A Study of EFL Teacher’s and Students’ Perspectives towards the English Village: Taking Dung-Ren Junior High School as an Example

• Main Authors: Pei-Jhen Wu, 吳佩真
• Other Authors: Chuan-Hsiu Hung
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/81827536194204418815

碩士 === 雲林科技大學 === 應用外語系碩士班 === 99 === ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore (a) the framework for the Situated Learning instruction in an English conversation class in an English Village, (b) the teacher’s perspectives towards the course design and teaching practices in an English Village, and (c) the students’ perspectives towards the teacher’ instruction and Situated Learning. The current study was conduced in an English conversation class in Dun-Ren International English Village. One foreign course teacher and seventy-six students participated in this study. Interviews were conducted with the teacher participant and eight student participants from first and second grade. The research adopted qualitative method. The collected data included interview transcripts, interview notes, field notes, and related written documents, such as class syllabus, handouts, and learning materials. The analysis centered on (a) the framework of the Situated Learning instruction in an English Village; (b) the teacher’s perspectives towards the course design and the teaching practices, and (c) the students’ perspectives towards the teacher’ instruction and Situated Learning. The findings of the study were summarized as follows. First, three elements which constituted the teacher participant’s perspectives on Situated Learning instruction involved (a) teacher’s beliefs, (b) teacher’s challenges and adjustment, and (c) utilization of the scenario rooms. Second, four major elements were found to form the student participants’ perspectives on the teacher’ instruction and Situated Learning. They were (a) features of Situated Learning instruction, (b) effective learning experiences, (c) students’ needs, and (d) the utilization of the scenario rooms. Based on the teacher and student participants’ perspectives, the researcher illustrated five major elements which constituted an effective Situated Learning instruction: (a) teacher belief, (b) course design, (c) students’ need, (d) co-teacher’s assistant, and (d) effectively utilizing the scenario rooms. Three suggestions were proposed by the researcher for the teachers who planed to employ Situated Learning instruction as follows. (a)The frequency of utilizing the scenario rooms should be increased in order to enhance the teaching and learning efficiency. (b)Teacher trainings should be provided to foreign course teachers in order to advance the teachers’ teaching skills, pass on their teaching experiences, and assist them to get used to the cultures in Taiwan. (c) Students’ needs should be taken into consideration for the course design in the Situated Learning classroom.