| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立交通大學 === 英語教學研究所 === 107 === As the world of globalization sees English as a lingua franca, English learning has been highly emphasized over the past few decades in Taiwan. Oral proficiency has especially been regarded as a springboard to a better job and higher academic career. However, Taiwanese adult learners have limited opportunities to practice English oral skills due to the environmental constraints, so some of them thus voluntarily form English learning communities (LC) to fulfill their needs for more oral practices.
This qualitative case study uses the Toastmasters (TM) Clubs located in central Taiwan as an example to explore the participation of community members and identify factors required to sustain an English LC within an informal learning environment. Data were collected from participant observation and semi-structured interviews to understand focal participants’ perceptions toward the club and their learning experiences. The official documents of this club were also collected to provide the contextual information when analyzing and interpreting the data.
The findings revealed that the Toastmasters meeting model was the main factor contributing to an active and effective LC as it provided members with opportunities to learn different skills and gave them a sense of accomplishment and enhancing learning motivation. Also, the officer system strengthened the bonds among the members and further cultivated a sustainable LC. The data also suggested that staying within a more international community increased these learners’ English learning motivation to stay with the group and thus continued to English learning. The findings also showed that the error-free and native-like accent were not the norms of speaking English in the community; instead, members were regarded as competent English users when they could express thoughts clearly.
The study expects to contribute to the English learning and a fuller understanding of LC from a socio-cultural perspective. The examples shown in the study can shed light on how members in an English speaking club construct the norm of speaking English together and how the structure and the system of the TM club contributed to a sustainable English LC.
Hopefully, the research outcomes can provide a deeper understanding of how to frame and maintain an LC beyond the school contexts to language learners, instructors, and practitioners tending to form an LC. The findings of this study also expects to arouse the awareness of the way of learning and speaking English in the globalized world, meaning that the error-free or native-like accent is no longer the only criterion to evaluate one’s English communication competence.
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