| Summary: | 碩士 === 朝陽科技大學 === 應用外語研究所 === 99 === Studies in language learning have addressed the fact that the expectations ESL/EFL students’ develop in their native countries may cause cultural obstacles between ESL/EFL learners and their native English-speaking teachers (NESTs). This study aimed to gather survey data from Taiwanese high school students concerning their expectations of their learning behavior and the performance of NESTs teachers in speaking courses. It further explored whether any differences existed between students’ expectations and the real classroom circumstances, and, most importantly, it determined which factors have the potential to develop the gap between expectations and reality. Additionally, this study triggered an exploration into how Taiwanese students struggle to adapt themselves to their NESTs’ speaking course.
Therefore, 54 students and two male NESTs, one from the United States and one from South Africa, at a one-semester English speaking course at Lizen High School in Dali, Taiwan, were the participants. Both quantitative (questionnaires) and qualitative (in-depth interviews) methods were used in the study.
First, questionnaires were conducted to elicit Taiwanese students’ (TS) expectations of their learning behaviors in English speaking courses and their expectations for the performance of their NESTs’ in these courses. The results showed significant differences between TS’ expectations of their leaning behaviors and their real behaviors. Second, Taiwanese students were interviewed, and questions were based on the problems found through the previously administered questionnaires in order to investigate which factors cause the contrast between student expectations and real behavior in their English speaking courses. Third, the TS’ NESTs were also interviewed in order to investigate what their expectations of their performance in their English-speaking classes were, how they ascertain their TS’ expectations of their learning behaviors and their teachers’ performance, and how much TS struggle during their culturally diverse speaking courses.
Based on these findings, this study suggested that English Language Teaching, in terms of cultural conditions, must be modified in order to help learners better adapt to SL/FL learning. Therefore, it produced not only a framework for understanding the importance of recognizing the expectations that result from cultural barriers that separate students from teachers in the ESL/EFL class, but also useful suggestions for NESTs, ESL/EFL students, the Ministry of Education in Taiwan, and researchers in the field of TESOL.
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