國中生對英語課本活動喜好之研究

A Study of EFL Students' Preference for Textbook Activities at a Junior High School in Taipei

趙雲華(Yun-hua Chao)

指導教授 ： 葉錫南

國立臺灣師範大學/文學院/英語學系在職進修碩士班/碩士(2005年)

摘要

中文摘要

本論文旨在探討台灣國中生對於英語教科書中的活動喜好，特別針對學生的活動喜好及其與英語學習風格、英語學習動機強度、學習成就及性別間的相關性做進一步的了解。
本研究施測對象為336 名臺北市士林區一所國中二年級的學生。研究方法採量表調查法。除了詢問背景資料外，本問卷含改編自Reid (1987) 的學習知覺風格偏好量表、Gardner (1985)的動機強度問卷、及改編自康軒國中英語第一冊至第四冊的課本活動喜好問卷。問卷的結果採用描述統計、T檢定及變異數分析進行統計分析。研究結果顯示學生的活動喜好與其英語學習風格、英語學習動機強度、學習成就及性別間有顯著相關。在學生喜好的前十項活動方面，學生的活動喜好類型與其學習風格具有一致性。然而在學生最不喜好的十項活動中，活動的施行方式(單獨或分組活動)與活動的難度對學生的活動喜好影響較大。本研究建議教師在設計或施行教學活動前，應先了解學生之學習風格及學習動機強度，以使教學更為有效。此外，施行較為困難的學習活動時，教師應更為注意學生的反應，給予學生詳盡的指導及練習，並減低學生學習的焦慮。教科書編者在設計教科書活動時，也應考慮不同學生的學習風格及動機，並了解教師及學生對課本活動的喜惡，增加學生及教師偏好的活動，並改編學生覺得困難而不喜好、或教師覺得施行上有困難的活動，以使教師在教學上更得心應手。

關鍵字

學習風格 ； 動機強度 ； 課本活動喜好 ； 學習成就 ； 性別

並列摘要

Abstract

The present study is aimed to investigate EFL junior high school students’ preference for textbook activities in Taiwan. The focus is to examine the relationship of students’ preferences for textbook activities to perceptual learning style and motivational intensity. The effects of two learner variables, i.e., English achievement and gender, on textbook activity preference are also examined.
A total of 345 students participated in the present study. The participants completed a questionnaire composed of two inventories adapted from the Perceptual Learning Style Questionnaire (Reid, 1984) and the Motivational Intensity Questionnaire (Gardner, 1985), and the Textbook Activity Preference Questionnaire based on the textbook currently used in the researcher’s school (Kang Hsuan Version, tentative edition, Book One to Book Four, 2002). The data collected were analyzed by computing descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and t-tests. The results show significant correlations between students’ activity preference and their perceptual learning style, and between students’ activity preference and their motivational intensity. The two learner variables, including learners’ English achievement and gender are also significantly related to their activity preference. By nature, the activities preferred by students and teachers are different. Students preferred easier activities that would not make them feel pressured while teachers preferred writing activities in which students could get familiar with the contents of the textbook. In terms of learner variables, for the first ten preferred activities, students’ activity preference seems to relate more to their learning style and motivational intensity; however, the activity type based on learning style does not seem crucial in students’ first ten preferred activities for students of different achievement levels and gender. As to the bottom ten activities reported by students of different learning styles, motivational intensity, achievement levels, and gender, the results demonstrate that the social learning style and the difficulty level of activities seem to play significant roles in students’ activity preference. Students in the present study expressed lower preferences for individual and difficult activities regardless of their learning style, motivational intensity, achievement level, and gender.
Pedagogically, the findings suggest that teachers should be aware of their students’ learning styles and motivational intensity and try to design or modify the learning activities so as to attend to their students’ various learning styles and to motivate students to learn more actively. Moreover, when implementing difficult writing or speaking activities, teachers should try to ease students’ pressure and give students ample opportunity to practice and clear guidance about the way to complete the activities well. On the other hand, before writing the textbook, material designers should investigate both students’ and teachers’ preferences for textbook activities so as to add more activities that are popular with both students and teachers and to delete or modify the activities that students and teachers least prefer. Beside, material designers should consider students’ learning styles and learning motivation when designing activities. In this way, the textbook may attend to both teachers’ and students’ needs. Further pedagogical implications, limitations of the present study, and suggestions for future research are presented at the end of the study.

並列關鍵字

learning style ； motivational intensity ； textbook activity preference ； language achievement ； gender

參考文獻

Chen, Y. C. (1999). The Perceptual Learning Style Preferences of Taiwanese Junior High School Students in Learning English. National Changhua University of Education.

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Allen, L. Q. (2002). Teachers’ Pedagogical Beliefs and the Standards for Foreign Language Teaching. Foreign Language Annals, 35(5), 518-529.