國立屏東大學英語學系碩士班碩士論文Department of English ...

國立屏東大學英語學系碩士班

碩士論文

Department of English

National Pingtung University

Master’s Thesis

指導教授：張淑英博士

Advisor: Dr. Jackie Chang

英語老師對於高雄市英語村之看法研究

A Study of English Teachers’ Perceptions

on English Villages in Kaohsiung City

研究生：陳彥慈

Student: Yen-Tzu Chen

中華民國一百零四年七月

July 2015

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

After five years of study, having finished my thesis, I would like to express my

deepest appreciation to those who have supported and encouraged me.

First, my greatest gratitude goes to my advisor, Dr. Jackie Chang, who always

gives me concrete advice and has edited my thesis carefully and quickly. I extend

special thanks for her support, guidance and patience. Without her direct and

thoughtful guidance, this thesis could not have been accomplished.

My sincere thanks also go to two committee members, Dr. David Gordon and Dr.

Tung-Tao Yu, who provided me with their insightful suggestions and kind assistance.

Their professional knowledge made my thesis stronger and more complete.

Appreciation is extended to all the teachers who participated in my study. The

teachers’ perceptions made my study’s results more valuable.

Then, I would like to express my particular appreciation to my classmates,

colleagues, friends and partners, especially to Sindy, Tony, Lillian, Anna and Greta.

With their company, sharing and encouragement, I learned how to find more helpful

information related to my study and how to relieve my pressure while writing this

thesis.

Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to my beloved parents and boyfriend. Their

love and tolerance supported me to overcome the frustration and to succeed in

completing my thesis.

ii

中文摘要

近年來，台灣英語村受到越來越多研究者的關注。然而，有關英語村老

師對於英語村看法之研究仍是缺乏的。本研究目的在於探究英語村外師與中師

對高雄市英語村的課程設計、教師、學生的學習成效、教學環境、政策與行政

之看法。為了對高雄市英語村有更深入的瞭解，本研究採用質性研究。受試者

為於高雄市英語村中任教的六名外師與六名中師。

研究結果如下：課程設計方面，多數受試者表示教學具彈性化，贊同預

習與複習教學內容，並重視“親手做”經驗及當地文化; 教師方面，多數受試

者對於身為英語村老師有正向的態度。另外，老師之間合作良好。當學生需要

更深入的理解時，老師會說中文; 學生學習成效方面，所有受試者都相信英語

村能引起學生英語學習之動機。多數受試者認為英語村對於學生的聽、說，及

認識西方文化較具效益。再者，受試者運用觀察學生反應的方式作為評量依據，

並發現大部份學生所面臨的最大挑戰為“恐懼”。此外，他們同意依據英語程

度將學生做分組學習，並表示五年級學生乃適合參訪英語村之年級; 教學環境

方面，多數受試者相當滿意情境教室之設計與英語村內教學環境; 政策與行政

方面，多數受試者認為英語村在小學階段英語學習中扮演實用的角色。他們也

獲得當地政府及英語村行政人員的協助。儘管受試者對英語村抱持正向態度，

中師對於其收入與福利感到不滿; 外師則對於維持英語村的財政預算感到憂心。

提升台灣的英語教學需要更合適、具體、且伴隨持續性評鑑的英語村政

策輔佐。希望此研究結果能提供英語村教學課程中各層面的見解，並且將對於

台灣英語教學現況有所意涵。

關鍵字：英語村、外籍英語老師、中籍英語老師

iii

ABSTRACT

Research on English villages in Taiwan has been growing recently. However,

research regarding English Village teachers’ perceptions of English villages is still

scant. The purpose of this study is to investigate how foreign English teachers and

local English teachers’ perceptions on course design, teachers, students’ learning

effectiveness, teaching environment, policies and administration of English villages in

Kaohsiung City. A qualitative research interview was employed in order to obtain a

better and deeper understanding of English teachers’ perceptions on English villages.

The participants were 6 foreign English teachers and 6 local English teachers in

English villages in Kaohsiung City.

The main findings are presented following. First, in terms of course design, most

participants point out that they keep their lessons flexible, agree on preview and

review the teaching content, and focus on hands-on learning experiences and local

culture. Regarding the teachers, most participants have a positive attitude towards

being an English teacher in the English Villages. Also, they cooperate well with other

teachers in the teaching program of English Villages. Moreover, they speak Chinese

when students need better understanding.

In the light of students’ learning effectiveness, all participants believe that visiting

English Villages could motivate students to learn English. Most participants state that

English villages increase the students English speaking and listening skills, as well as

western culture understanding. Besides, they evaluate students by observing their

responses and find out that fear is the biggest challenge most students faced. In

addition, they agree on grouping students by English proficiency and state that fifth

grader is appropriate age to visit English Village.

iv

Moreover, most participants are satisfied with the design of scenario classrooms

and the teaching environment. In relation to policies and administration, most

participant believe that the English villages play a practical role in English language

learning at the elementary school level. They also get assistance from the local

government and the administrators in the English Villages. Although, the participants

have positive attitudes towards the English village in general, the local English

teachers are not satisfied with their income and benefit; foreign English teachers are

worry about the budget allocation for the maintenance of the English villages.

More appropriate and concrete policies, coupled with successive evaluation

regarding English villages are needed so as to provide better English teaching and

learning in Taiwan. It is hoped that the findings of this study will provide insights into

many aspects of the English teaching programs at the English villages and have

implications for current English teaching and learning in Taiwan.

Key words: English Village, foreign English teachers, local English teachers

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................. i

ABSTRACT (Chinese) ................................................................... ii

ABSTRACT (English) ................................................................... iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................ v

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURE ...................................................... vii

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ........................................... 1

Background and Motivation of the Study ....................................................1

Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................5

Research Questions of the Study .................................................................5

Significance of the Study .............................................................................6

Definition of Terms......................................................................................6

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW .............................. 8

International Education ................................................................................8

The Background of International Education in Taiwan ........................9

International Education for Primary and Secondary Schools ...............9

English Villages around the World .....................................................11

English Villages in Taiwan ........................................................................13

Goals and Characteristics of English Villages ...................................16

Operating Situation and Financial Resources of English Villages .....18

Human Resources in English Villages ...............................................20

Teaching Program of English Villages .............................................21

English Villages in Kaohsiung Area ..........................................................22

English Villages in the former Kaohsiung City .................................22

English Villages in the former Kaohsiung County ............................24

Current English Villages in the Kaohsiung Area ...............................26

Problems of English Villages in Taiwan ...................................................27

The Problem of Finance ....................................................................27

The Problem of Human Resources ....................................................28

The Problem of English Learning Effectiveness ..............................29

The Problem of Sustainable Development ........................................30

Current Studies on English Villages in Taiwan .........................................31

vi

Studies Regarding Teachers’ Perceptions of English Villages ..........34

CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY ................................... 37

Methodology Rationale ..............................................................................37

Participants of the Study ............................................................................39

Region of Focus: English Villages in post-merger Kaohsiung City ..........41

Teaching Environment in English Villages ...............................................42

Instrumentation of the Studies ...................................................................43

Research Procedures ..................................................................................46

Data Analysis .............................................................................................47

CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS .................................................... 49

Course Design ............................................................................................49

Teachers .....................................................................................................54

Students’ Learning Effectiveness ..............................................................58

Teaching Environment ...............................................................................62

Policies and Administration .......................................................................64

Summary of the Results .............................................................................69

CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION .......... 71

Discussion of the Findings ........................................................................71

Conclusion of the Study .............................................................................85

The Summery of Findings ..................................................................85

Pedagogical Implications ....................................................................87

Limitations and Suggestions for Further Study ..................................90

REFERENCES ............................................................................... 92

CHINESE REFERENCES ........................................................... 96

APPENDIXES .............................................................................. 100

Appendix A: Personal Information Questionnaire for FTs ......................100

Appendix B: Personal Information Questionnaire for LTs......................101

Appendix C: Interview Guide ..................................................................102

Appendix D: Consent Form .....................................................................107

Appendix E: A Sample of Interview Transcript ......................................108

vii

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURE

Tables

Table 1 Current English Villages in Taiwan ...................................................14

Table 2 Current Studies on English Villages in Taiwan ..................................31

Table 3 Personal Information on Foreign English Teachers ..........................40

Table 4 Personal Information on Local English Teachers ..............................40

Table 5 Scenario Classrooms of English Villages in Kaohsiung City .............42

Table 6 Content of the Interview Guide ...........................................................44

Table 7 Coding of Participants ........................................................................47

Table 8 Foreign teachers’ results regarding course design ............................49

Table 9 Local teachers’ results regarding course design ................................50

Table 10 Schedule of English Village teaching program in Kaohsiung City ......

............................................................................................................................51

Table 11 Foreign teachers’ results regarding teachers ..................................54

Table 12 Local teachers’ results regarding teachers ......................................55

Table 13 Foreign teachers’ results regarding students’ learning effectiveness ..

............................................................................................................................58

Table 14 Local teachers’ results regarding students’ learning effectiveness ......

............................................................................................................................59

Table 15 Foreign teachers’ results regarding teaching environment .............63

Table 16 Local teachers’ results regarding teaching environment .................63

Table 17 Foreign teachers’ results regarding policies and administration ....64

Table 18 Local teachers’ results regarding policies and administration ........65

Figure

Figure 1 The Procedure of the study ................................................................46

1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This section first offers the background and motivation of this study. Second,

the purpose of the study is described. Third, the research questions follow. Fourth, the

significance of the study is pointed out. Finally, the key terms used in the study are

defined.

Background and Motivation of the Study

“English is widely regarded as having become the global language”, as pointed

out by Graddol (1997), a linguist and researcher. John McWhorter, a linguist and the

author of a history of language called “The Power of Babel,” argued that “English is

dominant in a way that no language has ever been before” (McWhorter, 2003).

Scholars have stated that about one-quarter of the world's population can

communicate to some degree in English (cf. Mydans, 2007). English is being used by

many people worldwide. People use English in three ways: as a native language,

second language, or foreign language (Graddol, 1997). English plays an important

role in the world. It is described as the first global lingua franca or dominant language.

In some instances of communication, science, information, technology, business,

seafaring, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy, it is the required international

language. Therefore, more and more people in the world emphasize the significance

of learning English.

In the 21st century, English continues to dominate the world as a global

language, providing a common language for many countries. To follow the trend of

globalization, some countries in Asia, such as Taiwan, Korea, Japan and even China

have implemented English education, which starts at the primary school stage (Huang,

2

2012). The people of these countries learn English as a foreign language (EFL).

Compared with the people who learn English as a second language (ESL), EFL

learners cannot be immersed in an environment filled with the target language. EFL

learners lack such the environment for their language learning; most of them just learn

English at school or other educational institutions. Insufficient input of the target

language has long been a big issue for EFL learners. Therefore, the concept of English

Villages has been developed to overcome this limitation.

English Villages, alternative English teaching program, have been developed in

the previous decade. It differs from regular English courses at school, providing

learners with an English teaching program in a simulated environment to help them

develop their English proficiency. The English Villages have been constructed in

non-English speaking countries around the world in order to accommodate the needs

of learning and practicing English in realistic situation (Hsueh, 2010). In the history

of English Village development, the first English Village in the world was established

in Valdelavilla, Soria, Spain in 2001 (Lin, 2011). South Korea was the first country in

Asia to set up an English Village in 2004. Then, Italy set up one in Tuscany in 2005

(Chen, 2007; Hsiang, 2009). The purpose for English Villages was to immerse

learners in simulated English language environments in their own countries.

Across South Korea, 21 English villages were set up to replicate life in a typical

small town, complete with mock banks, post offices, grocery stores, cinemas and

police stations. Korean students aged between 10 and 14 experience a week with

foreign instructors in English Villages. Making students speak English most of the

time in entirely-English environment was the goal of English Villages. The

government of South Korea invested huge amounts of money in building English

Villages; for instance, the Gyeonggi Province government, which owns the Paju

3

English Village, pioneered the huge immersion language program in South Korea by

building the first English-only village in 2004 at a cost of 85 billion won (NT$2.88

billion). The English Village was meant to immerse students in a close-to-natural

English-speaking environment without them having to leave their country and saving

them the expense of taking a study trip abroad (Lee, 2008). English Villages in South

Korea have attracted many officials and scholars from other countries to observe and

experience; delegations from Japan visited Kyonggi English Village and may

implement the idea in Japan.

The educators in Taiwan became interested in the concept of English Villages in

order to improve the English learning situation in Taiwan. Taiwan’s Ministry of

Education dispatched some officials and scholars to visit English Villages in South

Korea in the early 2000s. Taiwan’s visitors were impressed by South Korea English

Villages. But, they also posed five problems that South Korean English Villages had

according to their visiting experiences (Chen, 2007). First, they pointed out that there

was limited effectiveness of English teaching and learning in South Korea English

Villages because the English Villages focused on entertainment more than education.

Second, there were significant differences among the visiting students’ ages and

English proficiencies, so the educators in English Villages could not adjust the

teaching situation. Third, the foreign English teachers who taught in South Korea

English Villages considered that the English learning activities were not authentic.

Fourth, South Korea English Villages spent huge amounts of money but seemed not

to show their success. Fifth, the number of visiting students was decreasing. Hence,

the officials and scholars strived to overcome the problems that South Korea English

Villages had, and established English Villages in Taiwan in 2005.

The English Villages in Taiwan are different from the English Villages in South

4

Korea. The most obvious difference between Taiwanese and South Korean English

Villages is the construction. The former are equipped with many different scenario

classrooms in the spaced classrooms at schools. The scenario classrooms are

simulated classrooms with different locations, such as a restaurant, a supermarket, a

hotel, an airport, and so on. While the latter are set up with whole communities where

hundreds of people live, eat, sleep, shop and learn (English village in Korea, 2006).

To sum up, South Korea built new buildings and created new environments to create

English Villages, while Taiwan utilized the vacant spaces in schools for English

Villages (Hsueh, 2010). Most English Villages in Taiwan were built in refurbished

classrooms. South Korea’s government and non-government institutions paid

enormous amounts of money to build English Villages. However, Taiwan’s

government did not spend huge funds like South Korea did.

The first Taiwanese English Village was set up in Taoyuan County in 2006.

Then other cities and counties also started to establish English Villages. Now, there

are 55 English Villages throughout Taiwan except for Hshinchu City, Taitung County

and Lienchiang County. Kaohsiung area used to have the most English Villages (25).

Kaohsiung’s Education Bureau has been providing an English Village study tour for

all fifth graders in Kaohsiung since 2008. To promote international education, eight

English Villages had been set up in Kaohsiung by 2009. However, there are only six

English Villages in Kaohsiung City today: Feng-Shan English Village, Wu-Fu English

Village, Guo-Pi English Village, Tsai-Wen English Village, Gang-Shang English

Village and Ci-Shan English Village.

In Taiwan, English-speaking environments are scant. English learners in

Taiwan need more opportunities to practice English, especially in listening and

speaking; thus building an English learning environment is beneficial for learners.

5

Taiwan’s government believes that English Villages can provide learners the

environment where they have more chances to speak and listen to English. Therefore,

English Village is one of the policies for promoting international exchanges (MOE,

2009). English Villages have been constructed in order to develop international

education and improve students’ English learning competence. This is the reason why

the number of English Villages continues to increase in Taiwan’s cities and counties

(Chen, 2009; Hsueh, 2011; Hung, 2012); however, the number of English Villages in

Kaohsiung City has decreased. This phenomenon triggered the researcher to study the

current operation of English Villages in Kaohsiung and the success of these English

Villages.

Purpose of the Study

The central purpose of this study is to investigate the practical operation of

English Villages in Kaohsiung City; these include: Feng-Shan English Village, Wu-Fu

English Village, Guo-Pi English Village, Tsai-Wen English Village, Gang-Shang

English Village and Ci-Shan English Village. The current situations of these English

Villages will be presented in the study.

Research Questions of the Study

Based on the purpose of the present study, three research questions are proposed

as follows:

1. What are foreign English teachers’ and local English teachers’ perspectives in

regard to course design, teachers, students’ learning effectiveness, teaching

environment, policies and administration of English villages in Kaohsiung City?

2. What are the similarities and differences between foreign English teachers’ and

6

local English teachers’ perspectives on course design, teachers, students’ learning

effectiveness, teaching environment, policies and administration of English villages in

Kaohsiung City?

Significance of the Study

In this study, the current situation of English Villages in Kaohsiung City can be

understood through the English teachers’ perspectives in terms of course design,

teachers, students’ learning effectiveness, teaching environment, English Village

policies and administration. Moreover, this study will provide three contributions.

First, the results may be valued reference for English teachers and administrators of

English Villages. Second, the study could be valued literature regarding English

Villages in Taiwan. Third, the implications of this study may impact English

education in Taiwan.

Definition of Terms

English Villages

English villages are English teaching programs, which aim to create simulated

environments for students in EFL countries. English Villages are constructed as

real-life environments. When students experience English Villages, they are immersed

in the target language environment.

Scenario Classrooms

Scenario classrooms of English Villages in Taiwan are built to mock

supermarkets, shopping malls, hospitals, restaurants, etc. Students can learn English

in the scenario classrooms by using the public facilities. For example, there are a

7

lobby, a counter and rooms in the mock hotel where students can learn how to make a

reservation or check in. Most scenario classrooms in Taiwan are remodeled from old

classrooms.

Foreign English Teachers

Foreign English teachers are native speakers of English. In this study, the

foreign English teachers of the English Villages in Kaohsiung City are from the US,

Canada and Australia. Having come to Taiwan, they teach English in the English

Villages in Kaohsiung City.

Local English Teachers

Local English teachers are non-native speakers of English. They learned

English as their second or foreign language. In this study, the local English teachers

are Taiwanese. They teach English to students in the English Villages in Kaohsiung

City. They are not formal English teachers with teacher’s certificates. They are

recruited by the English Villages to teach in the teaching programs of English

Villages.

8

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

The section provides an overview of the existing literature and research

regarding English villages. The literature review is divided into five parts. The first

part describes international education. The second part presents the background of

English Villages in Taiwan. The third part provides the history of English Villages in

the Kaohsiung area. In the fourth part, the problems which English Villages encounter

are stated. Last, the current studies on English Villages in Taiwan are presented. This

literature review strives to provide insightful background information that forms the

research questions when conducting the interviews for this qualitative research.

International Education

The global village concept is a common one in the twenty-first century

following the improvement of information technology. Cutting-edge information

technology has further connected global communities, thus forming the era of

globalization (MOE, 2012a). Besides, the phenomenon of globalization is ubiquitous

because transportation and communication have developed well. Hence, global

citizens usually interact with people from other countries in the global community.

Global citizens have inseparable relationships with foreigners in vast areas, such as

technology, policy, economy, society and the Internet (MOE, 2012a). The interactions

between countries have become more and more frequent. In the environment of

globalization, countries, which emphasize international education, continue to

increase. Through international education, global citizens would understand,

appreciate and respect cultural diversity.

Affected by the phenomenon of globalization, Taiwan’s government also values

9

international education. For the students in Taiwan, international education helps them

to understand that humans depend on, and cooperate with, each other (Huang, 2005;

Yen, 2005; Huang, 2009; Chan, 2013). According to the MOE (2012a), English

Villages represent one of the policies regarding international education. Constructing

English Villages helps students to acquire an international education (Chan, 2013).

The Background of International Education in Taiwan

The government of Taiwan became aware of the importance of language

learning and international education in the context of globalization after 1990. It

began to emphasize English learning and cross-cultural communication via new

educational policies in 2001 (MOE, 2012a; Chan, 2013; Chen 2014). It believes that

English competence will help students to gain more knowledge and expand their

global horizons. It also believes that learning English will assist students in

collaborating with foreigners and develop their competencies in the global era (MOE,

2012a). On the whole, the importance of international education cannot be

overemphasized in Taiwan. The government of Taiwan has carried out some policies

related to international education, affecting the students of primary and secondary

schools (MOE, 2012a, Chan, 2013). The policies will be presented in the following

section.

International Education for Primary and Secondary Schools

The White Paper on International Education for Primary and Secondary schools

(MOE, 2012a) shows the detailed strategies for international education in Taiwan. The

title of the white paper is Developing 21st Century Competencies for Our Next

Generation. It presents that Taiwan’s next stage of its globalization vision (2012 to

10

2022) is to lay a workable foundation for its 21st century youth. There are four main

goals of international education: national identity, international awareness, global

competitiveness and global responsibility. According to The White Paper on

International Education for Primary and Secondary Schools, the following is a brief

introduction to the four main goals of international education.

First, through international education, students will develop a strong

international identity. It helps students to understand their unique history, geography

and culture. Besides, it assists students to become aware of Taiwan’s place in the

international community. As Taiwanese, they have responsibilities regarding Taiwan

and its future. Second, international education includes knowledge and skills of

cross-cultural communication, the appreciation of cultural diversity and awareness of

critical global issues. Therefore, students will gain international awareness by learning

English, appreciate foreign cultures, and care more about global issues. Third, giving

students more opportunities to develop their global competitiveness is one of the

stated goals. They will enhance their language learning and proficiency, their skill

with cross-cultural communication, and their understanding of multiculturalism.

Lastly, international education will teach students to respect diverse ethnic,

geographic and cultural populations. Students will be able to cultivate their sense of

global responsibility to maintain world peace, support and protect human rights, and

conserve our natural resources (MOE, 2012a).

The White Paper on International Education for Primary and Secondary

Schools also shows that international education in Taiwan is focused on three

concepts: adopting a school-based approach, integrating international education into

current school curriculums, and highlighting the roles of government and schools.

Furthermore, the planned and carried out various policies which were presented in

11

three parts: curriculum integration, international exchange and teacher professional

development. In the part of international exchange, English Villages are one of the

important policies (MOE, 2012a). Creating an immersion English learning

environment for students is essential. Therefore some local governments have

constructed English Villages in order to develop a more international education and

improve students’ English learning competence. Before introducing the English

Villages in Taiwan, the background of English Villages around the world will be

presented in the next section.

English Villages around the World

English Villages provide learners with an English teaching program in an

immersion environment (Hsiang, 2009) which looks like a realistic location, for

example, with a restaurant, air-cabin, or shopping center (Wu, 2011). Its purpose is to

immerse learners in such simulated foreign environments in their own countries.

Learners are expected to develop their English speaking fluency and cultural

awareness in these English Villages (Lai, 2009). In order to meet the needs of learning

English in near authentic environments, English Villages have been constructed in

non-English speaking countries around the world (Hsiang, 2009; Hsueh, 2010; Wu,

2011).

The first English Village was established in Valdelavilla, Soria, Spain in 2001.

The Spanish people aimed to improve their English communication skills in an

immersion environment, so they developed the first English Village. They emphasized

whole language instruction to lessen the fear of speaking English (Chen, 2009). It

offered different kinds of English teaching programs for learners (Hsiang, 2009; Wu,

2011). The second English Village in the world was set up in South Korea in 2004. It

12

was designed as a real community where only English can be spoken (Hsiang, 2009).

The background of constructing English Villages in South Korea resulted from the

great number of young Koreans studying English in English-speaking countries.

South Korea’s Education Ministry mentioned that going abroad to study English cost

a great deal of money which few could afford. This phenomenon motivated the South

Korean government to invest heavily in building English Villages. The goal was to

create a real-life environment where learners could have English programs without

studying overseas (Oxford & Park, 1998; Trottier, 2008; Lai, 2009). Koreans aimed to

improve their English proficiency and competitiveness in the global community;

therefore, soon there were 21 English Villages across South Korea (English village in

Korea, 2006; Chang, 2007; Chen, 2007; Cheng, 2008; Huang, 2008; Mithridates,

2007b; Peng, 2008; Shih, 2008; Hsueh, 2010; Wu, 2011). The third English Village in

the world was constructed in Tuscany, Italy in 2005. It provided business people with

an immersion environment for their exposure to English (Chen, 2007; Hsiang, 2009).

The English program in the English Village was based on business English (Chen,

2009).

Since then, English Villages have attracted many officials and scholars from

other countries around the world to observe and experience them. A number of

countries began to create English Villages, especially the countries in which people

learn English as foreign language (Hsiang, 2009; Hsueh, 2010). English Villages have

developed in different areas. The countries which constructed English Villages have

the same goal, improving learners’ English language ability in the global village.

Taiwan is no exception. English Villages in Taiwan will be presented in the following

section.

13

English Villages in Taiwan

Taiwan’s government began to emphasize international education; hence some

related educational policies were developed. In June 2002, the Executive Yuan

proposed the Challenge 2008-National Development Plan, which included developing

Taiwan’s international living environment and enhancing the people's English

proficiency (Huang, 2003). It was this initiative which inspired the development of

English Villages in Taiwan. In this plan, the government allotted 600 million NT

dollars (about 20 million US dollars) to construct English Villages throughout Taiwan

and to recruit native English speakers to teach the programs (Hsueh, 2010). Besides,

the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, Executive Yuan,

promulgated a plan on April, 20, 2009 to enhance people’s English competence, with

a budget of 35 million NT dollars (about 1.16 million US dollars) per year to develop

English Villages (Hsueh, 2011). Wei Kao-yen, vice-chairman of the commission, also

presented that the plan included enhancing English competencies and building a

friendly environment for foreigners.

Since South Korea was the first country to set up an English Village in Asia,

many countries in Asia take the English Villages in South Korea as reference. In order

to establish English Villages, Taiwan’s government also sent mayors, scholars and

teachers to visit English Villages in South Korea. They compared the different English

Villages they saw and how they could adapt them to the needs of Taiwanese society

(Chen, 2007; Peng, 2008; Lin, 2010; Hung, 2012). In 2006, construction began on the

first English Village, Taoyuan International English Village Chung-Li, which opened

in 2007 (Taoyuan County International English Village Chung-Li Village website:

http://163.30.129.9/joomla/). After that, English Villages began opening in cities and

counties throughout Taiwan (Chen, 2009; Hsueh, 2011; Hung, 2012). The following

14

table illustrates the current English Villages that are still in operation in Taiwan.

Table 1

Current English Villages in Taiwan

Established English Village City/ county Numbers

2006 Chung-Li English Village Taoyuan County 1

2007 Wun-Chang English Village Taoyuan County 3

Happy English Village

Chang-Hsing English Village Keelung City

2008 Xiao-Wei English Village Yilan County 11

Shin-Sheng English Village

Chung-Shing English Village

Nan-Jung English Village Pingtung County

Tsai-Wen English Village Kaohsiung City

Min-Sheng English Village Changhua County

Taichung City International Village Taichung City

Mobile English Village Miaoli County

New Taipei City English

Wonderland- Qianhua Elementary

School

New Taipei City

Chung-Shing English Village Penghu County

Jin-Hu English Village Kinmen County

2009 Ken-Ting English Village Pingtung County 14

Feng-Shan English Village Kaohsiung City

Wu-Fu English Village

Ci-Shan English Village

Yun-Lin English Village Yunlin County

Dong-Ren English Village

Erh-Lin English Village Changhua County

Shin-Gang English Village

Shin-Min English Village


Wonderland-Kuolai English

Wilderness

New Taipei City


Wonderland-Kuangfu Elementary

School

Bingj-Jang English Village Taipei City

Peng-Lai English Wonderland

Zhong-Shan International English

Village

Keelung City

2010 Ja-Jen Happy English Village Pingtung County 5

Gang-Shan English Village Kaohsiung City

Bo-Ai English Village Tainan City

Sing-Chia English Village Chiayi City

15

Ying-Pei English Village Nantou County

2011 Tang-Lung English Village Pingtung County 6

Guo-Pi English Village Kaohsiung City


Wonderland-

Xingfu Elementary School

New Taipei City

San-Xing English Village Taipei City

Yi-Xian English Village

Dung-Xin English Village Keelung City

2012 New Taipei City English

Wonderland- Longpu Elementary

School

New Taipei City 7

Min-Quan English Village Taipei City

Dong-Xing English Village

Lao-Song English Village

Wan-Fu English Village

i-D English Village (Da-Du

Elementary School)

Hshinchu County

Syu-Jia International English Village Tainan City

2014 Min-Tzu English Village Chiayi City 8

Wen-Kuang International English

Village

Chiayi County

Da-Hu English Village Taipei City

Gu-Tin English Village

Jian-Tan English Village

Dong-Men English Village

Sin-Jin English Village Tainan City

Hualian Commercial high school Hualien County

Total 55

This table shows that the development of English Villages in Taiwan has

fluctuated. There was a substantial increase of newly opened English Villages from

2006 to 2009; however, there was a strong decline in new English Villages in 2010.

New English Villages began to increase again from 2011 to 2012. In 2013, no new

English Villages opened; however, 8 English Villages were newly opened in 2014.

Besides, according to the table, numerous English Villages have been established

since 2006, with 55 English Villages currently in operation around Taiwan. Among 22

administrative regions in Taiwan, 19 cities and counties have established English

Villages. Only 3 cities and counties have not housed any English Village: Hshinchu

16

City, Taitung County and Lienchiang County. This phenomenon demonstrated that

English Villages were popular throughout Taiwan. Some studies in Taiwan showed

that English Villages could assist students by elevating their English learning

motivation (Hsiang, 2009; Lai, 2009; Hsueh, 2010; Lee, 2012). Also, some studies

found that English Village teaching programs could enhance students’ learning of

English, especially English speaking and foreign culture learning (Lai, 2009; Hsiang,

2009; Hung, 2012).

In 19 administrative regions, which possess English Villages, the average

number of English Villages is two. The most English Villages (12) are in Taipei City.

Former Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin remarked that he planned to create one

English Village for each of the City’s administrative districts. The second number of

English Villages (6) are in Kaohsiung City (with Taiwan’s second largest population).

However, according to related studies, the most English Villages (25) were found in

the Kaohsiung area before the merger of former Kaohsiung City and County. In fact,

there were 19 English Villages in the former Kaohsiung City and 6 English Villages in

the former Kaohsiung County (Chen, 2009; Hung, 2012). Many of them had already

closed down after the merger of former Kaohsiung City and County. The reason why

these English Villages closed down and their operating situation are worthy of

explication; however, first the focus will be on basic information on Taiwan’s 55

English Villages. The introduction to the English Villages’ goals and characteristics,

operating situations, financial resources, human resources, and teaching program will

be described below.

Goals and Characteristics of English Villages

There are three basic goals in setting up English Villages throughout Taiwan.

17

First, students could have more confidence in English learning after experiencing

English Villages. Their speaking and listening abilities could be enhanced

spontaneously by such interesting visiting experiences (Hsiang, 2009; Hsueh, 2011).

The second is to broaden students’ international vision and awareness (Tsai & Kuo,

2010). The last is to provide more learning opportunities for disadvantaged students

and to shorten the English divide between students in urban and rural areas (Peng,

2008; Chiang, 2008; Chang, 2011). To sum up, English Villages were built to help

facilitate international education and put equality education into practice.

English Villages in different areas in Taiwan also have distinct characteristics

according to Hsueh (2011). Some English Villages integrated critical issues into their

English teaching program, such as local culture, life education, environmental

protection education, etc. Most English Villages integrate local cultures into their

English teaching programs (Cheng, 2014). For example, in Taipei City, Yixian

English Village in Beitou District highlights hot spring culture, while Songshan

English Village in Songshan District recreats an airport setting. Gang-Shan English

Village in Kaohsiung City built a scenario classroom to show Taiwanese traditional

drama. Feng-shan English Village in Kaohsiung City designed an English teaching

program which is combined with nearby heritages. They all emphasize the ideal of

“rooted in our land and spread to the world.” The learners were expected to introduce

local culture to foreigners (Chen, 2008). Moreover, Kenting English Village combines

ocean and slow food culture with their English teaching program (Lo, 2009). The

slow food culture in Kenting English Village refers to preserve traditional and

regional cuisine in Kenting and promote the ocean ecosystem. In Kenting English

Villages, students can experience an ocean ecological tour. The scenario classroom of

a restaurant, which shows a slow food culture, is decorated with ocean art, such as a

18

lot of shells.

Dongren English Village in Yunlin County focuses on an ideal of “English enters

communities and is integrated into daily life”. Principal Lin of Dongren English

Village stated that they cooperate with some restaurants and shops in the community.

The English Village and the community both built an immersion environment together,

such as displaying English brands and speaking English in the shops. The learners

could practice English outside the Dongren English Village and have more

opportunities to use the skill and knowledge they learned at school. They turned the

community into a big English Village (Hsu, 2012).

Operating Situation and Financial Resources of English Villages

The operating situation of English Villages is presented in three parts. First,

there are two types of English Villages in Taiwan, fixed and mobile (Hsueh, 2011).

The fixed English Villages use fixed buildings and scenario classrooms to arrange

teaching programs, while the mobile English Villages are built temporarily in visiting

students’ schools. In Taiwan, Miaoli County, Tainan City and Ponghu County employ

mobile English Villages. Principal Lee of Pan-tao English Village in Miaoli County

stated that employing mobile English Villages was difficult. There is no scenario

classroom in mobile English Villages; therefore, teachers of mobile English Villages

need to create teaching props and bring them into visiting students’ schools. Most

cities and counties in Taiwan have set up fixed English Villages; they provide

different scenario classrooms where students learn English based on distinct topics.

Second, there are different operating durations in different English Villages.

They include half-day tour, one-day tour, two-day tour, three-day tour and afterschool

tour (Chiang, 2008). Moreover, some English Villages hold summer or winter camp in

19

order to give learners more opportunities to immerse themselves in an English

learning environment. For example, Chung-Li English Village and Wun-Chang

English Village in Taoyuan County provide summer camp for students to learn

English. In addition, the English Village visiting frequencies differ in different cities

or counties according to their English Village policies. However, each school could

apply to visit an English Village at least once a year.

Third, most English Villages limit the number of visiting students’ and their

grades. The size of scenario classrooms in English Villages affects the number of

visiting students. At most, there are 51 to 70 visiting students in one-day tour

programs (Hsueh, 2011). Third, fourth, fifth and sixth grade visiting students may

register to enter the English Villages in Taoyuan County, but only fifth-grade students

can visit the English Villages in Kaohsiung City (Wan, 2012).

Financial resources are critical in building and maintaining English Villages.

The total expense to set up an English Village is over one million NT dollars (about

33,081 US dollars) at the minimum. Surprisingly, some English Villages even spend

more than 10 million NT dollars (about 330,819 US dollars). In addition, the expenses

of maintaining the equipment and recruiting the teachers are also important. In

Taiwan, most expenses of building and maintaining English Villages are from the

education bureau of local governments (Hsueh, 2011). In some English Villages,

non-governmental organizations, schools, or parent-teacher association are also

sponsors. For example, the local government and King Car Education Foundation

both allotted 15 million NT dollars (about 490,100 US dollars) to build Happy

English Village in Taoyuan County. Wun-Chang and Chung-Li English Village in

Taoyuan County were managed and operated by the local government and the schools

(Chen, 2009). Moreover, visiting students pay fees (200 NT dollars) to English

20

Villages in Taoyuan County for their one-day tour (Tsai & Kuo, 2010).

Human Resources in English Villages

Human resources in English Villages include administrative staff and teachers.

Administrational organization consists of a village head, secretaries in charge of the

English Villages, or substitute civilian servicemen. They deal with everything related

to English Villages, such as contacting visiting schools, maintaining the website,

purchasing and maintaining equipment, etc. (Hsueh, 2011). Even though there are

some administrative staff, the teachers in English Villages need to participate in both

administration and teaching.

The teachers in English Villages include foreign English teachers and local

English teachers. Lin (2005) mentioned that there are four major benefits in hiring

foreign English teachers: providing authentic input, promoting cross-culture

communication, supplying rich cultural information and creating a motivational

learning environment. The MOE or local government recruit and assign foreign

English teachers to the English Villages. Most foreign English teachers are from the

US, UK, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand (Hsu & Jian, 2008). The other teachers

in English Villages are local English teachers recruited by the English Villages (Sun,

2012). In some English Villages, the local English teachers and the foreign English

teachers did co-teaching in English teaching program. They designed the courses and

had lessons together. On the contrary, the foreign English teachers and the local

English teachers in some English Villages had individual English lessons and they did

not have co-teaching. Besides administrators and English teachers, volunteers also

play a role in English Villages. Because of limited budgets, some English Villages

cannot afford to recruit enough English teachers. Parents in school district or

21

undergraduate students in nearby universities become volunteers to assist with the

English teaching program.

Teaching Program of English Villages

In the fixed English Villages, teaching programs are designed based on scenario

classrooms; the popular types include supermarkets, shopping centers, airports, hotels

and restaurants. Based on these different lifelike (authentic English) scenario

classrooms, a variety of courses are designed for students to learn English in real life

situations. For example, students can learn how to check-in by speaking English in the

hotel. In English Villages, the teaching program is near to real life and the teaching

materials are useful and practical. In the mobile English Villages, English teachers

also design the English teaching programs related to daily-life English. The students

learn to go shopping, order meals in restaurants, or do recycling by speaking English

(Kao, 2009).

Besides, according to Hsueh (2011), there are a variety of teaching programs in

English Villages around Taiwan. All of the English Villages have different teaching

programs which were chosen by the local government or English Village. She

indicated that many teaching programs could be sorted under three main categories.

First, students learn the vocabulary, sentences, or dialogues before their visit, and then

they just practice them in scenario classrooms during their visit. This kind of teaching

program has been adopted by most English Villages in Taiwan. Second, English

teachers spend some time teaching the vocabulary, sentences, or dialogues at the

beginning of visits; then the learners practice what they just learned. She also

mentioned that the teaching program in English Villages focused on both teaching and

experience in order to reach the good effectiveness. Third, the English Village

22

provided learners with a whole-English environment. Learners would learn English

unconsciously and have enough time to listen to English. Since this teaching program

requires more human resources and funds, it was only adopted by Qianhua

Elementary School in New Taipei City. The design of English Village teaching

programs influences the visiting students’ learning effectiveness in English Villages.

In the present study, the English Village teachers’ perspectives on course design and

students’ learning effectiveness of English Villages in Kaohsiung City will be

explored.

English Villages in the Kaohsiung Area

The goal of this study is to understand teachers’ insights concerning English

Villages in the Kaohsiung area, so the background and history of English Villages in

Kaohsiung area will be stated first. Kaohsiung City and County governments were

merged on December 25, 2010. In order to fully understand English Villages in the

Kaohsiung area, the impact of this merger is also presented. Prior to the merger, two

separate governments administrated the English Villages in the Kaohsiung area;

discrepancies between their goals, locations, sizes, operations and teachers were

apparent. These discrepancies are described in the following section.

English Villages in the former Kaohsiung City

In 2002, the former Kaohsiung City won the bid to host the 2009 World

Games. This initiated several plans that were put in place to develop international

education programs and improve the local residents’ and government officials’

English abilities. Constructing English Villages, named Kaohsiung Global Village

English World, was one of plans to develop international education and improve

23

students’ international language competencies. Kaohsiung Global Village English

World provided the whole-English environment and real-life situations to students in

order to enhance their English learning effectiveness. The educational goals included

students who were able to communicate with people in the other countries, understand

and respect multi-cultures. Furthermore, students could increase their

conceptualization and propagate the image of Taiwan.

In 2007, Kaohsiung Global Village English World was established. From 2007

to 2009, they were housed in 19 schools, which included 10 elementary schools, 5

junior high schools and 4 senior high schools. English Villages in elementary schools

were: Chi-Hsien Village, Fu-Dong Village, Fu-Hsing Village, Hua-Shan Village,

Ling-Jhou Village, San-Min Village, Tai-Ping Village, Yang-Ming Village, Wun-Fu

Village and Zuo-Ying Village. English Villages in junior high schools were:

Chien-Chin Village, Hou-Jing Village, Jheng-Sing Village, Li-De Village and

Shich-Jia Village (Hung, 2012). They were also established in Kaohsiung Girls’

Senior High School, San-Min Home Economics and Commerce Vocational High

School, Shu-Te Home Economics and Commercial High School and St. Paul’s High

School. Although English Villages were located in many schools, the size of each

English Village was small. Most English Villages were built from refurbished

classrooms.

All schools in the former Kaohsiung City could apply to visit and experience

the teaching program of Kaohsiung Global Village English World at least once a

semester. The outside-school students spent half of the day (9 A.M. to 12 P.M.)

visiting the English Villages; they were divided to several groups and had activities in

different scenario classrooms. They practiced the dialogs and played games by

competitions (Chiang, 2008). Foreign and local English teachers and the

24

outside-school teachers, who accompanied the students in visiting the English

Villages, helped the students with their activities. However, Global Village English

World in the former Kaohsiung City closed after the merger because of changed

educational policies and the budgets for maintaining English Villages and recruiting

foreign English teachers were cut (Hung, 2012).

English Villages in the former Kaohsiung County

In order to internationalize Kaohsiung County and meet future needs, the

former Kaohsiung County started to set up English Villages in 2008 (Kaohsiung

County International English Villages website: http://iev.ks.edu.tw/home.html). The

magistrate of the former Kaohsiung County, Mr. Chiou-Hsin Yang, was devoted to

implementing English Villages. According to Mr. Yang, primary school students could

speak and learn English in all-English learning environments; English Villages also

provided the opportunity to develop English learning interest and confidence

(Kaohsiung County International English Village, Gang-Shan English Village

Opening Ceremony Manual, 2010). Setting up English Villages could provide an

English language learning environments for the children. As a result, English

Villages were established in the Gongshan, Cishan and Fongshan areas, located in 8

schools. There were 6 English Villages in elementary schools: Ci-Shan English

Village, Feng-Shan English Village, Gang-Shang English Village, Guo-Pi English

Village, Tsai-Wen English Village and Wu-Fu English Village. There were another 2

English Villages in junior high schools: Wu-Chia English Village and Tzyy-Guan

English Village (Hung, 2012). Although the number of English Villages in the former

Kaohsiung County was less than in the former Kaohsiung City, the size of each

English Village in the former Kaohsiung County was bigger than Kaohsiung Global

25

Village English World. They were established in refurbished buildings or new

buildings.

Similar to Global Village English World, all schools in the former Kaohsiung

County could apply to visit the English Villages in the former Kaohsiung County at

least once a semester; however, the outside-school students had four lessons during a

one-day study tour. Foreign and local English teachers were allocated to teach in

different scenario classrooms. They designed the courses and lesson plans according

to the themes of scenario classrooms.

To summarize, there were some similarities and differences between English

Villages in the former Kaohsiung City and County in five domains: goals, locations,

sizes, operations and teachers. The main similarities between the two governments

were the goals of enhancing students’ English language ability and developing

international education by establishing English Villages. Besides, all of the English

Villages included foreign and local English teachers. Both governments recruited

foreigners whose mother language is English and allocated them to English Villages

(Sun, 2012).

In contrast, many differences between English Villages administrated by the

two governments were obvious, like location, size, operation and teachers. At first,

Kaohsiung Global Village English World was located in 19 schools, while English

Villages in the former Kaohsiung County were only located in 8 schools. Kaohsiung

Global Village English World was established in refurbished classrooms while most

English Villages in the former Kaohsiung County were constructed in new buildings

or refurbished old buildings, so English Villages in the former Kaohsiung County

were bigger and newer than Kaohsiung Global Village English World. Also, the ways

used to operate the teaching programs of English Villages differ. The students visited

26

Kaohsiung Global Village English World for half of a day while the students

experienced the English Villages in the former Kaohsiung County for one day.

Moreover, the students did activities in Kaohsiung Global Village English World; the

students had instructions in different scenario classrooms when visiting English

Villages in the former Kaohsiung County. Lastly, outside-school teachers who

accompanied the students had to assist the students with their activities in Kaohsiung

Global Village English World, while the teachers who visited English Villages in the

former Kaohsiung County were not obliged to do so. Hence, there were significant

differences between the English Villages in the former Kaohsiung City and the former

Kaohsiung County. The Kaohsiung government’s policies influence the existence of

English Villages in the Kaohsiung area. The merging of the former Kaohsiung City

and the former Kaohsiung County changed some English Villages’ development,

especially the English Villages in the former Kaohsiung City. However, the English

Villages in the former Kaohsiung County laid the foundation for current English

Villages in the Kaohsiung area.

Current English Villages in the Kaohsiung Area

According to Hung (2012), educational policies were changed and the budgets

of maintaining English Villages and recruiting foreign English teachers were cut after

merging. The number of foreign English teachers in each English Village has

decreased. At the end of 2010, the government of post-merge Kaohsiung City decided

to allocate six native English-speaking teachers to six English Villages in the former

Kaohsiung County and closed Kaohsiung Global Village English World (English

Villages in the former Kaohsiung City). Current English Villages are: Ci-Shan English

Village, Feng-Shan English Village, Gang-Shang English Village, Guo-Pi English

27

Village, Tsai-Wen English Village and Wu-Fu English Village. Therefore, only

English Villages in the former Kaohsiung County continued to operate as before the

merger. Global Village English World stopped accepting outside-school students and

their scenario classrooms became specialized classrooms, which were only provided

to the inside-school students. The factors behind the closing the English Villages were

related to the problems of English Villages. These problems will be discussed in the

next section.

Problems of English Villages in Taiwan

Establishing English Village has become popular in Taiwan since 2006. Each

English Village was well-planned before it was established, but still had problems

after implementation. According to some studies related to English Villages in Taiwan,

most English Villages have four main problems: limited funds, limited human

resources, limited English learning effectiveness and limited sustainable development.

The ideation of the four problems will be presented in the following sections.

The Problem of Finance

The first problem is financial, which is the most difficult predicament that

English Villages face. Most English Villages spent huge funds when they were

established; these funds are quite important (Hung, 2012). English Villages in

different areas also have unequal funds, and spend the most money on expensive

hardware (Hsueh, 2011; Chen, 2010). Chen (2010) also showed that most English

Villages lack long-term, stable funds or budgets to maintain their programs; the funds

and budgets also face changing educational policies. Moreover, the financial problem

would produce other problems, such as the lack of money to recruit teachers, so the

28

sustainable development of English Villages is difficult to achieve.

The Problem of Human Resources

The second problem is the lack of human resources, both teachers and

administrators (Hung, 2012). On the one hand, foreign English teachers were

insufficient in most English Villages due to insufficient funds (MOE, 2009); the MOE

report also presented that most foreign English teachers only stayed in Taiwan for a

short time, so it was difficult to retain qualified foreign English teachers. Besides,

some of them did not have teacher’s certificates. Even with teacher’s certificate, some

foreign English teachers lacked a professional background in English language

teaching (Cheng, 2014). Moreover, Chen (2010) stated that there was a discrepancy in

foreign English teachers’ professional teaching backgrounds; some of them did not

have positive teaching beliefs and professional experience in English language

teaching. The quality of teachers would influence students’ English learning

effectiveness, and is worth emphasizing when they are recruited. In brief, the quality

of teachers in English Villages should focus on their professional teaching experience

and positive teaching attitudes.

The human resources of administration in most English Villages have also been

insufficient. Hung (2012) stated that not all English Villages have an independent

administration department. In some English Villages, the teachers or administrators in

school had to deal with most affairs regarding the English Villages. It gave them more

responsibilities. For example, the few administrators were overwhelmed when

Kenting English Village was established (Luo, 2009; Chang, 2011). Luo (2009)

presented that senior teachers have low motivation to deal with administrative work,

while young teachers need assistance to serve as administrators. The problem

29

prevented English Village programs from being carried out easily. Besides, Chen

(2009) mentioned that substitute civilian servicemen in English Villages who were

supported by the Education Bureau were short-term staff. English Villages need stable

staff to manage their operation.

The Problem of English Learning Effectiveness

The third problem is limited English learning effectiveness. Students’ English

learning goals seem to be unachieved; therefore the course design, teaching materials,

duration of visiting in English Villages’ teaching programs were under suspicion. The

report of analyzing the operation situations of English Villages in Taiwan (MOE, 2009)

presented that it was difficult to design courses because of English ability discrepancy

among visiting students. Also, course design in English Villages’ teaching programs

lacked professional guidance from English teaching scholars. According to Chen’s

(2010) presentation on the operating effectiveness of English Villages in Taiwan,

some English Villages did not insist on English being the only communicative tool.

Students could finish the activity even if they did not speak English or understand

what foreign English teachers were saying in some courses, such as the rope-climbing

activity and aerobics teaching. English speaking and listening competence was not

evaluated during whole program, so students’ English learning effectiveness would be

suspect. In summary, the course design in English Villages’ teaching program should

be reconsidered carefully.

In addition, teaching materials were the most controversial. The report (MOE,

2009) showed that it was difficult to increase students’ learning motivation with the

teaching materials. The “lifelike” teaching materials in English Villages’ programs

were harder than the ones in general English classes in the elementary schools. The

30

level of vocabulary, sentences and dialogues in the teaching materials were above the

general standard. Tsau & Kuo (2010) and Hsueh (2011) held an opposite view: they

found that the teaching materials were too easy, so that what the students learned was

limited. Moreover, Chen (2010) showed that teaching materials in English Villages’

teaching programs should be relevant to the lessons that students are given in school.

Furthermore, the duration of visiting English Village was insufficient. It was not easy

to achieve English learning goals for some learners in such brief experience; brief

duration hinders the effectiveness of language learning and understanding of

internationalization.

The Problem of Sustainable Development

The final problem is insufficient future sustainable development of English

Villages. Different English Villages have similar scenario classrooms and learning

situations (Hsueh, 2011; Chen, 2009). Chen (2010) stated that most new English

Villages in different cities and counties imitated the scenario classrooms in the

English Villages in Tauyuan; most of them lacked local culture and characteristics.

Therefore, some scholars thought there was no benefit in visiting other English

Villages again (Tsau & Kuo, 2010; Hsuen, 2011). Also, English language learning

was limited by fixed learning situations. It was difficult to keep students’

attraction/interest fresh if the teaching program of English Villages was not changed

(Hung, 2012). With fixed scenario classrooms, how the English Villages could

develop more creative teaching programs and develop them continuously should be

primary focus.

31

Current Studies on English Villages in Taiwan

Since English Villages were established in Taiwan, educators or English

teaching and learning researchers have investigated them. The following table shows

the current studies regarding English Villages in Taiwan.

Table 2

Current Studies on English Villages in Taiwan

Focus Study Location

of EV

Subject Research Method

Perception

Peng

(2008) Taoyuan

County

938 5th

-grade

students

Questionnaire survey

Hsiang

(2009)

25 junior high

school students

Pre-test and post-test,


Lee

(2012)

Changhua

County

288 students Questionnaire survey

Sun

(2012)

Kaohsiung

City

924 5th

-grade

students

Questionnaire survey,

interview

Hsueh

(2009) Taoyuan

County

419 public

elementary school

English teachers


interview

Chuang

(2010)

Public elementary

school teachers


Chang

(2014)

Changhwa

County

87 teachers and 331

students


interview

Wu

(2011)

Yunlin

County

1 foreign teacher

and 76 students

Interview, field notes,

and related written

documents

Lin

(2014)

Pingtung

County

2043 teachers and

students


interview

Hung

(2012)

Kaohsiung

City

102 staff and

English teachers in

elementary and

junior high schools


interview

Learning

motivation

& attitude

Lai

(2009) Kaohsiung

City

89 7th

and 8th

-grade

students


Lin

(2011)

372 5th

and

6th

-grade students


Wan

(2012)

600 5th

-grade

students


Hsiao

(2014)

New

Taipei City

447 students from

two public schools


interview

Liao Taoyuan 840 students Questionnaire survey

32

(2013) County

Curriculum

design

Shih

(2008)

Taoyuan

County

Teachers, students,

and staff

Observation, interview,

and document analysis

Chang

(2014)

Kaohsiung

City

882 students, 2

staff and 2 teachers

Observations, interview,

questionnaire survey

Lo

(2008)

Pingtung

City

English teachers,

students, foreign

English teachers

and visiting groups


observation, and

interview

Chen

(2009)

44 5th

-grade

students

Pretest and posttest,

English learning

motivational orientation

scale, and student’s

worksheets

Learning

style

Yeh

(2014)

4 foreign English

teachers, 13

5th

-grade students,

and the class

teacher

Classroom observation

Lin

(2014)

5th

-grade students

from 2 classes

Pretest and posttest,

questionnaire survey,

interview

Others

Lai

(2011)

Kaohsiung

City and

Pingtung

County

Members from 26

EVs in Kaohsiung

County and

Pingtung County


Lin

(2013)

Taoyuan

County

Members of

Taoyuan County

International EV

Interview

5 23

*EV = English Village

In Table 2, 23 studies are sorted to five categories. They include perception,

learning motivation and learning attitude, curriculum design, learning styles, and

others. These categories are described in the following section.

First, ten studies researched perceptions toward English Villages (Hsiang, 2009;

Peng, 2008; Hsueh, 2009; Chuang, 2010; Wu, 2011; Hung, 2012; Lee, 2012; Sun,

2012; Lin, 2014; Chang, 2014). The topic consists of perceptions on the part of

students, teachers, students and teachers, and teachers and staffs. The varied objects of

the perception include: English programs, teaching materials, foreign teachers,

33

learning effectiveness, scenario classrooms, equipment, policies, etc.

Second, five studies focus on elementary or junior high school students’

learning motivations and learning attitudes by questionnaire survey (Lai, 2009; Lin,

2011; Wan, 2012; Liao, 2013; Hsiao, 2014). Lai (2009) reports that students felt more

motivated and experienced less anxiety when they were studying English in an

English Village. But Lin (2011), Wan (2012), Liao (2013) and Hsiao (2014) found

that students with different gender, degrees of proficiency levels, or parental support

demonstrated significantly different learning motivations and attitudes.

Third, four researchers studied the curriculum design of English Villages (Shih,

2008; Lo, 2008; Chen, 2009; Chang, 2014). Shih (2008) found that English teachers

designed curriculum according with their teaching styles. Lo (2008) and Chang (2014)

both focus on local culture curriculum in English Villages, such as marine education

and slow-food culture.

Fourth, two studies are related to learning style in English Villages (Yeh, 2014;

Lin, 2014). Yeh (2014) found that teacher-pupil interaction correlated to English

learning in the aspects of higher motivation, meaningful input and output, interactive

participation, and speaking English. Lin (2014) indicates that English teaching

programs with cooperative learning enhances students’ speaking proficiency.

Finally, two studies investigated other issues (Lai, 2011; Lin, 2013). Lai (2011)

studied the efficacy of on-line further learning of English Villages. He found that

students’ learning motivations, aptitudes and satisfaction positively affect the efficacy

of on-line further learning. Lin (2013) researched vacant school space reuse in

Taoyuan County International English Village. The main finding was that the

maintenance and management of reused space might face problems like frequent

changes of manpower, insufficient budget and low utility rate. However, the vacant

34

school space reuse could solve problems by seeking outside resources, and energize

the space through pluralistic operation.

Studies Regarding Teachers’ Perceptions of English Villages

This study aims to investigate English teachers’ perceptions concerning

English Villages in Kaohsiung City. Table 2 shows that most studies focus on these

perceptions. There are six studies regarding teachers’ perceptions of English Villages

(Hsueh, 2009; Chuang, 2010; Wu, 2011; Hung, 2012; Chang, 2012; Lin, 2014).

Hsueh (2009) took 419 public elementary school local English teachers as her

subjects. She adopted the questionnaire survey and interview. The main findings were

that local English teachers offered positive feedback regarding teaching content,

foreign teachers, and an English-only environment. They also agreed on the

effectiveness of enhancing learning motivation and cultural understanding in English

Villages. Moreover, they agreed that both local English teachers and homeroom

teachers were suitable for accompanying students on one-day study tours. But they

disagreed on the duration, times of visits, and grouping in one-day study tours. They

thought that the effectiveness of English Villages differs significantly for students

with higher, medium, and lower English proficiency levels.

In Chuang’s (2010) study, the subjects were public elementary school teachers.

He presented that there are significant differences in perception of the International

English Villages among public elementary school teachers with different years of

service and school district, and whether or not they taught English.

Wu (2011) researched one foreign teacher’s and 76 elementary school students’

perspectives by interview, field notes and related written documents. Based their

perspectives, the researcher illustrated five major elements which constitute effective

35

Situated Learning instruction: (a) teacher belief, (b) course design, (c) students’ needs,

(d) co-teacher’s assistant and (d) effectively utilizing the scenario rooms.

Chang (2014) studied 87 elementary school teachers’ and 331 students’

perceptions by questionnaire survey and interview. She showed that 90% of

elementary school teachers held a positive attitude regarding administrative planning,

situational settings and teacher instructions in the operation of English Villages.

The subjects of Lin’s (2014) study were 2043 elementary school teachers and

students who visited English Villages. The study showed that teachers are most

satisfied with the foreign teachers’ teaching methods, followed by teaching activities,

while the least satisfaction involved the teaching materials. They think that the foreign

teachers’ class management and ability to adjust the course levels of difficulty should

be improved, along with “class schedules and content”, “transportation subsidies”,

“expanding the student base”, “establishing teaching platforms” and “manpower

expansion”. Foreign teachers hope that “school’s internal communication” and

“distribution of teaching materials” could be improved.

Hung’s (2012) was the only study, which researched teacher’s perceptions in

Kaohsiung City. The subjects were 102 staff and English teachers in elementary and

junior high schools in Kaohsiung City. She adopted a questionnaire survey and

interview in her study. The results showed that most of the staff and English teachers

have positive attitudes toward the policy, teaching and administration, and

developmental strategies. Besides, there were significant differences in the perception

of cognition, teaching and administration, difficulties and developmental strategies

among the staff and English teachers according to their different school category,

different types of English Village, whether they had previously participated in the

administration of English Village, and whether or not they were teachers in English

36

Villages.

Table 2 and six studies show that none of the studies focuses on both foreign

and local English teachers’ perceptions on English Villages in Kaohsiung City or in

Taiwan. Although Hung (2012) focuses on English teachers’ perceptions in

Kaohsiung City, the subjects of the study are elementary school English teachers, not

English teachers at English Villages. As Huang (2012) points out, English teachers

who teach in English Villages have different perceptions from those who teach in

elementary or junior high schools. Since Huang’s subjects were not English teachers

who teach in English Villages of Kaohsiung City, they could not provide the detailed

or current situations of English Villages in Kaohsiung City. To fill this gap, in this

study, the foreign and local English teachers who teach in the English Villages in

Kaohsiung City were the research subjects. Moreover, qualitative research methods

were employed to obtain an in-depth and holistic understanding of foreign English

teachers’ and local English teachers’ perceptions related to English Villages in

Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

37

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the research methodology and its rationale, and outlines

the participants, the English Villages in the region of focus and the teaching

environment of these English Villages. It also justifies the instruments used in the

research and the research procedure. Finally, it explains the analysis method.

Methodology Rationale

The purpose of this study is to gain an in-depth, holistic understanding of

foreign English teachers and local English teachers’ perspectives regarding English

Villages in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The research questions are designed to explore the

English teachers’ views and suggestions regarding course design, teachers, learning

effectiveness, teaching environment, policies and administration in regard to English

Villages. In order to understand teachers’ in-depth perspectives, this study employs

qualitative research.

Van Maaren presented that qualitative research is “an umbrella term covering

an array of interpretive techniques which seek to describe, decode, translate, and

otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the frequency, of certain more or less

naturally occurring phenomena in the social world” (1979, p. 520, cited in Merriam,

2009, p.13). Merriam also pointed out that “qualitative researchers are interested in

understanding how people interpret their experience, how they construct their worlds,

and what meaning they attribute to their experiences” (2009, p. 5). In this study, the

qualitative research was carried out to understand foreign English teachers’ and local

English teachers’ perspectives of the English Villages in Kaohsiung. Interviews were

the techniques utilized in this research.

38

Interview Methodology Review

As DeMarrais (2004) stated in Merriam’s Qualitative Methodology, “an

interview is a process in which a researcher and participant engage in a conversation

focused on questions which relate to a study” (2009, p. 87). In regard to Merriam’s

(2009) Qualitative Methodology, Patton (2002) also stated that researchers should

find out what is on someone’s mind and allow us to understand another person’s

perspective. The goal of an interview is to understand perspectives and experiences.

This research includes interviews with twelve participants. Appropriate interview

questions were obtained from various qualitative research theorists and be adapted for

this study. The interview questions were designed to gain insights about Kaohsiung’s

English Villages. The main purpose of the interview is to analyze integral parts of

English Villages, including course design, teachers, students, environment, policies

and administrations.

The most common form of interview, a person-to-person encounter, was chosen

in this study, and the semi-structured interview was adopted. The features of

semi-structured interview consist of the interview guide, including a mix of more or

less structured interview questions, all questions used flexibly, and the largest part of

the interview guided by the list of questions or issues to be explored (Merriam, 2009,

p. 89). In this way, the focus of the interview questions was narrowed via a

pre-existing framework. Also, it provides the interviewee with wider latitude to

respond to the questions (McDonough & McDonough, 1997, cited in Yu, 2007, p. 26).

In this study, the researcher was eager to understand interviewees’ insights into

particular issues about English Villages, such as course design, teachers, students,

environment, policies and administrations. The researcher wants the interviewees to

share their perspectives and experiences, so a semi-structured interview methodology

39

was utilized.

Participants of the Study

The participants of the study are English teachers who teach at six English

Villages in Kaohsiung City: Ci-Shan English Village, Feng-Shan English Village,

Gang-Shang English Village, Guo-Pi English Village, Tsai-Wen English Village and

Wu-Fu English Village. One foreign English teacher and one local English teacher

from each English Village were the participants in the study. The participants are

based on two criteria. First, all the participants must have English teaching

experiences at the English Villages in Kaohsiung City. Second, they must be willing

to share their opinions in the interview. In summary, the researcher found 12

experienced teachers who consented to be the interviewees in the present study, 6

foreign English teachers and 6 local English teachers.

The participants received the personal information questionnaire by e-mail.

Two types of personal information questionnaire were issued to the participants, one

designed for foreign English teachers (see Appendix A) and the other for local English

teachers (see Appendix B). Both questionnaires mainly focused on age, the highest

educational degree, having teaching experiences/training courses or not, and how long

they have taught in English Villages. In addition, the questionnaire for the foreign

English teachers was also designed to gain information about the participants’ country,

how long they have been Taiwan, and their purpose in coming to Taiwan. Table 3

shows the personal information on 6 foreign English teachers (F1-F6), and Table 4

reveals 6 local English teachers (L1-L6)’ personal information. However, F6 did not

provide his personal information, except for his country, while L1 did not show her

age or highest educational degree.

40

Table 3

Personal Information on Foreign English Teachers

Questions F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6

Age 37 29 40 43 32 N/A

Highest

Educational

degree

MA BA BA BA BA N/A

Country Canada USA Australia Canada USA USA

Living in

Taiwan

14 years

8 months 13 years 13 years 3 years

4 months

N/A

Purpose in

coming

Taiwan

Go

overseas

Teach Travel Work Teach N/A

Teaching

experience

Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A

Training

courses

Yes Yes No No Yes N/A

Teaching in

an English

Village

1 year 8 months 2 months 2 years,

9 months

1 year

4 months

N/A

*N/A = No answers

Table 4

Personal Information on Local English Teachers

Questions L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6

Age N/A 41 46 35 40 40

Highest

Educational

degree

N/A BA MA BA BA BA

Teaching

experience

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Training

courses

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Teaching in

an English

Village

1 year

6 months

4 years 2 years 2 years 6 months 1 year

6 months

*N/A = No answers

According to Tables 3 & 4, the age of the ten participants ranged from 29 to 46

years old, except for F6 and L1. Regarding the highest educational degree, eight

participants had a bachelor degree while two participants had a master’s degree.

41

Moreover, eleven participants had teaching experience and nine had taken training

courses on English teaching. Concerning the period of teaching in an English Village,

L2 taught for four years; three participants (F4, L3, L4) spent at least two years; four

participants (F1, F5, L1, L6) did at least one year; and three participants (F2, F3, L5)

taught at English Villages for only a few months. Additionally, the information on the

foreign English teachers’ home countries according to Table 3, indicated that three

foreign English teachers (F2, F5, F6) were from the USA, two (F1, F4) were from

Canada, and one (F3) was from Australia. Regarding the period of living in Taiwan,

three foreign English teachers (F1, F3, F4) had been in Taiwan for at least thirteen

years; one foreign English teacher had lived in Taiwan for at least three years; while

the other foreign English teacher had been Taiwan for eight months. The purposes of

coming Taiwan included: going overseas, travel, teaching, and working for foreign

English teachers, except for F6.

Region of Focus: English Villages in Post-merger Kaohsiung City

In qualitative research, the region of focus needs to be carefully selected. This

research focused on the six above-mentioned English Villages in Kaohsiung City.

It was clarified if the English Villages are administrated as municipal

government programs; understand how they are carried out is essential to answering

the research questions. The reasons Kaohsiung was selected as the focus of research is

because Kaohsiung was one of the regions in Taiwan that underwent an administrative

merge, and post-merger, all the former Kaohsiung City villages closed down. Through

qualitative interviews, we endeavor to understand the reasons for these closures. We

also look at teachers’ perspectives on how these English Villages were carried out

after the merger.

42

Teaching Environment in English Villages

In order to understand how the teaching programs work in English Villages, the

teaching environment should be examined. However, ‘teaching environment’ is too

wide a concept to define, so the researcher focused on buildings, scenario classrooms,

hardware, and software in English Villages. The scenario classrooms are designed as

real-life situations. The purpose of scenario classrooms is to offer learners an

environment in which to practice their English language skills. The authentic

situations might stimulate learners to immerse themselves in an English language

learning environment.

The six websites of English Villages in the study show their various scenario

classrooms. Table 5 shows scenario classrooms of English Villages in this study. The

types of scenario classrooms include: eating, shopping, accommodations,

transportation, education, entertainment, and others; they influence the courses that

teachers designed and the teaching materials they offered. Understanding the types of

scenario classrooms in each English Village could assist us in understanding teachers’

perspectives on course design and learning environment.

Table 5

Scenario Classrooms of English Villages in Kaohsiung City

Types Scenarios Ci-sh

an

Feng-

shan

Gang

-shan

Guo-

pi

Tsai-

wen

Wu-

fu

Total

Eating Restaurant * * * * * 5

Café plaza * * 2

Bakery * * 2

Cooking room * 1

Shopping Shopping center * * 2

Supermarket * 1

Convenience store * 1

Sports and specialty

items

* 1

Books and stationary * * 2

Accommodation Hotel * 1

Home stay * * 2

43

Transportation MRT station * * 2

Taxi station * 1

Airport * * * * 4

Education Natural science &

marine biology room

* 1

Ecological

science-technology

room

* 1

Science museum * 1

Story corner * * 2

Library * 1

Taiwan culture hall/

Culture museum

* * * 3

Local arts * 1

Arch deco * 1

Animal planet * 1

Green energy * 1

Global village * 1

Entertainment Game house * * 2

Theater * 1

Music concert * 1

Gym * 1

Others Runway show * 1

Post office * 1

Police station * 1

Clinic/ Health center * * 2

Weather station * 1

News studio * * 2

Wu-fu Land * 1

Briefing room * 1

Total 8 8 9 8 13 10 37

Instrumentation of the Study

The main instrument of this study was interview. The detail of the instrument is

described below.

Interviews

The interview guide (see Appendix C) consisted of five categories. The five

categories included: course design, teachers, students’ learning effectiveness, teaching

environment, and English Village policies and administration. Each category aimed to

reveal the overall concepts of the English Villages. The interview guide was

developed based on related research method rationale (Patton, 2002; DeMarrais, 2004;

44

Merriam, 2009) and relevant studies (Chan, 2008; Peng, 2008; Shih, 2008; Chen,

2009; Hsueh, 2009; MOE, 2009; Chen, 2010; Chang, 2012; Hung, 2012; Sun, 2012).

According to the literature of this study, the researcher designed the interview guide

as shown in Table 6.

Table 6

Content of the Interview Guide

Category Description References

A. Course

design

1. Lesson plan Peng, 2008; Shih, 2008; Chen,

2009; Hsueh, 2009

2. Class duration and

visiting frequency

Chen, 2009;

MOE, 2009; Hsueh, 2009

3. Preview and review Hsueh, 2009

4. Teaching materials Peng, 2008;

MOE, 2009; Chen, 2010; Sun, 2012

B. Teachers 1. Teacher’s role in

English Village

2. Cooperation

3. Chinese spoken in

classroom

Peng, 2008; Shih, 2008; MOE,

2009; Hsueh, 2009; Sun, 2012

C. Students’

learning

effectiveness

1. Learning achievement Shih, 2008; Tsay, 2008; Chen,

2009; Hsueh, 2009; Chen, 2010

2. Evaluation Peng, 2008; MOE, 2009

3. Learning motivation Chen, 2009; Chang, 2012

4. Grouping by English

levels

Hsueh, 2009

5. Age appropriateness Hsueh, 2009; Chen, 2010

D. Teaching

environment

1. Satisfaction of teaching

environment

Peng, 2008; Shih, 2008; Chen,

2010; Sun, 2012

2. Scenario rooms MOE, 2009; Chen, 2010; Chang,

2012

E. Policies and

administration

1. Local government

2. School administrators

3. Educational policies

4. Income and benefit

MOE, 2009; Chen, 2010; Hung

2012

Category A was intended to elicit the course design of English Villages, which

included lesson plan, class duration and visiting frequency, preview and review, and

teaching materials. The teaching materials, such as hands-on experience and local

45

culture materials were also discussed in this category. Category B was in regard to

teachers; it consisted of the teacher’s role, ways of cooperation between teachers, and

Chinese spoken in classroom. There were some differences between interviewing

foreign English teachers and local English teachers, such as Chinese spoken in the

classroom. Chinese ability and its influence on teaching were aimed at foreign

English teachers, while frequency and avoidance of Chinese speaking, and teaching

methods without using Chinese were designed for local English teachers.

Category C focused on students’ learning effectiveness. It included learning

achievement, evaluation, learning motivation, grouping students according to English

levels, and age appropriateness. Also, learning achievement of four English skills,

listening, speaking, reading and writing and students gaining insights into Western

culture were inquired under this category. Category D referred to teaching

environment and the scenario rooms in English Villages. Finally, Category E was

designed to assess the opinions regarding policies and administration. It included

local government, school administrators, educational policies, and income and

benefits. The questions in the interview guide included open-ended and yes-no

questions.

In order to achieve expert validity, the interview guide was proofread and

checked by five professors in the English department in National Pingtung University

and one director of Feng-Shan English Village. Expert validity means judging the

breadth and appropriateness of the content by varied experts in the field (deMarrais,

2004). Prior to the interviews, the researcher modified the interview guide according

to the experts’ suggestions. In addition, three of professors were native speakers of

English. They revised the grammar of questions in the interview guide to make sure

the native English-speaking teachers would understand the questions clearly.

46

Research Procedure

The procedure of the study

Interview Guide Design

↓

Expert Consultation

↓

Revision

↓

Final Interview Guide

↓

Participant Interviews

↓

Data Collection

↓

Data Analysis

Figure 1. The Procedure of the Study.

In September 2012, designing the interview guide was the initial step for this

study. The draft of the interview guide was reviewed by two experts who were major

in English teaching and three experts whose mother tongue was English. To achieve

the validity of content, the interview guide was revised after expert consultation. Then,

the final interview guide was finished.

In December 2012, the next step was conducting interviews. The 12

participants underwent face to face interviews with the researcher. The interviewees

were informed that all of their responses would be recorded and kept completely

confidential. After they agreed and signed their names on the consent forms (see

Appendix D), they were interviewed. The interviews were scheduled at the

interviewees’ convenience. It took around an hour to finish each interview.

In January and February 2013, collecting data was next step. The sources of

data collection included the twelve interviews. The discourse between the researcher

and the interviewees were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcriptions were

47

reviewed by the interviewees in order to confirm their correctness and to achieve

reliability. Finally, the data were analyzed. They are described in the following section,

data analysis.

Data Analysis

In the present study, the steps of data analysis consisted of coding the data,

transcribing the content of interview verbatim and analyzing the data by content

analysis. The above steps will be stated as follows.

Coding

The data were examined in their entirety and coded. In order to protect the

participants’ privacy and recognize them clearly, the names of participants were listed

by the following coding system of participants (see Table 7). According to the

attribute of teacher, “F” refers to foreign English teachers while “L” refers to local

English teachers.

Table 7

Coding of Participants

Teacher Coding number Total

F F1-F6 6

L L1-L6 6

12

Transcribing

The discourses between the participants and the researcher were recorded

during the interviews and transcribed verbatim. In order to avoid transcribing errors,

two assistants double-checked the transcriptions of the interviews. The transcriptions

48

were reviewed by the participants in order to achieve reliability, which means

consistence between the content the participants offered and the transcription.

Although the interviewees who were local English teachers replied to the questions in

Chinese during the interviews, their discourses were translated from Chinese to

English and checked by professionals after transcribing.

Content Analysis

Merriam mentioned that the process of content analysis involves the

simultaneous coding of raw data and the construction of categories that capture

relevant characteristics of the document’s content (2009, p. 205). During the content

analysis, the interview transcripts was first read through; then the responses were

summarized, and these summaries were grouped and described more precisely under

the headings. In this study, the responses to the interviews were analyzed by content

analysis. In addition, the responses of foreign English teachers and local English

teachers were compared. After the comparison, the similarities and differences of

responses were found, and would be presented in Chapter four.

49

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS

The results of the two research questions are presented in this chapter. They

are revealed by five categories: (a) course design, (b) teachers, (c) students’ learning

effectiveness, (d) teaching environment, and (e) policies and administration of English

Village in Kaohsiung City. Each category was unique in terms of the interview

questions it addressed. This chapter reports on the foreign English teachers’ (FTs) and

local English teachers’ (LTs) perspectives on each category. Also, the obvious

similarities and differences between foreign English teachers and local English

teachers’ perspectives are presented in the summary of the results.

Course Design

The first category focuses on the course design of English Villages in

Kaohsiung City. The interview questions regarding course design include five parts:

(a) lesson plan and teaching materials, (b) class duration and visiting frequency, (c)

preview and review of the teaching content, (d) hands-on learning experience, and (e)

local culture. Regarding course design, Table 8 shows the results derived from the

foreign English teachers, and Table 9 demonstrates the results obtained from the local

English teachers. The findings are illustrated as follows.

Table 8

Foreign teachers’ results regarding course design


Lesson plan

& materials

flexible flexible flexible flexible regular regular

Class duration 40 min 40 min 40 min 40 min more 40 min

50

Visiting

frequency

more more 1 year depends 1 year 1 year

Preview Y Y depends depends Y depends

Review depends Y depends depends Y depends

Hands-on

experiences

depends depends depends Y Y Y

Local culture Y Y N Y Y Y

Note. Min = minutes, 1 year= once a year, Y= Yes, N= No

Table 9

Local teachers’ results regarding course design


Lesson plan

& materials

regular flexible flexible flexible flexible regular

Class duration 40 min 40 min 40 min 40 min 40 min more

Visiting

frequency

1 year more 1 year more 1 year 1 year

Preview Y Y depends Y Y depends

Review depends Y depends Y Y Y

Hands-on

experiences

Y Y Y depends depends Y

Local culture

Y Y N Y N Y

Note. Min = minutes, 1 year= once a year, Y= Yes, N= No

The findings with respect to lesson plans and teaching materials highlight that

eight teachers (4 FTs and 4 LTs) designed lesson plans and used teaching materials in

a flexible way. To put it more concretely, the teachers adapted the lessons and

teaching materials to match students’ English proficiency level. They usually judged

students’ level by students’ responses, and first evaluated their level. If they found that

students’ level was high, they would teach more or harder material; if they found

students’ level was low, they would teach less or easier material. The other four

51

teachers (2 FTs and 2 LTs) designed regular lesson plans. They designed lesson plans

and chose the teaching materials according to specified classroom themes before the

semester started, and then they followed the lesson plans and utilize the teaching

materials.

The English Village teaching program (see Table 10) was designed as a one-day

study tour, which consisted of four classes. Each class was forty minutes in duration.

In the teaching program, the students experienced four scenario classrooms in four

classes. Due to the policy, the fifth graders in elementary schools of Kaohsiung City

could visit English villages once a year. Table 10 provides the schedule of English

Village teaching program in Kaohsiung City. The findings in respect to class duration

and visiting frequency are described below.

Table 10

Schedule of English Village teaching program in Kaohsiung City

Time 9:30~10:10 10:30~11:10 11:20~12:00 12:00~13:30 13:30~14:10

Class First Second Third Lunch time Forth

The findings regarding class duration indicate that the majority (5 FLs and 5

LTs) had no comments regarding forty-minute classes. One foreign (F5) and one local

teacher (L6) stated that forty minutes were insufficient for kids. F5 wished to have

more time, because the students were having fun. He usually found the students were

still excited in that situation when the bell rang, so he did not want to stop. L6

presented that a complete lesson would need eighty minutes at least; this means that

two classes for one lesson were much better. Besides, concerning visiting frequency,

seven teachers (3 FTs and 4 LTs) had no comments regarding students visiting English

Village once a year. But, four teachers (2 FTs and 2 LTs) presented that visiting an

52

English Village more frequently would be beneficial for students. The teachers could

gradually prepare the lessons for students, from basic to advanced level. L4 stated that

a one-week study tour to English Villages would assist students to learn English more

efficiently. But she also demonstrated that this would be difficult to carry out; since

there were a lot of schools applying to visit English Villages, the visiting frequency

would be hard to increase. In addition, one foreign teacher (F4) illustrated that it

depended on the teachers’ perspectives and expectations concerning students’ learning

outcomes.

It depends on what you want get out of an English Village program; if you try

to just give students an interesting and enjoyable English experience, once or

twice a year is enough…if looking for actual improvement in English, actually

teaching them vocabulary skills, speaking or something, you want to have them

come back more (F4- course design/visiting frequency).

In regard to previewing the teaching content before visiting English Villages,

the findings suggest that seven teachers (3 FTs and 4 LTs) agreed that English

teachers visiting schools should teach or notify students before visiting. They

mentioned that it was helpful if students had background information and had learned

the content before they came to visit English Villages. Especially, low level students

had a chance to pick up some words they might not have known in advance. However,

five teachers (3 FTs and 2 LTs) stated that it depended on visiting teachers’

perspectives and their teaching schedule. They showed that English teachers from

visiting schools might not have enough time to preview the content for the students

before visiting, but if they did, the students’ responses during class would be better

than those of students who did not preview.

Also, the findings in respect of reviewing what students learned in English

Villages after visiting, showed that six teachers (2 FTs and 4 LTs) agreed, while the

other six teachers (4 FTs and 2 LTs) mentioned that it depended on circumstances.

53

The teachers who agreed, suggested that a review would assist students to learn

English more effectively, while five teachers showed that it depended on the

particular teachers who were visiting the schools. If the teachers were not familiar

with the content that students learned in English Villages, they might not review after

visiting. Besides, F4 presented that it depended on the schools visited. If these schools

had their own programs and own priorities, reviewing the content in English Villages

might not be necessary.

Seven teachers (3 FTs and 4 LTs) agreed that it was necessary for students to

have more hands-on learning experiences in English Villages. Hands-on experiences

involve active personal participation, for instance, shopping, role-playing, or cooking.

They presented that hands-on experience had a positive influence on students’

learning. They mentioned the students would be impressed by what they did during

class, and would understand and remember the teaching content with hands-on

experiences. F6 stated: “Tell me and I’ll remember for a few minutes, show me and

I’ll remember longer, teach me to do and I’ll know it forever.” However, the other five

teachers (3 FTs and 2 LTs) suggested that it depended. F1 stated that it would be very

difficult to create a meaningful experience for the kids who do not understand the

basic language. L4 stated that hands-on experience would be appropriate when there

was sufficient time. L5 also presented that it depended on the classroom theme. Some

themes of classroom, such as airport and bakery, would be suitable for arranging

hands-on experience. Other perceptions are mentioned in the following quotation:

It depends on their level. Teachers will pre-teach what they are going to cover;

they will then have more hands-on experience. You cannot have students

running around in the class, engaging in hands-on experience, and learning

language, you will lose the language acquisition, and all the hands-on

experience will involve more Chinese conversation than English. (F2- course

design/ hands-on experience)

In Taiwan, there is no English in everyday life; it is hard, I think, no matter

what way you teach or learn, if it is not used in daily life…it’s hard for teachers

54

and students. (F3- course design/hands-on experience)

Nine teachers (5 FTs and 4 LTs) taught local culture in their courses while three

teachers (1 FT and 2 LTs) did not. The local culture teaching materials they used

consisted of a historical introduction to the Tsao-kung cannel and Cheng-lan gun fort

in Fengshan district in Kaohsiung City, Cishan Old Street and bananas, as well as

Taiwanese aboriginals’ clothes.

According to Tables 6 and 7, there was no difference between foreign and local

English teachers in regard to lesson plans and teaching materials, class duration and

visiting frequency, previewing the teaching content before visiting, hands-on

experience, and local culture. In addition, the local English teachers focused on

reviewing the teaching content more than foreign English teachers did.

Teachers

The second category presents the results regarding the teachers of English

Villages in Kaohsiung City. The interview questions include three parts: (a) teachers’

role, (b) cooperating with foreign teachers or local teachers, and (c) Chinese spoken in

the classroom. Regarding teachers, Table 11 reveals the results from the foreign

English teachers, and Table 12 demonstrates the results from the local English

teachers.

Table 11

Foreign teachers’ results regarding teachers


Teacher’s role motivator flexible &

patient

substitute promoter fun &

excited

teacher &

consultant

Cooperate w/

LTs

Y Y Y Y Y Y

55

Ways of

cooperation

translation

&

discipline

translation

&

discipline

talk about

teaching &

share ideals

translation

&

discipline

talk

about

teaching

discuss sth

happened

in EV

Interaction w/

LTs

office

anytime anytime

anytime anytime

anytime

Chinese

spoken

Y Y N Y Y Y

Note. Y= yes, N= no, LTs= local teachers, w/= with

Table 12

Local teachers’ results regarding teachers


Teacher’s role

do my best flexible teach the

foreign

culture

use

English

sustainably

helper provide

chances

Cooperate w/

FTs

Y Y Y Y Y Y

Ways of

cooperation

translation

&

discipline

translation

&

discipline

discuss

before the

EV opens

translation

&

discipline

discuss

before the

EV opens

discuss

about

student

Interaction w/

FTs

office

anytime anytime

anytime anytime

office

Chinese

spoken

Y Y Y Y Y Y

Note. Y= yes, N= no, FTs= Foreign teachers, w/=with

The findings show that most teachers (6 FTs and 5 LTs) perceive themselves as

positive teachers except for F3. F3 mentioned that he was a substitute teacher for two

months. He did not want to push boundaries too far, so he just listened to the other

teachers. F1 perceived him/herself to motivate students to learn and to increase

confidence and independent learning. F2 illustrated he had to be a flexible and patient

teacher, be able to change the lesson plan and develop a system of managing the

scenario classroom. F4 showed that she was a promoter of the English language for

the students. She also shared what she had found in the following.

56

English is not scary, you can do it; you can have fun with it, just because of the

limited content of time…for the high level students, good at the cram schools,

they’re usually for the most quite outgoing, quite comfortable, and they're not

limited; the lower students who haven’t had those opportunities, can be very

shy and lack talking: “I can't do this, I just can't speak English, it's terrible.”

Almost are very uncomfortable…teach little once again and don't care if they

say things wrong. (F4- teachers/teachers’ role)

F5 perceived himself to be a good, fun, exciting teacher. He revealed that his

class was always fun and students were happy. F6 demonstrated that he had two roles:

one was a teacher to teach students the best English, and the other was as an English

consultant to help the local teachers in terms of the best practice he knew. L1 stated

that doing his/her best to teach students was his/her role. L3 presented that the

teachers in English Villages should understand foreign culture and share it with

students. Besides, L4 suggested that teachers could learn something by facing

different students and contacting other teachers, such as speaking English sustainably

to the foreign teacher. Hence, he/she stated that being an English Teacher in an

English Village was good. Furthermore, L5 wanted to help students to speak English

without fear. L6 claimed that the English teaching program of English Villages

provided an opportunity to show students’ performance, to use English, and listen to

English. She also mentioned that if students opened their minds, they would learn a

lot.

“Flexible” is a key to survive in the English Village, that’s my term …because

every day we face very different kids: different levels, and different schools, so

every day you meet a challenge, so we have to be flexible. (L2- teachers/

teachers’ role)

彈性是在英語村中生存的關鍵，這是我的座右銘…因為我們每天面對不同

的學生，不同的程度，不同的學校，所以每天你都會面臨挑戰，我們必須

要具彈性化。

Regarding cooperation, six foreign teachers had cooperated with local teachers

and six local teachers had cooperated with foreign teachers in English Villages. In the

57

matter of the method of cooperation, six teachers (3 FTs and 3 LTs) illustrated that

local English teachers managed the discipline in class and translated some words into

Chinese when they were co-teaching to help the students understand. Six teachers (3

FTs and 3 LTs) shared their ideas about teaching and English Villages.

Next, regarding interaction, nine teachers (5 FTs and 4 LTs) interacted with

other teachers at any time, while three teachers (1 FT and 3 LTs) just interacted with

other teachers in the office.

We are a team, we work together as a team…we work together to be better

teachers as a group, as a team. I think that’s the best way to be working in any

kind of employment. (F5- teachers/ interaction with other teachers)

Lastly, regarding language spoken, five foreign teachers had spoken a little

Chinese during English class. They presented that Chinese could be handy and useful

when doing some activities. Even if their Chinese was poor, they could enhance

students’ understanding with a little bit of vocabulary. All local teachers mentioned

they would speak Chinese if the students did not understand the English they spoke.

They further explained that they spoke simple English with some gestures, actions, or

visual materials at first; if the students still could not understand, then they used

Chinese. Beside, L3 demonstrated that she usually shared western culture in Chinese.

L5 reported that he usually spoke English at a high volume and spoke Chinese at a

low volume. However, one foreign English teacher disagreed about speaking Chinese.

F3 mentioned that he cannot speak Chinese, and spoke English all day.

It is apparent from Tables 11 and 12 that there is great similarity between

foreign teachers’ and local teachers’ perceptions toward teachers. Most of both groups

had positive perspectives on the teacher’s role in English Villages, cooperated with

each other in English Villages, as well as interacted with each other any time.

Furthermore, most of them agreed to speak Chinese when students needed better

58

understanding.

Students’ Learning Effectiveness

The visiting students’ learning effectiveness in English Villages is discussed in

the third category; the relevant interview questions include five parts: (a) learning

achievement, (b) evaluation, (c) learning motivation, (d) grouping by English level,

and (e) age appropriateness. Besides, the interview questions concerning learning

achievement consisted of English four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing,

as well as understanding western culture. Moreover, the biggest challenge, which the

students met, is illustrated through the teachers’ evaluation. The results from foreign

teachers and local teachers are shown as Tables 13 and 14, respectively.

Table 13

Foreign teachers’ results regarding students’ learning effectiveness


Learning

achievement

Y Y Y depends Y Y

English four

skills

L & S L & S L & S L & S 4 skills L & S

Western

culture

Y Y Y depends Y Y

Evaluation S’

response

S’

response

S’

response

S’

response S’

response

S’

response

Challenge fear

fear environment fear fear fear &

environment

Learning

motivation

Y Y Y Y Y Y

Grouping by

English levels

Y Y N Y N Y

Age

appropriate

grade5 depends grade 5 depends grade 5 grade 5

Note. L&S= listening and speaking, Y= yes, N= no, S=students

59

Table 14

Local teachers’ results regarding students’ learning effectiveness


Learning

achievement

depends Y Y Y Y

Y

English four

skills

4 skills L & S L & S L & S 4 skills L & S

Western

culture

Y Y Y N Y Y

Evaluation S’

responses

S’

responses

S’

responses

S’

responses

test test

Challenge poor

listening

fear Limited

word

fear limited

advanced

knowledge

fear &

learning

attitude

Learning

motivation

Y Y Y Y Y Y

Grouping by

English levels

Y Y N Y N

Y

Age

appropriate

grade 5 grade 5 grade 5 grade 5 grade 5 grade 5

Note. L&S= listening and speaking, Y= yes, N= no, S=students

With regard to learning achievement, ten teachers (5 FTs and 5 LTs) stated that

students could learn something in the teaching program of English Villages, such as

knowing some words and western culture, becoming more willing to speak English

and more enthusiastic about English, as well as English listening. To put it briefly, the

students could reach the instructional goals of Bloom’s (1956) three categories,

cognitive domain, affective domain and psychomotor domain. However, two teachers

(1 foreign and 1 local teacher) reported that it depended on student’ English

proficiency level and attitudes. The students with advanced English proficiency level

might not learn much compared with the students with basic or medium English

proficiency level. If students did not want to learn English, they might not learn in the

English teaching program.

60

As for the key categories, only three teachers (1 FT and 2 LTs) agreed that

students would improve their four English skills: listening, speaking, reading, and

writing. Although they agreed on this point, F5 mentioned that these skills would be

improved in the future because the students were motivated to learn English in

English Villages. L1 revealed that the improvement of the four skills would be limited

by class duration and visiting frequency. The majority (5 FTs and 4 LTs) stated that

students learning English in English Villages would enhance their listening and

speaking abilities.

In terms of Western culture, ten teachers (5 FTs and 5 LTs) agreed that students

would understand Western culture better by visiting English Villages. However, two

teachers had different opinions. F4 mentioned that it depended on the theme of the

scenario classroom. She also stated that students would learn Western culture in the

scenario classroom which was designed as restaurant. Additionally, L4 felt that

students could not improve their understanding of Western culture.

Regarding how to evaluate students’ learning situation, the majority (6 FTs and

4 LTs) evaluated students by observing students’ responses or answers when they

were asked some related questions. Only two local teachers used testing to evaluate

students’ learning situation, for instance, dictation or word test. Through evaluating

students’ learning situations, most teachers (5 FTs and 3 LTs) stated that fear was the

biggest challenge most students faced. In the teachers’ opinions, there were three

types of fear. Firstly, the fear of make mistakes resulted in the students lacking

confidence when they were speaking English. The second type of fear was that the

students would not be comfortable when they were visiting an unfamiliar environment

and having an unfamiliar teaching program. Lastly, L6 stated that students were afraid

of listening to all English during the one-day tour. In addition, two teachers (F3 and

61

F6) claimed that students were not used to speaking English in daily life owing to

their EFL environment. Learning English might also not be necessary for students in

Taiwan. The non-English-speaking environment might influence the students’

learning attitude. L6 also revealed that students were not active in learning English;

they usually were passive. Moreover, three local teachers reported that most students’

challenges included: limited English words, limited advanced knowledge (past

experience) and poor English listening skills.

Regarding students’ learning motivation, all teachers (6 FTs and 6 LTs) believed

that visiting English Villages could motivate students to learn English. All of them

claimed that the English teaching program and scenario classrooms of English

Villages could trigger students’ English learning interest. As for grouping students by

English ability level, what is interesting in Tables 13 and 14 is that teachers in the

same English Villages had similar perceptions. For example, F1 and L1, English

teachers in the same English Villages, both agreed to group students by their English

ability level. Other teachers (F2 and L2, F4 and L4, F6 and L6) also approved of

grouping. They mentioned that it was easier to cater to a concise level, and the low

English level students would not have too much pressure as when they had lessons

with the high level students. It was fairer for students because they could have a

lesson adapted to their English abilities. On the contrary, four teachers in two English

Villages (F3 and L3, F5 and L5) disagreed with grouping students by their English

abilities. They suggested that grouping might pigeonhole the students as strong or

weak. It might be harmful to students whose English abilities were low.

With respect to age appropriateness, ten teachers (4 FTs and 6 LTs) showed that

fifth graders were the right age to visit English Villages. F1 stated that fifth graders

were mature enough for the English teaching program of English Villages. F3 also

62

presented that fifth graders were able to listen, and understand what the teachers were

doing. However, F2 and F4 mentioned that it depended on students’ English ability

and attitudes.

The second graders who have high English competency might be more suitable

than fifth graders with lower English competence (F2 students’ learning

effectiveness/ age appropriate).

Based on Tables 13 and 14, there is no difference between foreign teachers’ and

local teachers’ perceptions concerning students’ learning achievement, learning

motivation, grouping students by English level, and age appropriateness. However,

their perspectives on evaluation differ. All foreign teachers observed students’

responses to evaluate their learning situation. Compared with foreign teachers, some

local teachers evaluated students by testing. Furthermore, some local teachers focused

on students’ English abilities when they discussed students’ biggest challenges. They

mentioned that students lacked English listening skill, words and advanced

knowledge. All of the foreign teachers were more focused on how the English

learning environment of Taiwan influenced students and how to overcome their fear

to speak English.

Teaching Environment

In the fourth category, the teacher’ perceptions regarding the teaching

environment of English Villages in Kaohsiung City are explored. The interview

questions with respect to the teaching environment have two parts: satisfaction with

the teaching environment and the scenario classrooms. Whether the scenario

classrooms benefited students on English learning is also presented. Tables 15 and 16

provide information garnered from the foreign and local teachers.

63

Table 15

Results from foreign teachers regarding teaching environment


Satisfaction fine

fine fine fine old building fine

Scenario

classrooms

depends helpful helpful helpful helpful helpful

Table 16

Results from local teachers regarding teaching environment


Satisfaction fine

fine fine fine old building fine

Scenario

classroom

helpful helpful helpful helpful helpful helpful

As the tables show, most teachers (5 FTs and 5 LTs) claimed that the teaching

environments of English Villages were fine. They were all satisfied with the teaching

environment where they taught. They also believed that a good teaching environment

was highly correlated with students’ learning situation; it would help students to learn

English actively.

It is very good. We have space for everything that we want to do and the

building is laid out very well…. You look around the walls there are pictures

and lots of visual stuff you can draw on all the time. The teachers are also put

up their own posters and signs for their vocabulary, so I think the building will

do for learning. (F6-teaching environment/ satisfaction)

Although L3 agreed that the teaching environment was comfortable, she

reported that the teacher’s role was more important than the teaching environment.

How the teacher had organized the lesson would influence the students’ learning

motivation. Even if there were a good teaching environment, students could not learn

without teachers. On the other hand, F5 and L5, who taught in the same English

Village, stated that the building they used was too old. They mentioned that the walls

of the building were falling apart.

64

The good thing is this historical building is very famous and has a lot of

history, and it is used for the English Village. On the down side, the building is

falling part, so we have to clean every day. (F5. Teaching environment/

satisfaction)

As for the scenario classrooms, the majority (5 FTs and 6 LTs) presented that

the scenario classrooms were beneficial for English teaching. Students could learn

English related to some topics by having activities in the respective scenario

classrooms. For instance, students could learn some words about food and learn how

to order from their experience in the restaurant scenario classrooms. However, only

F1 suggested that it depended on students’ visiting experiences. How the experience

facilitates their learning was a primary factor in deciding whether it worked or failed.

According to the results from Tables 15 and 16, there is an obvious similarity between

the foreign and local teachers’ perceptions of the teaching environment.

Policies and Administration

The final category presents the results of teachers’ perceptions of policies and

administration. The interview questions concerning this category consist of four parts:

(a) local government (b) school administrator (c) policies of implementing English

Villages, and (d) income and benefit. The following tables show the results from the

foreign and local teachers (see Tables 17 and 18, respectively).

Table 17

Results from foreign teachers regarding policies and administration


LG’s

assistance

Y N N Y N Y

Requirement

or expectation

education

degree

N N follow

contract

fellow

contract

professional

& healthy

Interaction w/

SA

limited good limited limited good good

65

SA’s

assistance

Y N Y N N Y

SA’s

interference

N N N N N N

Satisfaction of

EV policies

practical

but not

successful

practical &

successful

practical

but not

successful

practical

but not

successful

practical &

successful

practical &

successful

Role of EV international

education

good

experience

link to

daily life

chance to

speak

good

experience

field trip

Sustainability

of EV

flexibilities economic

situations

economic

situations

economic

situations

Y economic

situations

Satisfaction of

income &

benefit

N Y Y Y Y Y

Note. LG= Local government, SA= School administrator, w/= with, EV= English Villages, Y= yes,

N= no

Table 18

Results from local teachers regarding policies and administration


LG’s

assistance

Y Y N Y Y N

Requirement

or expectation

almighty

teacher

don’t

know

report report don’t know don't know

Interaction w/

SA

good good good good good good

SA’s

assistance

Y Y N Y N N

SA’s

interference

N N N N N N

Satisfaction of

EV policies

practical &

successful

vague practical &

successful

depends practical &

successful

limited

time

Role of EV learn

English

early

assistance practice good

experience

motivator motivator

Sustainability

of EV

Y Y Y Y Y Y

Satisfaction of

income &

benefit

Y N N N Y N

Note. LG= Local government, SA= School administrator, w/= with, EV= English Villages, Y= yes,

N= no

66

In the first part, assistance from the local government is reported. The results

show that seven teachers (3 FTs and 4 LTs) claimed that Kaohsiung City government

had assisted them in teaching; the other teachers (3 FTs and 2 LTs) stated that the

government had not assisted them. The assistance from the local government

consisted of finance to provide hardware and software settings in English Villages,

arranging the visiting schedule and designing the websites of the English Village. In

addition, the government held some workshops, meetings, or teacher-training

programs. However, the participants of the teacher-training program were only the

foreign teachers in English Villages, not the local teachers. Hence, L2 and L6

suggested that the local teachers should be provided with opportunities to improve

their teaching and share the teaching resources with other teachers. Beside, F2 and L3

hoped that the government would recruit more foreign teachers in English Villages.

L4 further suggested that it would help to study if students’ learning effectiveness was

sustained after visiting English Villages.

Next, requirements or expectations from the local government are also revealed.

F1 mentioned that foreign teachers in English Villages were required to possess an

education degree; F4 and F5 presented that they had to follow the contract when they

were recruited as teachers in English Villages. Moreover, F6 stated that the

government required professional and healthy teachers to be English Village teachers.

As for the local teachers’ perceptions, L1 mentioned that Kaohsiung City government

needed teachers who can teach and administrate; L3 and L4 pointed out that it asked

them to complete the evaluation tables, lesson plans and reports of students’

feedbacks. The other local teachers (L2, L5 & L6) did not relate to this question.

In the second part, nine teachers (3 FTs and 6 LTs) stated that they had good

relationships with school administrators in English Villages. However, three foreign

67

teachers (F1, F3 & F4) suggested that their relationship with school administrators

was limited because of language. F1 also added that the system structure of the school

administration was unclear, so he did not know who his supervisor was, and what he

could do when he needed something. Furthermore, six teachers (3 FTs and 3 LTs)

claimed that school administrators had assisted them while the other six teachers had

contrary opinions. The assistance from the school administrators included providing

materials and equipment, as well as communicating with the teachers of visiting

schools. F5 hoped that school administrators would assist in promoting the English

Villages and showing how special the English Villages were. L2 hoped that they

would maintain the hardware in English Villages. Moreover, all the teachers (6 FTs

and 6 LTs) stated that there was no interference from the school administrators during

the teaching programs.

In the third part, six teachers (3 FTs and 3 LTs) were satisfied with the policies

of implementing English Villages. They believed that policies at the English Villages

were practical and successful. However, the other six teachers had some negative

views on this question. F1, F3 and F4 agreed that ideas underlying the policies were

practical, but that the implementation was unsuccessful. F3 and F4 suggested that

there was no back-up system in the English Villages, and that this should be improved.

L2 demonstrated that policies were vague. L4 stated that it depended on the standard

of success. In her perspective, for fun, it was good; for students’ learning effectiveness,

she could not be sure. L6 also mentioned that students’ learning effectiveness could

not be noticed owing to the limited program duration and visiting frequency.

I understand historically when English Villages started, it was big…but if

something has been decreasing, then that says to me, it’s not been a successful

venture. (F1-policies and administration/ satisfaction of EV policies)

68

When all participants talked about the role of English Villages, they all defined

English Villages as playing a positive role in English teaching. For instance, English

Villages provided students with a good experience; it was a motivator to increase

students’ English learning motivation, and assisted students in using English linked to

daily life. Moreover, students got an international education, practiced speaking

English, had a field trip, and learned English early at English Villages. Next, they

discussed whether the English Villages’ program was sustainable in the future. Seven

teachers (1 FT and 6 LTs) agreed that English Villages should be sustainable. They

claimed that English-teaching programs in English Villages were beneficial to

students. Also they found that the students loved visiting English Villages. They stated

that now that English Villages were set up, they should be sustained. However, the

other five foreign teachers mentioned some realistic situations, such as flexibility and

economic situations of the English Villages. F1 mentioned that it should be improved

or adjusted to reach its goals, through continuing evaluations. Furthermore, the budget

of maintaining English Villages was the key point for most foreign teachers.

The program and ideals are sustainable but the program implementation would

have to involve the needs of students’ involved…if there is money available.

(F6-policies and administration/ sustainability of English Village)

Lastly, the results of teachers’ perceptions on income and benefits are presented.

Seven teachers (5 FTs and 2 LTs) are satisfied with their salary for teaching in English

Villages; five teachers (1 FT and 4 LTs) mentioned that the income they received was

paltry. Especially, local teachers felt that it was unfair that the foreign teachers’

salaries were higher than theirs. They complained that sometimes they worked more

than the foreign teachers; for instance, they had to deal with class order or

communicating with students and visiting teachers before the lessons.

69

There is no difference between the foreign and local teachers’ perceptions on

assistance from the local government, assistance and interference from the school

administrator, as well as satisfaction of English Village policies (see Table 17 and

Table 18). The differences between them are described in the following. The local

teachers had good interaction with the school administrators compared to the foreign

teachers, while the foreign teachers were more satisfied with their income than the

local teachers were. Moreover, the foreign teachers considered the financial issue

more than the local teachers did when they were explored the sustainability of English

Villages. Each teacher has his/her personal opinions about the requirements or

expectations from the local government and offers different evaluations of the role of

English Villages.

Summary of the Results

As for the course design (Tables 8 & 9), most foreign and local participants of

the study were flexible regarding the lessons in the English teaching program. Most of

them accepted the arrangement of class duration and visiting frequency in English

Villages. They also agreed to preview the teaching content before visiting. Moreover,

they focused on hands-on experience and introduced information on culture in their

teaching. In addition, the local participants tended to review the teaching content

more than the foreign participants did.

With respect to teachers (Tables 11 & 12), the majority of participants had

positive perspectives on the teacher’s role in English Villages. All foreign and local

teachers cooperated with each other in the English Villages through the assistance of

translation and discipline control, and engaged in discussions on teaching. Also, they

interacted with each other any time. In order to meet students’ needs, most of them

70

spoke Chinese to assist students’ understanding.

Based on the results of students’ learning effectiveness (Tables 13 & 14), most

foreign and local teachers believed that students’ English learning achievement would

be improved by the teaching program of English Villages, especially for English

listening and speaking abilities, as well as in understanding western culture. Also,

they stated that students’ learning motivation would be enhanced through

experiencing English Villages. Moreover, most participants agreed to group students

by English ability, and that fifth-graders were at an appropriate age to visit English

Villages. In addition, the foreign teachers evaluated students by their responses more

than the local teachers did. Besides, the foreign teachers stated that fear was the

students’ biggest challenge; the local teachers agreed less.

Most of the participants had a high level of satisfaction regarding the teaching

environment (Tables 15 & 16) of English Villages, including the scenario classrooms.

As for policies and administration (Tables 17 & 18), both foreign and local teachers

got assistance from the local government and the school administrator. Also, they

were satisfied with the English Village policies. Additionally, the interaction between

the local teachers and the school administrators was better than the one between the

foreign teachers and the school administrators. The foreign teachers were satisfied

with their income, while some local teachers were not. Moreover, concerning the

sustainability of English Villages, the foreign teachers focused on finance more than

the local teachers did. As for some questions, such as the role of English Villages and

requirements/expectations from the local government, the participants had their

individual perspectives. The above results will be discussed in the next chapter.

71

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

This chapter first discusses the major findings of the study. Next, it states the

conclusions of the study. The summary of findings, pedagogical implications,

limitations and suggestions for further research are also provided in the conclusions.

Discussion of the Findings

From the results regarding course design, teachers, students’ learning

effectiveness, teaching environment, as well as policies and administration, the

researcher derived some main findings. They are discussed in following parts.

Course Design

This section includes lesson plans and teaching materials, class duration and

visiting frequency, previewing and reviewing the teaching content, hands-on learning

experiences and local culture. According to the results of the foreign and local

teachers’ perspectives in regard to course design, the main findings are discussed in

the following.

Lesson plans and teaching materials. As Tables 8 & 9 show, most foreign and

local participants (4 FTs & 4 LTs) of the study were flexible regarding their lessons in

English teaching program. The participants mentioned that they designed the course

with near real-life teaching materials, which included going shopping, seeing a doctor,

or going abroad, and then discussed it before the English Villages opened. Although

they had already prepared the course design and teaching materials, the more

important thing was that they designed the appropriate lesson plans and adjusted their

teaching materials according to the visiting students’ English proficiency. To sum up,

72

the teachers were flexible to adjust the lesson plan and teaching materials for the

visiting students. This result is in accordance with Shih’s (2008) study, which revealed

that the teachers of English Villages in Taoyuan County made lesson plans and

adjusted their teaching materials according to students’ English proficiency level.

Class duration and visiting frequency. For the majority of participants (5 FTs &

5 LTs), forty minutes was appropriate for one class (see Tables 8 & 9). Besides, seven

participants (3 FTs & 4 LTs) agreed with elementary school students visiting English

Villages once a year, while four participants (2 FTs & 2 LTs) wanted more visits. One

local participant, who agreed with one visit, explained the situation of current visiting

frequency and schedule in the interview as follows.

Students visited English Villages two times a year before. However, after the

merging of Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County, the English Villages in the

former Kaohsiung City were closed, so the students could only visit the English

Villages in the former Kaohsiung County. Therefore, the visit frequency had

decreased because of the number of visiting students. (L3- course design/ visiting

frequency)

以前學生一年來英語村兩次。因為後來高雄縣市合併，高雄市的英語村都停

辦了，所以學生都到高雄縣的英語村這邊來了，學生要來的多所以他們來的

次數就要降低。

In order to reach the goal of fair educational opportunity, the policy of English

Village in Kaohsiung maintained that the fifth-grade students could visit English

Villages once a year. While more than half of the participants in the study agreed with

this policy, the other participants disagreed with the one-time visit; they would like to

visit more often. The result is compatible with Hsueh’s (2010) study, which stated that

the elementary school English teachers in Taoyuan County disagreed on the duration

and times of visits. Most of them preferred longer duration and more visits. They

suggested that students’ learning effectiveness would be impacted because of the

limited visiting frequency. Also, Chang (2011) pointed out that students’ learning

motivation could not be sustained because of limited visiting frequency.

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Preview and review the teaching content. Based on Tables 8 & 9, some

participants (3 FTs & 4 LTs) agreed to preview the teaching content before visiting,

while others (3 FTs & 2 LTs) explained that it depended on the visiting English

teachers. The participants who agreed to preview mentioned it could assist students to

have better experiences in English Villages. The finding accords with the result of

previous studies (Hsu & Jian, 2008; Hsueh, 2010; Hung, 2012; Wan, 2012), i.e. that

previewing was beneficial for students in assisting the interaction between teachers

and students and decreasing students’ anxiety. If the students knew the teaching

content and practiced it before visiting, they would feel less pressure in the unfamiliar

situations. Hence, the atmosphere of English learning would be less stressful.

Conversely, the participants who suggested that it depended on the visiting English

teachers, provided some limitations to previewing, such as limited time, limited

teaching schedule, or the visiting teachers being unfamiliar with the teaching

materials in English Villages.

As for reviewing, Tables 8 & 9 present that half of the participants (2 FTs & 4 LTs)

agreed to review the teaching content after visiting, while the other half (4 FTs & 2

LTs) also stated that it depended on the visiting English teachers. The local

participants (4 LTs) agreed to review the teaching content after visiting, more than

foreign participants did (2 FLs). The result is consistent with Hsueh’s (2010) study,

which demonstrated that the local English teachers in Taoyuan County agreed on the

necessity of reviewing the teaching content. In order to enhance students’ learning

effectiveness, the well-designed teaching program of English Villages and subsequent

reviews were both important factors. However, the other four foreign participants and

two local participants, who did not totally agree to review, also posited that the

visiting teachers might not be willing to review the teaching content after visiting.

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In the study, the number of participants who agreed to preview (3 FTs & 4 LTs)

was greater than the number of participants who agreed to review (2 FTs & 4 LTs).

The result is in accordance with Hung’s (2012) study, which found that the teachers in

Kaohsiung City assisted students to preview the teaching content in English Villages

more than to review it. Therefore, there was a lack of reviewing of teaching content

after visiting English Villages for students.

Hands-on learning experience. Tables 8 & 9 demonstrate that more than half of

the participants (3 FLs & 4 LTs) focused on a hands-on learning experience in the

teaching program of English Villages. For example, the students could learn English

by shopping in the scenario classroom which was built like a shopping center. They

could buy some stuff and pay the money while having a conversation in English. The

finding is consistent with previous studies (Hsu & Jian, 2008; Chen 2009), which

indicated that students could ‘learn by doing’ in English Villages. Hsu and Jian (2008)

explained that the course design of English Villages was based on real life, and the

goal was to enhance students’ competence to deal with some things in daily life in

English. Chen (2009) also pointed out that students were impressed by “learning by

doing”. In an English Village, students could have hands-on experiences in a near

real-life situation and practice listening and speaking English; it was limited in the

other elementary schools. Therefore, more than half of the teachers in English

Villages preferred increasing the opportunity of hands-on learning experience for

students.

Local culture. According to Tables 8 & 9, the majority of foreign and local

participants (5 FTs & 4 LTs) expected that students could learn not only English but

also local culture. Hence, they used the local culture teaching materials in the English

teaching program of English Villages. The following quotations are from the

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participants of the study.

I think it’s a good thing to include local and foreign. (F1-course design/ local

culture teaching materials)

I think it’s good for students to be able to describe their own culture to their

people. (F4-course design/ local culture teaching materials)

The scenario classrooms in English Villages probably involved linking English

and local culture. (F3-course design/ local culture teaching materials)

The results correspond to those of previous studies (Hsu & Jian, 2008; Lo, 2009;

Chen, 2010; Chang, 2014), which revealed that local culture was designed into the

teaching program and scenario classrooms in English Villages. The studies

demonstrated that not only local teachers but also foreign teachers in English Villages

presented Taiwanese local culture to develop an international education. As Chen

(2010) suggested, each English Villages would show the local culture or the schools’

characteristic to make students understand and appreciate their own local culture, and

that the success of English learning also reflected students’ ability to introduce their

own local culture to foreigners in English. The studies all demonstrated that recently,

local culture was emphasized in English Villages.

Teachers

The results of the foreign and local teachers’ perspectives on the role of English

Village teachers, cooperation and interaction between teachers, and Chinese spoken

situation, are reported below.

English Village teacher’s role. According to Tables 11 & 12, the majority of

participants (5 FTs & 6 LTs) exhibited positive self-identity concerning the teacher’s

role in English Villages. They perceived them as English learning motivators and

promoters, who were flexible, patient, or fun. The result is in conformity with Sun’s

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(2012) study, which revealed that the students were in favor of the English Village

teachers’ instruction. In Peng’s (2008) study, she found that students were fond of the

learning situation because the attitude of the foreign teachers in English Villages was

one of kindness. Tsai and Kao (2010) also stated that the visiting teachers and parents

agreed on the foreign teachers’ passionate teaching attitude. Moreover, Hsueh (2010)

pointed out that most English local teachers in Taoyuan County gave the foreign

teachers positive evaluations, especially on their classroom language, classroom

management skills, cultural knowledge and sense of humor. Most of the above studies

focused on the foreign teachers in English Villages, instead of the local teachers.

Cooperation/interaction between teachers. As illustrated in Tables 11 & 12, all

foreign and local teachers (6 FTs & 6 LTs) cooperated with each other in English

Villages. For example, before the class, they discussed the lesson plan and teaching

materials together; during class, some local teachers translated the terms which

students did not know, maintained the discipline of classroom, or assisted students

when the foreign teachers gave lectures; after the class, they shared their perceptions

regarding that day’s teaching experiences. The results correspond to Wu’s (2011)

study, i.e. that the teachers of English Villages usually had a discussion with their

co-teachers. Their discussions enabled the teaching activities to function better.

Moreover, as shown in Tables 9 & 10, most participants (5 FTs & 4 LTs) interacted

with each other any time, such as during meals together and assisted each other in

daily life. The results are in tune with the study by Chen (2009), which illustrated that

it was a good opportunity to speak English for the local principals, directors and

teachers in the English Village when they contacted the foreign teachers. Also, the

local teachers were concerned with the foreign teachers’ daily life in Taiwan. In

summary, good cooperation and interaction between teachers would benefit the

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English Villages.

Chinese spoken in English Village. Tables 11 & 12 show that the majority of

participants (5 FTs & 6 LTs) agreed to speak a little Chinese during the English

lessons. This accords with Weng’s (2012) study, which indicated that the use of

code-switching and the L1 (first language) would facilitate L2 (second language)

learning. Also, Liu (2010) presented that L1 plays a positive role in the process of

teaching and learning of the English language. Not only the local teachers, but also

the foreign teachers, spoke a little Chinese during class. Although the foreign teachers

could not speak Chinese fluently, they gave the Chinese meaning when the students

needed to better understand the words. They agreed that a little Chinese could assist in

English teaching and learning; therefore, the foreign teachers in English Villages tried

to speak a little Chinese even if they were teaching English. However, it corresponds

to no study or academic journal.

Students’ learning effectiveness

According to the results of the foreign and local teachers’ perspectives regarding

students’ learning effectiveness, the findings on learning achievement, evaluation and

students’ challenge, learning motivation, grouping, and age appropriateness are

discussed in the following.

Learning achievement. As shown in Tables 13 & 14, most foreign and local

participants (5 FTs & 5 LTs) believed that students’ English learning achievement was

improved by the English Villages. The result is in congruent with the study of Hung

(2012), which illustrated that most teachers in Kaohsiung City agreed that teaching

programs of English Villages could enhance students’ English learning. Besides, the

majority of participants (5 FTs & 4 LTs) mentioned that the students’ English listening

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and speaking skills clearly improved the most. Although Hsiang (2009) stated that

there was a significant improvement in students’ oral proficiency after visiting an

English Village according to a pre-test and post-test. The English Village conversation

class was conducted every week and lasted for twelve weeks in her study. It cannot

correspond to the present study, in which the students only visited English Villages

once a year. Furthermore, most participants (5 FTs & 5 LTs) agreed that students

could better understand Western culture through visiting English Villages. The result

is compatible with the study of Lai (2009), which indicated that students could learn

more about foreign culture in English Villages. According to Hsueh (2010), the

elementary school English teachers in Taoyuan County agreed more on the

effectiveness of cultural understanding than on facilitating listening and speaking

skills. They pointed out that the teaching content would reflect authentic foreign

culture.

Evaluation and students’ challenges. From Tables 13 & 14, the majority of

foreign and local participants (6 FTs & 4 LTs) preferred to evaluate students by

observing their responses. This finding accords with Wu’s (2011) study, which

demonstrated that teachers adjusted their instruction through their interactions with

the students and the responses the students gave during class. Besides, the participants

could discover the students’ biggest challenges by evaluation. Most participants (6

FTs & 3 LTs) thought that fear was the biggest challenge which the students faced,

according to Tables 12 & 13. Many students did not speak English because they were

afraid to make mistakes. The result is compatible with Hsiang’s (2009) study, which

illustrated that the students in Wun Chang Junior High School in Tauyuan County

suffered from anxiety when they were speaking English.

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Learning motivation. Tables 13 & 14 show that all the participants (6 FTs & 6

LTs) agreed that students’ learning motivation could be enhanced through their

experience in English Villages. The results accord with previous studies (Hsiang,

2009; Lai, 2009; Hsueh, 2010; Lee, 2012) which indicate that students’ learning

motivation could be enhanced by the English Village teaching program. Lai (2009)

also mentioned that role-play, teaching materials, drama, and the physical English

Village environment contributed to increasing motivation. Moreover, Wu (2011)

stated that the characteristics of the teacher profoundly affected the students’ English

learning motivation. Hsu and Jian (2008) found that foreign English teachers could

trigger students’ learning motivation, especially among rural students, as they seldom

come in contact with foreign teachers. Besides the interaction with foreign teachers,

Chang (2011) further pointed out that an authentic teaching situation and real

materials could stimulate students’ learning motivation. From the above studies,

English Villages could significantly enhance students’ learning motivation.

Grouping in English Villages. Based on Tables 13 & 14, most of the participants

(4 FTs & 4 LTs) agreed to group students by English proficiency, although some (2

FTs & 2 LTs) did not. There is no specific policy about grouping students in English

Villages. Hence, the teachers of each English Village decided on the way grouping

would be carried out. The teachers in the same English Villages discussed the issue

before the English Villages opened, so that both the foreign and local teachers of the

same English Villages followed the same grouping method. Therefore, the

participants had two types of grouping by students’ English proficiency: homogenous

and mixed.

Eight participants who agreed to grouping by English ability mentioned that

students could learn more when the teaching content was appropriate to their level. If

80

grouping students into basic, intermediate and advanced level, the teachers could

adjust the teaching materials according to different English proficiency levels. Since it

could enhance students’ learning effectiveness, they agreed to group students by their

English competence. However, four participants had the contrary view. They

disagreed on grouping students by English ability because they were afraid of the

negative influence on students being pigeon holed. They also believed that the higher

English ability students could help the lower level students.

In Hsueh’s (2010) study, the elementary school English teachers in Taoyuan

County showed that English Villages benefited students with higher proficiency level

the most; medium proficiency level, second; lower proficiency level the least.

However, the participants of the study had different perceptions. They stated that the

students with advanced English proficiency level might not learn much, compared

with the students at basic and medium English proficiency levels. The above findings

presented that students with different proficiency levels would get different degrees of

benefit from the teaching program of English Villages.

Appropriate age of visiting students. As Tables 13 & 14 indicate, the

participants (4 FTs & 6 LTs) agreed that fifth-graders were at the appropriate age to

handle the teaching program in English Villages. In both Kaohsiung City and Taoyuan

County, fifth graders were the main students who visited English Villages. As Hsueh’s

(2010) study investigated, most of the elementary school English teachers in Taoyuan

County showed that fifth or six graders were the most suitable for attending the study

tours in English Villages because they had better English proficiency. The result of the

present study had similar outcomes to those of Hsueh (2010).

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Teaching environment

According to the results of the foreign and local teachers’ perspectives on the

teaching environment, the main findings are demonstrated below.

Teaching environment and scenario classrooms. According to Tables 15 & 16,

most participants (5 FTs & 6 LTs) were satisfied with the teaching environment in

English Villages. They agreed that the English Village is a good learning environment

for students. The result is consistent with the studies of Peng (2008), Lai (2009), and

Sun (2012), which concluded that students enjoyed learning English in an English

Village environment. Peng (2008) mentioned that an authentic English-speaking

environment at English Villages caused students to be fond of the learning situation.

Besides, it appears from Tables 13 & 14 that all of the participants stated that the

scenario classroom could assist students to learn English. The results are congruent

with previous studies (Peng, 2008; Hsiang, 2009; Lin, 2011; Wu, 2011) which

indicated that the scenario classrooms contributed to the students’ English learning

attitude and performance. Moreover, Tsai and Kao (2010) also found that the visiting

teachers and parents agreed on the wide space of the scenario classroom, the sufficient

light in the scenario classroom and the good facility setting in English Village. Clearly,

not only teachers, but also students and parents, were satisfied with the teaching

environment and scenario classrooms of English Villages.

Policies and administration

On the basis of the foreign and local teachers’ perspectives in regard to policies

and administration, the findings related to local government, school administrators,

policies of implementing English Villages, as well as income and benefits, are shown

below.

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Local government. Tables 17 & 18 present that both foreign and local

participants (3 FTs & 4 LTs) revealed that the local government had assisted them;

most participants presented that it provided the hardware, software, teaching materials

and teacher training to the foreign teachers. Tables 17 & 18 also revealed that the

participants had different perspectives about the requirements or expectations from

the local government, such as education degree, contract and report of students’

feedbacks. In addition, the findings showed that the local government required at least

a bachelor degree for the foreign teachers. It imposed contracts on the foreign

teachers and expected them to do their best in English teaching, while, it imposed a

report on students’ feedbacks on the local teachers. It also expected the local teachers

to do both teaching and administrative work. However, according to the National

digital library of theses and dissertations in Taiwan and other academic journal, the

study on how the local government assisted English Villages and the study on local

government’s expectations and requirements regarding the English Village teachers

were lacking in Taiwan. Hence, the result cannot be compared with any study.

Administrators in English Villages. Based on Tables 17 & 18, all local

participants and three foreign participants had good interactions with the

administrators in English Villages, while the other three foreign participants did not.

In brief, the local participants had better interaction with the administrators than the

foreign participants did. One foreign teacher in the study mentioned that language was

a factor. The administrators could not communicate with the foreign teachers in

English, and the foreign teachers also could not speak Chinese to the administrators.

Hence, the local English teachers usually played the role of bridge between the

foreign teachers and the administrators in English Villages.

Besides, half of the participants (3 FTs & 3 LTs) mentioned that the school

83

administrators had assisted them, such as making the teaching materials or props,

communicating with the visiting teachers, and providing equipment. Half of the

participants (3 FTs & 3 LTs) disagreed; they reported that they had not received any

assistance from the school administrators. Chen (2009) suggested that the school

administrators should support and assist the English Villages. The English teaching

programs in English Villages need support from both teachers and school

administrators. Moreover, it is crucial that the school administrators assist both

foreign and local English teachers.

Policies and sustainability of English Villages. According to Tables 17 & 18,

six participants (3 FTs & 3 LTs) were satisfied with the English Villages’ policies, and

seven participants (1 FT & 6 LTs) had positive perspectives on the sustainability of

English Villages. These participants mentioned that the policies of English Village

were practical and were carried out successfully. The result is in line with the study of

Hung (2012), which provided that most teachers in Kaohsiung City perceived the

policies of English Villages positively. They explained that English Villages could

offer students a multiple English learning situation.

As for the sustainability of English Villages, the foreign teachers (4 FTs) focused

on the financial issue more than the local teachers from Table 15 & 16. In the foreign

participants’ perspective, the financial situation of English Villages was worth

worrying about because it would be the determining factor to keeping the English

Villages going or to closing them. The result is in conformity with Hung (2012), who

demonstrated that with the policies of English Villages, it was difficult to promote

them because of the lack of budgets from the local government. The English Villages

in Kaohsiung City could be maintained for a longer time based on sufficient funding

and a stable economic situation.

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Teacher’s income and benefit. In Tables 17 & 18, some participants (5 FTs & 2

LTs) were satisfied with their income and benefits while the others (1 FT & 4 LTs)

were not. The foreign participants were more satisfied with their income and benefits

than were the local participants. As for income, Fan, the commissioner of education in

Kaohsiung City, stated that the salary range for foreign teachers was 60,000 to 90,000

Taiwanese dollars (from 1953 to 2929 U.S. dollars) a month. But, the local teachers in

English Village just earned 20,000 to 30,000 NT dollars (from 651 to 976 U.S. dollars)

a month (Wang, n.d.). The salary of a foreign teacher was triple the salary of a local

teacher, a huge difference. Therefore, most foreign participants were satisfied with

their income while most local participants were not.

However, having a teacher’s license or not was the main reason for the difference

between their incomes. According to Ministry of Education [MOE] (2012b), foreign

English teachers with a teacher’s license could earn 85,000 NT dollars (about 2,636

U.S. dollars) on average per month, which included some allowances. According to

Teachers’ Pay Scales (n.d.) for the formal teachers in Taiwan, local English teachers

with the teacher’s license could earn 45,000 NT dollars (about 1,447 U.S. dollars) on

average per month. In addition, a local English teacher without a teacher’s license,

called a contract teacher, could earn 25,000 NT dollars (about 804 U.S. dollars) on

average per month (MOE, 2012c). In the study, the foreign English teachers who were

recruited for English Villages had a teacher’s license, while the local English teachers

in English Villages did not have one. All of the local English teachers in English

Villages in Kaohsiung City were not formal teachers in Taiwan; they were contract

teachers in the English Villages. This resulted in the big difference between foreign

and local English teachers’ incomes. Moreover, Wu (2011) mentioned that appropriate

teacher training was essential for a newly arrived foreign teacher in the English

85

Village. However, the local participants suggested that they also needed more

opportunities to increase their English teaching knowledge and skills. They mentioned

it was unfair to only hold the teacher trainings for foreign teachers.

Conclusions of the Study

The summary of the main findings, implications, as well as limitations and

suggestions for the further study are included in this section.

The Summery of Findings

This study set out to explore the foreign English teachers and local English

teachers’ perceptions of English Villages in Kaohsiung City. First, the main findings

are summarized in five categories, course design, teachers, students’ learning

effectiveness, teaching environment, policy and administration. They are presented in

accordance with the two research questions proposed in Chapter One.

First, most foreign and local participants of the study had positive perceptions

concerning course design. They were flexible when they were teaching in an English

Village. They agreed on the class duration and visiting frequency in English Villages.

They also agreed that previewing the teaching content before visiting was beneficial

for students. Moreover, they emphasized hands-on learning experience and the local

culture of Taiwan. However, only half of the participants agreed to review the

teaching materials after visiting; the local participants agreed more than the foreign

participants did. The foreign participants pointed out that it depended on visiting

English teachers.

Second, both foreign and local participants had positive perceptions of the

teachers as a whole. The majority perceived themselves as teachers who could assist

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students to learn English. They also had good cooperation and interaction with the

other teachers in English Village. Besides, they spoke Chinese if students needed

help.

Third, both foreign and local participants had positive perceptions in terms of

students’ learning effectiveness. They agreed that students’ English learning

achievement improved by learning in English Village. They further stated that

students would practice their English speaking and listening more, and students would

better understand western culture. They also presented that students’ English learning

motivation would be increased. Moreover, the majority grouped students by English

proficiency level and agreed that fifth-graders were at the appropriate age to

experience English Villages. However, there was a difference between the foreign and

local participants: the foreign teachers preferred to evaluate students by responses and

pointed out that fear was the students’ biggest challenge; the local teachers agreed to a

lesser degree.

Fourth, most foreign and local participants were satisfied with the teaching

environment of English Villages, and also agreed that the scenario classrooms could

facilitate students’ English learning.

Finally, both foreign and local participants stated that the local government and

the school administrator had assisted them. They were also satisfied with the policies

of English Villages. However, the local participants had better interaction with the

school administrators than the foreign participants did. Most foreign participants were

satisfied with the income and benefits but the local participants were not. Furthermore,

most foreign participants pointed out that the economic situation would affect the

sustainability of English Villages, while the local participants did not agree.

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Pedagogical Implications

The study aimed to understand the perceptions of the foreign and local teachers,

who teach in English Villages of Kaohsiung City. Based on the main findings of the

study, some pedagogical implications are presented in the following section.

Teacher professional development. Both the foreign and local teachers in the

English Villages could not know the visiting students’ actual English proficiency

before visiting, so how to be a flexible teacher and adjust the teaching materials

appropriately would be a challenge for them. Therefore, both the foreign and local

English teachers need more opportunities to enhance their professional development.

For examples, holding classroom observation, cooperating with English advisory

groups, and participating in English teaching and learning workshop would be good

strategies.

Both the foreign and local English teachers in the English Villages could share

their classes with other English experts and teachers for classroom observations. After

classroom observation, they could discuss the teaching methods and skills. Not only

the foreign and local teachers in English Villages but also the teachers from visiting

schools would learn when they found something better and reflect when they saw the

disadvantages. Also, the English advisory group could support and give some

suggestions to the teachers in English Villages. They could discuss the course design

or lesson plans together. In addition, both the foreign and local teachers in English

Villages could participate in the English teaching and learning workshop to gain more

professional English education knowledge.

Differentiated instruction. Both foreign and local English teachers in English

Villages needed to understand the visiting students’ English ability before the English

teaching program started. Therefore, it was important to connect with the students’

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visiting English teachers. The English teachers in the English Villages could plan

various teaching goals for the students at different English proficiency levels, like

basic, intermediate and advanced. They could have differentiated instruction, for

example, assigning different tasks to different levels’ students. This way, the students

with different English proficiency levels could be motivated and improve their

learning achievement.

Pay issue. Based on the discussion in the study, the foreign teachers’ income was

triple that of the local teachers’ income. The problem of such a big gap between the

foreign teachers’ income and the local teachers’ income has existed for a long time in

Taiwan. The foreign and local English teachers in Kaohsiung English Villages also

faced this problem. Therefore, the solution to meet both foreign and local teachers’

needs deserves consideration. It is hoped that the government will solve the income

problem one day.

Grouping. According to the results of the study, some participants grouped

students by English proficiency levels while the others grouped students randomly.

When grouping students by English proficiency levels, the students would be divided

into homogeneous groups. The students with similar English ability would partake in

the English teaching program together. Therefore, the teachers would choose teaching

materials that are suitable for the students. The students would reach the teaching

goals planned for them. When grouping students randomly, the students would

become heterogeneous groups. The students with different English abilities would

have lessons together. It would be better when the teachers utilize the differentiated

instruction; this would meet different students’ needs.

Positive learning attitudes. According to the findings of the study, most

participants pointed out that fear was the students’ biggest challenge when they were

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speaking English in the English Village. Positive learning attitudes would assist the

students to overcome their fears. The English educators should encourage students to

have the right attitude. For example, the goal of visiting the English Village is to learn

English, so it is common to make mistakes in the role of learner. The students would

learn more if they have a positive learning attitude, overcome their fear of making

mistakes, speak English bravely, as well as practice more in the scenario classroom.

The result also presents that the students’ discipline is important. One participant

pointed out that the students should not be out of control and interfere with the class

in the English Village. Therefore, the visiting teachers and the teachers in the English

Villages should introduce the visiting rules before the English-teaching program

began. It would make English learning more effective.

Sustainable maintenance. The hardware and software settings in the English

Villages should be maintained by sustainable funds and human resources, such as

school administrators and experts on English teaching and learning. The local

government should support the English Villages with sufficient budgets and

professional English teaching and learning teams. If the local government cannot

meet English Villages’ needs, seeking outside resources would be a solution to

maintain English Villages. For example, the local government could cooperate with

private enterprise to operate the English Villages.

Scenario classroom. The scenario classrooms should be located on better sites in

the English Village even though most foreign and local English teachers were

satisfied with them. The location of scenario classrooms should be designed to avoid

interference between different groups of visiting students. Besides, some English

Villages were set up in old buildings. Newly-built scenario classrooms cannot be used

for a long time because of the old building. The above problems would suggest

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practical suggestions for schools which plan to carry out English Villages in the

future.

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Study

Although the present study has yielded findings that have practical implications,

its design is not without limitations. In order to overcome the limitations, some

suggestions are provided for future research as follows.

To begin with, in order to understand the perceptions of both foreign and local

English teachers in English Villages, they were interviewed in the present study. The

findings of the study were only presented by a qualitative research method; the

quantitative results were limited in the study. It is recommended that further research

can explore the perceptions by both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Second, the participants of the study were only 12 teachers in English Villages.

Much more also needs to be known about the students, parents, administrator of the

local government, as well as English teaching and learning experts’ perceptions

concerning English Villages. If their perceptions of English Villages are investigated

in future studies, the understanding of English Villages will be clearer and deeper.

Besides, they will provide more suggestions from different angles to overcome the

problems that English Villages face.

Third, the region of study was limited to Kaohsiung City. The study’s findings

could not be generalized to English Villages in different regions. Therefore, further

research is warranted in different regions in Taiwan or all English Villages around

Taiwan for a holistic picture of English Villages in Taiwan.

Finally, the study of both foreign and local English Village teachers’ personal

self-identity should be further explored in the future, for examples, their awareness of

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students’ perceptions of the foreign English teachers and the local English teachers in

English Villages; or the local English teachers could consider whether their status is

lower than that of the foreign teachers; or the foreign English teachers’ perceptions on

how they can assist Taiwanese students in learning English. Their self-identity would

reflect the current situations or some problems related to English education in Taiwan.

92

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Appendix A

Personal Information Questionnaire for FTs

Dear teacher,

This study investigates the English teachers’ perceptions on English

Villages in Kaohsiung City. Please answer the following questions via e-mail, and

then mail it back before the interview. Your opinions are highly valued. All the

information will be kept confidential. Thank you for your help. If there are any

questions, please contact with the researcher.

Institute: Graduate School of English Education

National Pingtung University of Educaiton

Advisor: Shu-ying Chang

Researcher: Yen-tzu Chen

1. Age:

2. Highest Educational degree:

3. Country:

4. How long have you been in Taiwan?

5. What was your primary reason for coming to Taiwan?

6. Have you had any teaching experience before coming to Taiwan?

7. Have you ever completed any training courses related to English teaching?

8. How long have

you taught English at English Village?

101

Appendix B

Personal Information Questionnaire for LTs

Dear teacher,

This study investigates the English teachers’ perceptions on English

Villages in Kaohsiung City. Please answer the following questions via e-mail, and

then mail it back before the interview. Your opinions are highly valued. All the

information will be kept confidential. You can answer the questions in both English

and Chinse. Thank you for your help. If there are any questions, please contact with

the researcher.

Institute: Graduate School of English Education

National Pingtung University of Educaiton

Advisor: Shu-ying Chang

Researcher: Yen-tzu Chen

1. Age年齡:

2. Highest Educational degree 最高學歷:

3. Have you had any teaching experience before teaching at English Village?

來英語村之前，你曾有任何教書的經驗嗎？

4. Have you ever completed any training courses to become an English teacher?

你曾經受過任何成為英語教師的訓練嗎？

5. How long have you taught English at English Village?

你在英語村教英語多久了？

102

Appendix C

Interview Guide A. Course design

1. Lesson plan

1-1. How do you plan and design your lesson plan?

你如何計畫和設計你的教學？

2. Class duration and visiting frequency

2-1. How long should the duration of a complete study course in English Village be?

Why?

一個完整的英語村教學時間應多長？為什麼？

2-2. How many times per year should each student visit English Village? Why?

一個學生在一年中應參觀英語村幾次？為什麼？

3. Preview and review

3-1. Do you think an English teacher should teach or notify students before visiting

English Village? Why?

你認為參觀英語村之前，原校英語老師應先教導或提醒學生嗎？為什麼？

3-2. Do you think that English teachers should review the content of the courses after

visiting English Village? Why?

你認為原校英語老師應該在參觀英語村之後，復習當天教學的內容嗎？為

什麼？

4. Teaching materials

4-1. What do you think of the teaching materials at your English Village? Are they

satisfactory in your teaching?

你認為英語村的教材如何？在你的教學之中，你滿意這些教材嗎？

4-2. Do you think it is necessary to have more hands-on learning experiences for

students at your English Village? Why or why not?

你認為有必要增加學生“親手做”的學習經驗於英語村嗎？為什麼？

4-3. Are there any Western teaching materials from overseas that you used in teaching

at English Village? (If yes, please see 4-3-1; If no, please see 4-3-2.)

在英語村中，有異國文化教材融合於你的教學之中嗎？（有，請看 4-3-1

沒有，請看 4-3-2。）

4-3-1. What materials do you use to teach foreign culture? And how do you teach

those materials?

你使用什麼異國文化教材？你如何教這些教材？

4-3-2. Do you think it is necessary to use more Western teaching materials at English

Village in the future? Why or why not?

你認為將來有必要增加異國文化教材於英語村嗎？為什麼？

4-4. Are there any teaching materials about local culture that you use in your courses

at your English Village? (If yes, please see 4-4-1 and 4-4-2; If no, please see

4-4-3.)

在英語村中，有當地文化教材融合於你的教學之中嗎？（有，請看 4-4-1

和 4-4-2;沒有，請看 4-4-3。）

103

4-4-1. Are the local materials designed according to the students' needs? How so?

當地文化教材是根據學生需要所設計的嗎？怎麼設計？

4-4-2. What materials do you use to teach local culture? And how do you teach those

materials?

你使用什麼當地文化教材？你如何教這些教材？

4-4-3. Do you think it is necessary to use more local teaching materials at English

Village in the future? Why or why not?

你認為將來有必要增加當地文化教材於英語村嗎？為什麼？

B. Teachers

1. Teacher’s role in English Village

1-1. How do you perceive yourself as an English teacher at English Village?

身為一名英語村的英文老師，你有何看法？

2. Cooperation

2-1. Do you collaborate with other native English-speaking teachers/non-native

English-speaking teachers about teaching? (If yes, please see 2-2; If no, please

see 2-3).

你會和外籍老師/臺灣英語教師在教學上合作嗎?（會，請看 2-2;不會，請看

2-3）

2-2. How do you work together with native English-speaking teachers/non-native

English-speaking teachers in regard to teaching?

你和外籍老師/臺灣英語教師如何分配教學工作?

2-3. In what other ways do you interact with other native English-speaking

teachers/non-native English-speaking teachers?

你和外籍老師/臺灣英語教師有什麼其他方面的互動？

3. Chinese spoken in classroom

(Only for native English-speaking

teachers)

(Only for non-native English-speaking

teachers)

3.Chiniese speaking

3-1. Can you speak Chinese? Does your

Chinese-speaking ability affect your

English teaching?

你會說中文嗎？你認為中文能力會影

響你的英語教學嗎？

3.Chiniese speaking

3-1. Do you speak Chinese in class? How

often? When would it be necessary to use

Chinese?

上課時你會說中文嗎？多常？什麼時候

有必要說中文？

3-2. How can you avoid speaking

Chinese?

你如何避免說中文？

3-3.What methods do you use to explain

difficult terms/words/grammar in English

without using Chinese?

你如何在不使用中文的情況下，解釋困

難的單字或文法？

104

4. How have you adapted your life since

coming to Taiwan? Have any

adjustments you’ve made influenced

your English teaching?

你如何適應台灣的生活？生活適應會

影響你的英語教學嗎？

C. Students’ learning effectiveness

1. Learning achievement

1-1. What do you think students will learn at English Village?

你認為學生在英語村學習到什麼？

1-2. Do you think students can improve their listening, speaking, reading, and writing

skills at an English Village course? How so?

你認為學生可以在英語村中增進聽說讀寫技巧嗎？如何增進？

1-3. Do you think students can improve their understanding of Western culture at an

English Village? How so?

你認為學生可以在英語村中增進對英美文化的認識嗎？如何增進？

2. Evaluation

2-1. How do you evaluate students’ learning during class?

上課時，你如何評鑑學生的學習？

2-2. What is the biggest challenge most students face when learning English at an

English Village?

大多數學生在英語村中學習英文的主要困難為何？

3. Learning motivation

3-1. Do you think learning at an English Village can motivate students? How so?

你認為學生可以在英語村中增進英語學習的動機嗎？如何增進？

4. Grouping by English levels

4-1. Do you approve of grouping students according to their English ability levels

during their visit to English Village? Why or why not?

你同意將參觀英語村的學生實行能力分組嗎？為什麼？

5. Age appropriateness

5-1. Do you think that fifth graders are most suitable age bracket to visit English

Villages? Why or why not?

你認為五年級學生最適合參觀英語村嗎？為什麼？

5-2. In your opinion, which age benefits the most from the English Village?

你認為，哪個年紀的學生在英語村中會受益最多？

D. Teaching environment

1. Satisfaction of teaching environment

What do you think of the teaching environment at your English Village? Does it helps

students learn English actively?

你認為英語村的環境如何？這些可以幫助學生主動學習英文嗎？

105

2. Scenario rooms

What do you think of the scenario rooms at your English Village? Are they effective

in helping students learn English in relation to their respective topics?

你認為英語村中的情境教室如何？這些教室可以有效幫助學生學習這些主題的

相關英文嗎？

E. Policies and administration

1. Local Government

1-1. Do you think the local government assists you in your teaching? (If yes, please

see 1-2; If no, please see 1-3.)

你認為當地政府有幫助你的教學嗎?（有，請看 1-2;沒有，請看 1-3。）

1-2.What kind of assistance has the local government offered you? What additional

assistance would you like it to offer?

當地政府曾提供你什麼樣的幫助？你希望它能再給你什麼幫助？

1-3. What assistance would you like it to offer?

你希望他們能給你什麼協助?

1-4. What type of requirements or expectations do the local government impose on

you?

當地政府對你有什麼樣的要求和預期?

2. School Administrators

2-1. Describe the interactions between school administrators and yourself.

你和學校行政人員之間的互動如何？

2-2. Do school administrators assist you in your teaching? (If yes, please see 2-2-1; If

no, please see 2-2-2.)

你認為學校行政人員會幫助你的教學嗎?（會，請看 2-2-1;不會，請看 2-2-2。）

2-2-1. What type of assistance have they offered? What further assistance would you

recommend that they offer in the future?

他們曾給你什麼協助? 你希望他們能再給你什麼幫助？

2-2-2. What type of assistance would you like for them offer?

你希望他們能給你什麼協助?

2-3. Do you think school administrators interfere with your teaching? (If yes, please

see 2-3-1.)

你認為學校行政人員會干擾你的教學嗎?（會，請看 2-3-1。）

2-3-1. How do they interfere with your teaching? How could they improve?

他們如何干擾你的教學？他們須改善什麼？

3. Educational policies

3-1. Do you think the educational policies at English Village are practical?

你認為英語村的教育政策合理嗎?

3-2. Do you think the educational policies at English Village are successful?

你認為英語村的政策有實施成功嗎？

3-3. What role do you think English Village plays in regard to English education at

the elementary school level?

你認為英語村在小學階段的英語教育中扮演什麼角色？

3-4. Do you think the English Village program is sustainable in the future?

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你認為英語村未來還有必要繼續實行下去嗎？

4 Income and benefit

Are you satisfied with your income and benefits at English Village?

你滿意你在英語村任教的薪資和待遇嗎？

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Appendix D

Consent Form

Dear Sir,

My name is Bonnie Chen. I am studying in the Graduate school of National

Pingtung University of Education. Now I am currently doing my master’s research

related to English Villages in Kaohsiung City. In order to accomplish this thesis, it is

necessary to get your agreement. I would really appreciate it if you could consider

being my partner for research and interview to help me with my research.

The purpose of the research and interview is to collect opinions and general

perspectives about English village. For the necessity of research, I need to interview

with you. The interview will be recorded. After interview, I will transcribe all

discourse between us and then let you check its reality and authenticity. All the data is

only for the research analysis and will be presented in the thesis. Your response will

be anonymous. The research will begin at September in 2012 and end at January in

2013.

Sincerely yours,

Bonnie Chen

Yes, I agree to be your partner for research and interview.

Name:

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Appendix E

A Sample of Interview Transcript (L2)

A-1-1. 你如何設計你的教學？

設計教學，因為基本上它都是已經有規劃好情境式的，所以….因為我這比較久，

所以我會通常的話，我會先…都已經有個 idea 在那邊，可是基本上我會在根據

每一組的狀況或程度我會隨時做修正。（所以是根據小朋友來的程度。）小朋友

來的程度，然後因為我在這比較久，所以我會從他們學校，看是哪個區域來的小

朋友，用以往的經驗來推算大概是怎麼樣子。（那老師在這有多久了？）我在這

邊應該有三年，三年多了。

A-2-1. 你認為一個完整的英語村教學時間應多長？

A-2-2. 一個學生在一年中應參觀英語村幾次？

一節課我們大概是帶 30到 35分鐘左右，就是每一堂課的話。那因為他們只是一

年來一次，那他們可能小學生活就只有來這一次，從一到六年級可能就來這麼一

次，所以基本上我們會希望他們已經花時間來了，那政府也給經費，因為目前為

止他們是不需要付費的，我們也希望說給他們的東西，他們能盡量去多玩一點，

那當然是最好的。（所以小朋友是一學年來一次？）應該是說五年級，目前是規

劃五年級，照理來講的話，之前高雄縣為例的話，五年級上下學期，一年可能來

兩次，就同一個學生他可以一年來兩次。現在就沒有了，就一年一次。

A-3-1. 你認為參觀英語村之前，原校英語老師應先教導或提醒學生嗎？

我覺得是有必要的。因為像每個學校來的程度不一樣，在比較城市的地方和比較

鄉下的地方，小朋友有沒有去補習的話，那也會對小朋友的基本知識會有很大的

落差。那如果在學校裡面小朋友要來的時候，老師如果可以先教小朋友，教他依

些要來這邊，就要給他一個觀念，他雖然是來玩，但他同時也是來學習的。讓他

知道他基本上是有這個環境讓她去訓練講，因為我知道在普通的課上面，他都是

聽聽聽，並沒有太多的機會去說去應用，那他來這邊就是有這個環境，我們會希

望小朋友他們能開口說，即使他說錯了也沒有關係，基本上他有這個機會他可以

開口說，不是老是在聽而已。

A-3-2. 你認為他們在參觀英語村之後，是不是要去做復習的這個動作？

當然老師最好是做一些複習，讓小朋友知道，在之前老師來的時候教了一些，學

了一些，在這邊他做了實際的應用，那他從這邊帶走，回去的話真正記住的有多

少，那是對小朋友的學習真正有幫助。我是覺得學校老師可以的話，(如果他們

有注意到這方面的話是最好。)其實在有一些學校，我們要說，很坦白的講，有

非常少數的老師非常用心，他們真的有 pre-teach跟 review的非常少，(少之又少。)

可是不能說沒有，據我所知還是有。

A-4-1. 你認為英語村的教材如何？在你的教學之中，你滿意這些教材嗎？

英語村的教材基本上是我們在開春的時候，是由之前的外師，然後又結合中師的

一些經華改編的。那時候我們的原意是說，我們會寫了一些基本的會話適合初中

高級，可是按照現實的狀況來講，(那是之前的設計。)因為可是怕有一個，我不

能說不好，但對新來的老師來講，他有個什麼東西去開始做參考，那從那邊它可

109

以自己做增減。所以你也不能說他不好，只是說他給了新進老師來講的話，尤其

是都到這個環境完全沒有這方面的經驗，(那他以這個為參考，之後他依他真正

的教學經驗去做調整。)然後再跟小朋友的程度最配合。

A-4-2. 那你認為有必要增加學生「親手做」的學習經驗？

Hands on 的話，其實英語村很多都是 Hands on 的東西，那當然我們會給他們學

習單，學習單基本上是在給他們 review了。那 Hands on 的話小朋友們會比較有

興趣，因為比較不同於課室的一種學習方式，那如果能做很多 Hands on 的話，

那真的是非常的好。

A-4-3. 在英語村，你的教材有融合異國文化教材在之中嗎？

也是有，像我本身是在加拿大待過。那有時候，比如像講到某些東西的話，譬如

說拼字的話，那我們會講，對於程度比較好的時候，我會帶這個，因為他會區別

說，為什麼他的拼法和你的拼法不一樣。其實說講都是一樣的，意思上都是一樣

的，可是在這個地方可能用法不同。(所以你會有這個機會就說。)(那老師你說的

方式是用英文嗎？)幾乎全部都是用英文講，程度好的是，程度不好的話，我通

常也是用英文講，頂多真的真的很不好的話，才會去翻譯。通常我的經驗是，即

使程度不好的，你都還是會有個程度還不錯的在裡面，那我可能就會把那位小朋

友當作我的小小翻譯，那我就請他，如果他懂的話，或是小朋友突然想到了，那

他是正確答案，我就會請那位小朋友再大聲的說一次。那所以基本上教學的方法

都是英文的。

A-4-4. 在你的教學之中有融入當地的文化教材嗎？

可能會在外校的英語村環境的裡面，restaurant 會比較多，因為他主題相關的關

係，會比較有關聯，那其他的主題館，像 supermarket 那些的話會有比較多。那

可是我會異國文化教材的話，我就會用的機率比較多，是在我們小朋友到我們英

語村的時候，會針對比較高年級，(這裡指的我們的小朋友是本校的？)本校的五

六年級，因為我們做不同的教學，(所以除了高雄市政府排課的小朋友以外，本

校的小朋友…) 本校的小朋友我們會給有空堂的時候，像是禮拜三是沒有外校，

禮拜三基本上是給本校的，(所以基本上是這樣安排的，扣掉其他參訪的小朋友，

就是本校的小朋友。)那本校的小朋友基本上是從六年級開始輪，輪到一年級再

回來。(怎樣的方式？)就是因為他們來也都是一堂課，那我們就是照六年級開始

排，排到一年級，然後在第二輪。(就是六年級都排完了，然後五年級都排完，

四年級在輪。)所以我們在學期初的時候，會有一個本校的留學表發給老師，老

師如果時間可以配合的話，或是需要調動的話，再跟我們說。(所以是週三的時

間。)所以像這個的話，尤其是針對五六年級，因為一二三四年級我們還是偏重

在於主題館，然後五六年級的話，就可能會因為節令或是我們的主體方式會有點

不一樣的時候，我們外師會設計，所以像那時會帶入異國的文化。(那當地的文

化？)當地的文化，目前比較少，除了外面的展示之外。(那展示的話會教學嗎？)

展示的話以往有，以往我們是在做旅行社的時候，旅行社的時候就會帶小朋友去

旅行，那就會帶到除了去國外旅行，也可以台灣的哪裡旅行，這個都會帶到。但

是現在比較沒有上到這個館，所以比較沒有。(那現在有在進行的館？) 現在在

進行的館有環保館、MRT交通館、Supermarket、Restaurant 四個館。

A-4-4-3. 你認為將來有必要增加當地文化教材嗎？

110

當地文化教材如果是可以的話是可以。但是，因為你如果要叫外師去上當地的文

化教材的話，那要先教外師了解當地的文化，他才有辦法。因為，即使了解規了

解，他也不一定能夠教。

B-1-1. 身為一名英語村的英文老師，你有何看法？

我覺得英語村的老師就是要能夠隨機應變，flexible is a key to survive at the

English Village, that’s my phrase or my sentence. Flexible is the key because if you

won’t to be flexible, you could not limit to yourself a lot, I don't know how to say it.

It’s like you don't know how to start, because sometimes we face very kids, different

levels, different schools, so everyday you meet a challenge, so flexible. (It's the same

with Daniel, he also said that.) Yeah, you have to.

B-2-1. 你會和外籍老師教師在教學上合作嗎？

教學上合作應該，對外校的話比較少。目前都排的比較滿，因為人數比較少，人

數上面的話我們並沒有辦法有空。(目前英語村的老師有幾位？)目前就是五位，

一個外師然後四位中師。因為我們開了四個館，所以我們沒有辦法做co-teaching。

那麼以往我們是人數夠的時候，我們是有中外師每個人每一天都要輪，會有一節

課是要 co-teaching，目前的話是沒有的。那除了有些是大班課，在簡報室，那是

團體的，那個時候就會有 co-teaching。

B-2-2. 那和外籍老師是如何分配教學工作的？

基本上還是外師為主，我們只是做輔助。

B-2-3. 那除了在教學上還有什麼其他方面有互動嗎？

除了在教學上，我們會閒聊。沒有說特別的時間，還是說一定要做什麼，反正就

是有空就有意見就提出來分享，就隨時隨地可以分享，因為這個分享非常非常的

重要，尤其是我們每天面對的都是不同族群的小朋友，在不同學校，那這個在非

常重要就是，我必須把我這堂課上完的感受是什麼、或是學生程度是什麼、問題

是什麼、困難在哪裡，那我要 PASS 給下一個，那這樣對下個老師他會比較好去

處理，馬上知道該怎麼去面對，(你們是五位老師去輪四個主題？)基本上外師是

一定要去，那其他的就是四位中師去輪三個館，那我們就會有一位老師是要跑堂，

就是各上一節課，各上一個館。

B-3-2.老師你上課是不說中文的，那你是如何避免說中文？

我覺得跟自己本身的學習經驗是有關的，因為我之前也是在加拿大待過，也是教

育系的，(在加拿大唸書？)對。所以在那邊的學校也教過，所以在學英文的來說

也是比較簡單一點。所以我基本上沒有說中文的問題，除非他是程度是非常的弱

才會，可是我說中文的前提之下，我會用英文先問過，不用先說中文再說英文。

那程度還可以的，大部分還是用 keyword，可能很長，我就只會說 keyword中文，

那其他的我就不會說，可能就會帶個肢體語言或動作。那小朋友如果知道，那我

就問中文意思是什麼，但是再反問他們的時候我也是用英文問他們，不會用中文

講。他們知道就會講，如果有位小朋友懂，但小聲的講，我會請那位小朋友在大

聲的一次，那他在大聲講的時候，其他小朋友就會知道中文意思了，那就是在帶

回來。

111

C-1-1. 你認為學生在英語村學習到什麼？

我覺得他們在學到就是說，把語言真正用到它可以應用的上面，不是語言只是在

聽，他把他之前學到的基礎可以真正的去應用在上面。

C-1-2. 你認為學生可以在英語村中增進聽說讀寫技巧嗎？

我覺得讀寫可能沒有那麼多，可是在聽說的方面會比較多，因為我們在這邊的目

的也是希望他們能多聽多講。在聽的部份，小朋友是沒有問題，但是說他那天不

是以戶外教學的心態來的時候。他還是抱持一點，我雖然出來玩，可是我也是出

來學習的心態的話，那他就會認真聽。所以在這個部分的話，他們原校的老師是

要給他們怎麼樣的，是像今天要去英語村遊學，那老師 PASS 的是怎樣告訴小朋

友的，是今天我們去戶外教學我們是去玩的，還是說我們雖然是去玩的但是我們

還是要來學習東西，所以我們還是要注意聽。所以我覺得這點是非常重要的，老

師的態度會影響小朋友來這邊上課的態度非常非常的明顯。

C-1-3. 你認為學生可以在英語村中增進對英美文化的認識與了解嗎？

我覺得還是有，因為通常在教學當中也會帶到，你在美國你可能要怎樣表達你的

需求，或是你要用怎樣的對話跟人家講。(那除了在語言上，還會讓他們了解到

文化的差異嗎？)那就要看有沒有帶到了，譬如，萬聖節的時候，在 Supermarket

的時候，會問說什麼節日的時候會用到 pumpkin。

C-2-1. 上課時，你如何評鑑學生的學習狀況？

上課的時候會先問，會從他基本有沒有辦法就知道，問一個基本的我的名子是什

麼，像是說早安那些，看他們有沒有辦法馬上給你回應的時候，你去觀察他的程

度是在哪裡，然後看他們的程度之後，其實在短短三分鐘大概就可以知道這組的

程度是在哪邊。像是程度好的話，我們帶的東西就可以比較多。那如果小朋友程

度不行的話，那我們就會減半、精簡，然後讓他們複習複頌的機會比較多，如果

程度好的讓她去複頌的話，他們會覺得很無聊。

C-2-2. 你覺得大部分的學生在英語村中學習英文的最困難是什麼？

對他們最大困難是，對於程度好的小朋友我們不講，那如果是程度較中較差的小

朋友，他們比較害怕的是說，害怕說錯，這是他們最大的困難點。還有一個就是

說，因為他並不是，我們這邊是全英文，我們剛開始上課也都是全英文，我自己

的方式也幾乎不太用中文也是用全英文，除非程度比較低的小朋友。所以對小朋

友第一個困難點是因為他不是習慣全英文的環境，所以他聽到全英文就好像炸彈

炸下去的時候，腦筋一片空白不知道要如何反應。這是他完全沒有的經驗存在，

那如果有個小朋有可能在外面上過補習班已經熟悉了，所以程度好的小朋友沒有

問題，用全英文跟他對答他們可以。剛開始會有點不敢，但是他一但講了之後比

較熟悉了，那別人講的時候他就會開始。所以我覺得第一個小朋友覺得困難點在

害怕說錯，再來就是一個全英文的環境他不熟，他就沒有辦法說，他也沒辦法馬

上反應說好，即使我講錯也沒關係，可是我可以用英文的方式來表達。

C-3-1. 你認為學生可以在英語村中增進學習英語的動機嗎？

我覺得可以，畢竟在和一般普通課式的教學方面的話是不一樣的，是比較 Hands

on的，就不會像說，因為你已經有一個環境了，所以基本上環境，小朋友就一

定是去那個教室，或許他不知道這個英文是怎麼說，但是他會知道原來這個環境

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是怎麼樣的，給他一個情境促進他學習。

C-4-1. 你同意將參觀英語村的學生實行能力分組嗎？

我同意，因為基本上我們會跟老師講，請他們為小朋友依能力做分組。那可是因

為礙於說，來參訪的很多外校老師並不願意將小朋友分組，他們會不喜歡，因為

他們會覺得這樣會看不到他的學生，所以儘管我們要求，每學期我們都發公文給

各校，在公文注意事項裡面，我們都會明確的跟老師講，請老師依照小朋友的英

文程度分為 A、B、C、L四組，L就是初學，我們不喜歡把他冠 D，所以會用 L

-learn。(那這是你的想法，那過來這參觀的小朋友平均狀況是有分組而來的嗎？)

平均有，因為有的老師是特別來問是不是一定要分組，那我會跟他解釋說，能力

分組會對程度比較好或是程度不好的小朋友比較公平。因為我們老師會根據課堂

上的狀況去做調整，那如果他今天是全 A的話，那我們就會溝通對話整個帶比

較多一點；那如果他是 L的話，那我們會把一些刪減掉，在速度上面也會放的

比較慢，(會比較有學習的效率。)那如果沒有分組，假設有一個 C一個 L，那通

常上課會聽到程度比較好小朋友的聲音，反而會忽略掉那些初學者小朋友，因為

他根本沒有機會去發聲，沒辦法去說，因為程度比較好的反應比較快，馬上就說

出來了，那老師就是只聽到了那些。

C-5-1. 你認為五年級學生最適合參觀英語村嗎？

我覺得是四五年級的小朋友。因為五年級的他最起碼已經有三四年學校英文的課

程了。如果是每個禮拜一堂的話，看我們的教材其實也都不難，如果沒有上補習

班，你如果要學還是可以學的。所以我覺得他們有一些基礎在，不是都沒有基礎，

如果再來的話，這裡有些情境帶進去，小朋友會比較容易接受。

C-5-2. 你認為，哪個年紀的學生在英語村中會受益最多？

我覺得應該是，不管是哪個年級，只要他有心不怕他犯錯的話，其實都是可以學

很好的。因為像我們本校，像我們就有一個，禮拜五有一個四年級小朋友，那禮

拜一禮拜二這是五年級，可是我們禮拜五四年級和禮拜一五年級同一個學校，可

是程度差非常多，我們也有討論為什麼落差這麼大，為什麼五年級在這邊，四年

級反而必較好，就以當天學習態度的話，四年級學習態度就真的非常的好，可是

五年級那天的態度卻是不太理想。

D-1. 你認為英語村的環境如何？它可以幫助學生主動學習英文嗎？

英語村的環境要說可以主動幫助學生學習的話，我覺得還是在於學生能力的差別。

因為他基本知識夠了，他就可以去應用，但如果小朋友英文程度不足的話，那他

就沒辦法去應用他，那沒辦法應用就相對的會有挫折感，那就會在學生程度的差

異。那還有一個是他是不是可以接受這個全英文的環境，(那老師會跟小朋友說

這是一個全英文的環境嗎？)基本上，我不知道有沒有，但應該都是會講，可是

知道跟體驗到是不太一樣。

D-2. 你認為英語村中的情境教室如何？這些教室可以有效幫助學生學習這些主

題的相關英文嗎？

我覺得會。因為我覺得我們設置的話，其實還不錯，跟其他英語村比起來，我們

這邊還比較完善。因為他在環境方面的話，他是在一棟建築裡面。跟教室的話還

是有些區隔，當你走出外面來情境的轉換就不一樣了。在空間方面來講，除了有

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一些館還需要改進，其他的館還算不錯。(可以舉一下是什麼樣的館可以做哪些

改進？)譬如說我們機艙，我們的機艙本身比較狹窄，加上燈光照明的關係，可

是那之後一些經費問題政治考量，學校也擔心不知道英語村可以存在多久，我們

也不知道我們明年會不會繼續，每一年都是這樣。

E-1-1. 你認為當地政府有幫助你的教學嗎？

如果是教學的話，幫助外師的機會比中師來的多，因為他們最起碼會有一些 agent，

他們一兩個月會辦 workshop，有些聚在一起的機會。那以往的話，應該說是再

合併前，會辦一些研習，會請一些教授或是來分享教學什麼的，那是比較侷限於

外師的部份，那時雖然中師也有邀請，但幾乎是外師比較多。那合併之後就變的

非常的少，如果真的要幫助的話，那真的中師也要邀請，不應該分中外師的，畢

竟我自己認為中師也是需要成長，這也是我們學習的空間。

E-1-4. 當地政府對你有什麼樣的要求和預期？

我覺得我在這裡有點像採責任制，所以有些事情會要求比較多，所以說政府對我

有什麼樣的要求和預期，說實在的我也不知道。但是對於這個工作什麼是該做的，

我就會去做，主要是政府也不知道吧，主要是在於自己。

E-2-1. 你和學校行政人員之間的互動如何？

因為我之前也是做純行政，之前有一年是做英語村的純行政，我不用教學，就規

劃外校的演戲跟校內的所有行政事務，包括外師的聘用，然後經費核銷。(那現

在行政的部份？)現在是由學校一位老師來做，(就不是由英語村的老師來做？)

不是。他現在就比較屬於經費核銷，還有教育局和這邊英語村的聯繫、開會是由

他去負責的。

E-2-2-1. 你認為他們會幫助你的教學嗎？

當然也是會，畢竟我還是要需要跟學校的合作，跟學校老師合作溝通的話，也是

要經由他們。因為我們在那邊，我們基本上是屬於 2688代課老師，所以我們基

本上不參加校務會議，也不用參加每個禮拜的開會，那這個的部份的話，譬如什

麼異動、活動，都需要行政人員在那邊和其他的老師跟我們做聯繫。能做我們的

溝通橋樑。

E-2-2-2. 你希望他們能給你什麼協助？

其實我們大部分要求的話，就是提，那可以的話就是可以，不行的話就是不行。

那就是看這樣子，在教學的話，是沒有太大的問題。目前比較大的問題就是，硬

體上的維修。(經費部分可能政府覺得不需要，那學校的部份的？)學校不會管這

個，他們說沒有就是沒有。因為在以往的話，英語村就是歸英語村，所以英語村

維修就是要自己負責，除非像是真正的硬體，像是外面的走廊那些的。那如果像

英語村的設置的話，除非有牽扯到電，那就是要看我們能做到什麼程度，那真的

不行的話，那就要請總務處。那如果是建築物外面的硬體的話，我們會請總務處。

E-2-3. 他們會干擾你的教學嗎？

不會。

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E-3-1. 你認為英語村的教育政策合理嗎？

其實不是很清楚目前教育局對現在英語村政策是什麼，因為合併之後，變的非常

模糊。縣市合併現再進入了第三年了，每年都在變。因為每年都在變，所以你無

法去期待下學年的政策是怎麼樣的。(就沒有具體的依據？)對。

E-3-2. 你認為英語村的政策有實施成功嗎？

何謂成功？(對學生好，對老師好。)對學生好的部份，因為我們是屬以偏遠中心

的，不是一個市中心的學校，給小朋友的是一個機會。可以接受一個用全英文環

境的一個機會。那因為他是屬於非市區的學校，那相對的在週邊的資源就比較匱

乏，那英語村的話，我覺得是給小朋友一個機會，或許他沒有來的話，那可能就

一被子沒有機會了。如果要說成功的話，他對偏遠地區的小朋友，他們會受益會

更多，那麼他們願意去學習的話，他們會受益會更多。

E-3-3. 你認為英語村在小學階段的英語教育中扮演什麼角色？

我覺得是扮演著輔助的腳色，跳脫了傳統英語教學的模式。以本校學生來說，他

除了學習學校的主要課程，他在這邊到五六年級之後，我們老師會帶一些，可能

在課堂上市跳脫了一個制式化的教學，他可能帶文化、可能帶歌唱、可能帶藝術，

變的比較多元了，並不是說你只是在帶語言的用法，就是傳統的文法、單字學習。

就是你把它這個語言變成工具了，而不是說在學習這個語言，而是用到其他的各

個學科上面去了。(那是對於校內的小朋友比較有這個機會嗎？)因為我們對於校

內的話，我們有做紀錄，就是每一班學習的狀況是什麼，我們會做一下稍微的紀

錄，那我們是有一連串的計畫在走，可是外校我們就沒有辦法，因為就是這被子

就跟這團體的小朋友見到一次面，所以我們沒有辦法知道，第一個，他的程度到

了哪裡，就等於我們無法幫他設定一個他的學習目標或是計劃。那對於我們本校

的小朋友，他們會知道這一學期來，他可能會來幾次，就會開始排定說我們會給

他什麼東西，或是他們之前有學過什麼東西，那我們就會訂個目標在那邊，然後

往下走。(那就是對校內而言會比較有規劃，但對校外會有太多的不確定性。)因

為他們，回到上面來講的，像之前說的，一次夠不夠？我覺得不夠，一年才一次，

能不能學習很多，當然是很多的小朋友也有，但我也相信，沒有學到的人更多。

因為可能老師沒有 pre-teach，那他在這邊可能就是剛剛開始教單字，第一次，你

要他們帶走什麼，或許他就只學習到這一兩個單字，如果初學者，可以因為英語

村而學習到一兩個新的單字，我覺得是很棒的了。那有機會的話他可以重複的來，

可是我覺得這也是在於小朋友的概念，因為這牽扯到小朋友的心態是什麼。像我

們本校，太多次也不一定是好，像小朋友會覺得我已經來過，我已經重複學了，

為什麼我還要來上同一個館。可是他沒有想到，沒有問自己說：「我都會了嗎？」

他如果覺得我都來過我就不需要來了啊。所以說太多次也不好，但是說一次真的

是太少。

E-3-4. 你認為英語村未來還有必要繼續下去嗎？

我覺得還是有必要，因為在於說，基本上你出去有基本的對話你會講，如果真的

有機會出去的話，像在出去旅遊的機會很多，雖然你可以跟團，可是誰敢保證你

一定不會用到，如果你的導遊不在的話你怎麼辦。所以我覺得還是有他的必要性

存在。

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E-4. 你滿意你在英語村任教的薪資和待遇嗎？

說實在的英語村和教育政策的話，在合併後是非常的不穩定，每年不用擔心，雖

然是時薪，但基本上，寒暑假是要上班的，不用擔心寒暑假沒有工作。寒暑假老

師也是沒有什麼規劃，教室也沒有什麼改變。那我們是寒暑假辦完夏令營後，我

們就會規畫哪些管需要改變做整理，我們會利用空堂的時間來做整理。可是目前

的話，為什麼會說不穩定，第一個，在第一年的時候我們就被欠薪過兩三個月，

連同中外師，第二年也是有被欠，而今年就還在等看看。而我們以前在合併前是

沒有問題的，沒有變欠薪過的。還有就是中師的薪水，中外師是同樣的責任同樣

的工作，但是薪水差了三倍，而且沒有福利。(那有什麼管道是可以提出你的想

法的)其實我是覺得，在合併前，我們也參加過會議，但是提了也等於沒有提一

樣，那時中外師都有提出我們的訴求，可是因為不確定的因素太多了，每年都在

變，我們中師的咖，從四個變成兩個，又變回四個。所以就是不知道要怎麼走，

是要不要延續，都沒有明確的。可能以往高雄縣市在英語村的作法可能不一樣，

已舊有高雄縣的話，會比較統合性的規模，不會像是高雄市的一些事只有一兩間

的情境教室。高雄市他們會比較以闖關的方式，而我們會比較像是上課的方式。

可是，闖關的方式不一定不好，但是要小朋友可以闖關，可是小朋友要有一定的

程度，而且一定要教的小朋友很熟，你今天闖的關卡是什麼，你要做的活動是什

麼，你要回答的問題是什麼，他才有辦法去做闖關的活動。之前我們有有做過闖

關的活動，我們在前一個月的時候，我們會針對校內的小朋友，我們的闖關活動，

像是動物的聲音、繞口令、唱歌、或是跳舞，我們會規劃好，前一個月我們就把

這些有關的課程，我們已經先上過了，(這樣後面的闖關才有意義。)然後在方面

也牽扯到，我們還要跟學校的英文老師做合作，尤其是學校一二年級的，還有一

些老師是對這活動比較熱心的，他就會要求我們提供這些，他們會在他們的時間

榜小朋友做複習，那時候再來的時候就會比較簡單。(所以這也是剛好校內可以

做這樣的溝通的管道，但是對校外的就沒辦法掌握。)也許我們要他們的小朋友

來也可以同樣參予，像之前也是有闖關，像是萬聖節，那次的闖關活動也是帶活

動而已，可是活動有些通關密語，我們也是要是先跟老師說，這幾天剛好遇到萬

聖節，可能你們小朋友可以參予我們萬聖節闖關活動，不過會延遲一點你們回學

校的時間，也是要徵求他們的同意。(那這部份是由誰來溝通呢？)大部份外校溝

通是我。(那除了剛剛提到的以外，老師還有沒有其他的建議？)

在行政方面，其實你說他簡單是簡單，你說他雜他也很雜，當做熟後它其實個順

序在。它最忙的時候是開學前的前置作業，可是在開學後，我個人是覺得不會太

複雜。再來就是在他們的編制上面，或許牽扯到教育局現在編的預算上面，在一

些項目並沒有考量到英語村的應用狀態，(他們會來勘查嗎？) 目前沒有，以往

還有，所以目前來講在預算方面的話，除了人事支出，就是薪水的部分之外，他

編給英語村的其實是不知道怎麼編的，因為他沒有考量到一個實際的應用狀況，

英語村已經設置完成了，他再來的問題是維修維護的問題，可是他並沒有編預算

給我們去做維修維護這個的動作。這牽扯到有英語村的學校是不是有意願要去維

持，這個目前在我們學校的話是還需要很大的溝通，還沒有一個共識。其實以往

在我們的經費是有這塊的，所以我們可以去做，就是該修的時候就可以修，不用

絆手絆腳的。也就是他編經費的名目上面，要考量到真實的需要而去做應用。目

前他們編列的只有教材的支出，可是他也應該編一個項目，其實他在再添購的部

份不多了，那是不是多一個做維護維修的，畢竟東西用久了，加上人次那麼多的

情況下，一定會有損壞的狀況，那必須要經費去支持它，那它就是壞了，有誰可

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以出錢幫忙修理。這也是我現在最不滿意的一個問題。還有一個就是中師的薪水

是不成比例，畢竟中外師花的心力差不多，但是薪水差很多的。針對外師我們當

然是認可他的專業，但是有時候 agent 找來的不一定是個合格的，或是他的經驗

是不足的，那麼反而會不如我們中師。(中外師都是一年一聘嗎？)外師是一年一

聘的，但是我們中師是沒有聘合約的，(那在招收老師的部份呢？)目前我們還是

教育局的公告，他會發公告，再經過考試、面試這樣。(以學期制度嗎？)我們的

話是一年，可能是從八月到六月。(謝謝你的分享，訪談到此結束)

國立屏東大學英語學系碩士班碩士論文Department of English ...

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