Another possible reason might be due to the essence of cross-cultural communication knowledge, which involved the understandings of the hidden social norms of the culture. Bennett (1998) made a statement about the concept of “culture” in his study, in which “culture” could be further divided into two perspectives, big culture and small culture. The big culture refers to the routinized behaviors such as art, literature, food, festivals, and lifestyles. The big culture elements are usually visible and easy to be discovered when learning a new language along with its culture. However, the small culture, associated with the hidden social norms, values, and communication styles, is relatively not so easy to be discovered and is usually invisible. Lin’s (2017) research echoed with Bennett (1998) that more time or efforts were required in the learning of small culture, compared with big culture. The findings in the present study were in line with their respective studies. 33.

(40) The dimension, Cross-cultural Communication Knowledge, did not reveal significant difference because it would often take much more time and efforts for language teachers to guide the students to learn the hidden social norms, or the so-called small culture elements. Interestingly, one of the students’ responses might also help explain the reason why the mean scores decreased from the pre-test (mean = 4.09) to the post-test (mean = 3.89). The teacher-researcher speculated that the students might have revealed a tendency of conservativeness when asked about their cross-cultural communication knowledge after they participated in the culture learning program.. “As I learned more in this culture learning program, I gradually realized how inadequate my global knowledge was. I used to think that I knew enough about this world. But I was totally wrong.” (S5, Hu). Though the quantitative data showed no significant different in Cross-cultural Communication Knowledge between the pre- and post-questionnaires, the students’ qualitative feedback helped explain the possible reasons. The other three dimensions, Attitude, Skill, and Critical Cultural Awareness, all revealed significant difference. In addition to the descriptive statistics, the students’ qualitative feedback also offered the teacher-researcher some useful insights. 4.3. Analysis of the Students’ Perceptions of the Culture Learning Program The program in the present study was designed as a supplemental material, extended from the students’ textbooks. Thus, it was worthwhile to examine the students’ perceptions and qualitative feedback toward the whole culture learning program. To collect the data, a total of four open-ended questions were designed by the teacher-researcher in the post-questionnaires. 34.