A Study of the Cross-cultural Communications and English Teaching of Two American Volunteer Teachers under the 'English Schweitzer' Project
| Autor: | Hwnag, Ming-Chih, 黃明智 |
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| Rok vydání: | 2005 |
| Druh dokumentu: | 學位論文 ; thesis |
| Popis: | 93 The study observed two volunteer American teachers teaching English in a primary school in Chaiyi. Under a joint project sponsored by IBLP (Institute in Basic Life Principle, U.S.A.) and the King Car Education Foundation, Taiwan, voluntary American youths were arranged to teach English to primary school kids in rural areas of Taiwan, where they were called “English Schweitzer.” In this study, the researcher aims to discover the features of their teaching, the conditions of the cross-cultural communications in their teaching, and how the students learn the western culture under their teaching. Through classroom observations, in-depth interviews, and document collections, the researcher found the following results: 1) In introducing Western festivals (Thanksgiving and Christmas) the two volunteer American teachers emphasized the religious meanings of the festivals very much, which is related to character cultivation. 2) Humor was a prominent feature of their teaching. 3) The two teachers take opportunities to introduce American English expressions and body language. 4) Due to their unfamiliarity with Taiwanese language and culture, they faced some difficulties in their cross-cultural communications with the students. Their strategies for overcoming the difficulties included requesting help from the Chinese teacher, using simple English, employing visual strategies, and neglecting. 5) As for students’ learning of Western culture, after a semester, students could only remember some superficial things related to the festivals and had little understanding of the religious meanings. 6) As for humor, students responded most readily to the funny kind of humor. 7) As for learning American English expressions and some body language, they had deeper impression resulting from imitation and practice. The study shows that it is easier to learn the external features of language and culture, and much longer time and higher language competence is needed to understand the cultural connotations embedded in the language. |
| Databáze: | Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations |
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