Effects of an Online and a Non-online Chinese-to-English Translation Activities on English Learning of EFL Junior High Students

• Main Authors: Yi-shien Chen, 陳逸賢
• Other Authors: Ye-ling Chang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/75998091677848967834

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 93 === The purpose of the present study is to investigate and compare the effects of the online and the non-online Chinese-to-English (C-to-E) translation activities on junior high school students’ English learning. Specifically, the students’ responses to C-to-E translation, C-to-E translation performance, and responses to the design of the online translation activity are explored. The subjects of this study were seventy-one eighth graders from two normally-distributed classes in Chiao-tou Junior High School of Kaohsiung County. A twenty-executive-weekday study was conducted with the subjects divided into two groups, the online group and the non-online group. The online group participated in the Daily Chinese-to-English Translation Activity (DCET), which was held on the SEAL website (http://163.32.84.102/sanhsin/seal/zanybbs/bbs/frame.asp). In data collection, the differences in questionnaires and C-to-E translation performance between the online group and non-online group were analyzed and compared quantitatively. In addition, some open-ended questions concerning the student responses to the design of the DCET activity after the study were analyzed qualitatively. Based on the data analyses, the findings of the study are summarized as follows: 1. Students of both groups expressed their awareness of the importance of learning C-to-E translation as well as their problems in doing C-to-E translation before the DCET activity. 2. The online group expressed higher anticipation for the DCET activity and held positive attitudes toward taking the DCET activity before the activity. 3. The online C-to-E translation activity helped heighten the students’interest and motivation in English learning. 4. The online C-to-E translation activity helped prominently to promote the students’ English language development in terms of vocabulary learning, grammar learning and the application of sentence patterns. 5. The online DCET activity helped the students cultivate positive attitudes toward web-assisted language learning. 6. The online DCET activity helped the students improve their C-to-E translation performance. On the basis of the study findings, this present study suggests that English teachers can improve their students’ C-to-E translation proficiency with the help of the web-assisted learning activity. As well, they can alter their students’ learning habits and attitudes toward C-to-E translation in an online C-to-E translation activity. Furthermore, they can use the online C-to-E translation learning activity to train their students to construct their own knowledge of C-to-E translation actively by interacting with the online teacher in the Internet era.