Attitude of Taiwanese Students and Non-native English Teachers towards World Englishes and Its Effects on Teachers'' Self-Efficacy

• Main Authors: Nadia Nisar, 倪娜笛
• Other Authors: En-Chong Liaw
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/44n5f4

碩士 === 中原大學 === 應用外國語文研究所 === 107 === ABSTRACT English language has gained a status of international language and has been adopted by people as native, second or a foreign language (Nafi et al., 2016). Due to the irrefutable importance of English language, people around the globe have started adopting it in their daily lives; as a result, a number of different English varieties have been originated. Therefore, aim of the present study is to investigate the issue of World Englishes by analyzing the attitude of Taiwanese students towards their non-native foreign English teachers (NNETs). NNETs’ own attitude towards different English varieties is also focused. Furthermore, it also examines the challenges faced by NNETs in Taiwan while performing their jobs as a non-native English teacher and whether or not it has any effects on their Self-Efficacy. The research participants were both students and teachers selected from the northern part of Taiwan. Teacher participants were from the Expanding Circle countries with different L1 backgrounds while students were Taiwanese with an experience of learning English with at least one NNET. A mixed method was designed by using two instruments: 1) Questionnaires 2) Semi-structured interview. The data collected in this study were used to address five major questions of interest. Quantitative data were collected from eight NNETs and ninety-three students through questionnaire, while its framework was adopted from some previous works. Interviews from six students and four NNETs were conducted to collect qualitative data. The result indicates that there was a great favor for the native English varieties and students expressed their desire to be taught by teachers from the Inner Circle countries even though they were all satisfied with their NNETs. NNETs, on the other hand, were confident about their teaching abilities and did not face any difficulties while teaching. However, they also favored the Inner Circle varieties of English for themselves and for their students. Findings of this study indicate the need to take some serious steps in order to raise the awareness about World Englishes among people. Due to the increased demand of English in Taiwan, it is also important to welcome English teachers and experts from all around the World regardless of their nationality.