Intercultural English Teaching Effectiveness Assessment: A Quasi-Experimental Design

This research illustrates how a new intercultural English writing course designed for a group of Taiwanese English majors was effective in developing intercultural sensitivities. It employed a quasi-experimental methodology and used a modified Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS). Results indicated that when developing Taiwanese EFL learners' intercultural sensitivities, this new method of instruction was found to be more effective than the traditional course. It was more effective for students that began the course at a lower intermediate intercultural sensitivity level. Among the four intercultural sensitivity dimensions that were measured in a pre-test, Interaction Confidence scored the lowest while Interaction Engagement scored the highest. These findings proved that compared with the traditional skill-based English writing course, an English program which incorporated various intercultural activities could better promote intercultural learning. This then evidenced that the new course had great potential to significantly increase students' Interaction Confidence (Experimental adjusted Mean=3.85; Control adjusted Mean=3.73), Interaction Attentiveness (Experimental adjusted Mean=3.65; Control adjusted Mean=3.43) and Interaction Respect and Enjoyment (Experimental adjusted Mean=3.83; Control adjusted Mean=3.80), which could in turn improve intercultural sensitivities on multiple levels. The research also determined the cultural learning activities that the students had preferred the most and addressed the complexity of the problems that could occur in the real-world teaching practices.

關鍵字

intercultural sensitivity ； intercultural communicative competence ； language education and language learning ； Quasi-Experimental Design ； Taiwan

並列摘要

本研究探討一門跨文化英文寫作課程的教學效益，目的為有效提升一群主修英文系的台灣大學生的跨文化敏覺度。研究方法採用準實驗研究法，使用改編的跨文化敏覺度量表。研究發現新的跨文化英語課程比傳統的英語課程更能有效提升學生的跨文化敏覺度，尤其是原本跨文化敏覺度程度低者。研究顯示，前測的跨文化敏覺度四個面向中，以跨文化互動自信分數最低，互動參與分數最高。研究也證明，相較於以教授英語技巧為主的傳統英文寫作課程，此跨文化學習英文寫作課程因融入不同跨文化活動與內涵，更能有效提升學生的互動自信（實驗組調整後平均數=3.85；控制組調整後平均數=3.73）、互動專注（實驗組調整後平均數=3.65；控制組調整後平均數=3.43）以及互動尊重與喜悅（實驗組調整後平均數=3.83；控制組調整後平均數=3.80）；然後這些能力的提升可進一步發展學生的跨文化敏覺度。此研究也分析學生們喜愛的有效跨文化學習活動，討論一門融入真實經驗的跨文化英語課程在教學實踐上的複雜性。

並列關鍵字

跨文化敏覺度；跨文化溝通能力；語言教育與語言教學；準實驗設計；台灣

參考文獻

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Gordon, S. R., & Mwavita, M. (2018). Evaluating the international dimension in an undergraduate curriculum by assessing students' intercultural sensitivity. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 59, 76-83. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2018.03.005

Koester, J., & Lustig, M. W. (2015). Intercultural communication competence: Theory, measurement, and application. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 48, 20-21. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.03.006

國際替代計量

Intercultural English Teaching Effectiveness Assessment: A Quasi-Experimental Design

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