Images of Taiwnese held by European students in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Anna Wolska, 吴安娜
• Other Authors: Leonard Chu
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/68199822409169786340

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 國際傳播英語碩士學程(IMICS) === 96 === This thesis examines the stereotypes of Taiwanese held by European students in Taiwan. One hundred and thirty-six European students approached by email and in person were administered a questionnaire composed of 34 questions. The results showed that Taiwanese people were in general considered as “hardworking”, “very friendly”, “superstitious” and “modest”. Eight hypotheses about knowledge about Taiwan and images of Taiwan held prior to arrival, Chinese proficiency, perceived similarity between people in students’ home countries and Taiwanese people, frequency and closeness of contacts with Taiwanese people, willingness to stay in Taiwan after graduation and closest accepted relation with Taiwanese person and their respective influence on the overall image were tested. Prior knowledge about Taiwan was found positively related to perceived similarity and closest accepted relation. Perceived similarity was found related to the number of declared Taiwanese friends and willingness to stay and along with the rise of the number of Taiwanese friends, the perceived similarity was greater and the students were more willing to stay in Taiwan. Also students who declared more Taiwanese friends accepted closer relations with Taiwanese people. Pre-arrival images, Chinese language proficiency, frequency of contacts were shown not to influence overall image of Taiwanese held by European students in Taiwan.