英語課堂之情境溝通意願與其相關因素的初步探討

Abstract

本研究是旨在探討外語學習者的情境溝通意願與其相關因素做初步探討。研究者在台灣北、中、南三區選取三個都會與三個非都會區縣市後，根據學校於各區錄取分數，選取前段排名與後段排名各一間，總計12間學校。在各校中，隨機選取一班高二學生作為研究樣本。 研究工具包括「英語情境溝通意願問卷」、「英語課堂害羞問卷」、「英語學習動機量表」、「英語自信心量表」、「英語課堂氣氛量表」、「學生覺知的英語教師立即親近行為量表」，與「個人背景資料問卷」。 研究工具在經過計量分析，並確立信、效度後，進行正式問卷施測。刪除無效問卷後，共計回收459份有效問卷，並進行敘述統計、t考驗、皮爾森積差相關、多元迴歸分析等統計分析。本研究的發現，簡述如下: 一、都會區學生和英語能力較高的學生，比其他學生擁有較高的情境溝通意願，且有顯著差異。 二、高二學生有中等程度的情境溝通意願。他們有中等的英語課堂害羞、與學習動機。另外，他們覺得有中等的良好課堂氣氛、與教師立即親近行為。然而，他們有相對較低的英語自信心。雖然他們覺得有中等的英文閱讀能力，但是他們覺知的英文寫作、聽力、口說能力，和英語學習的動機強度並不高。 三、在學生個別因素中，英語情境溝通意願與「英語學習動機」、「英語自信心」，皆呈現顯著正相關。但是「課堂害羞」和英語情境溝通意願卻呈現顯著負相關。 四、在情境因素中，英語情境溝通意願和「教師立即親近行為」、「課堂氣氛」，皆呈現顯著正相關。 五、經逐步多元迴歸分析後發現，英語情境溝通意願之顯著預測變項依序為課堂氣氛、學習動機、課堂害羞、教師立即親近行為。 研究結果顯示，情境溝通意願與其相關的因素之間，確實存有複雜但是有系統的關係。研究者建議，教師必須了解低英語能力的學生溝通意願很可能較低， 值得特別注意。此外，同時要了解學生的溝通需求與期望，展現高度的即時親近行為，以提昇學生的英語情境溝通意願。教師應建立友善的課堂氣氛、有效提升學生的英語自信心、英語學習動機與能力(特別是動機強度與覺知的溝通能力)，並瞭解造成學生害羞、焦慮的原因，以期增強進學生的英語情境溝通意願。Abstract This study was carried out to investigate three primary research questions. They were addressed to explore the relationships between senior high students’ situational willingness to communicate (SWTC) and such learner factors as motivation, confidence, and shyness, and those between SWTC and such situational factors as teacher immediacy and climate. Another aim was to investigate what factors might best predict situational willingness to communicate (SWTC) among the chosen learner factors (i.e., motivation, confidence, and shyness) and situational ones (i.e., teacher immediacy and climate) in an EFL context. To answer the research questions, six scales were developed in the pilot tests. Among them, the scale on SWTC was author-tailored and defined by positive feedback and topic familiarity. The other five instruments on the predictors of SWTC were revised and developed according to related theories on shyness, motivation, confidence, climate, and teacher immediacy. To ensure the reliability and construct validity of the instruments, reliability tests, item analyses, and principal component analyses were conducted. In the main study, a total of 459 valid questionnaires were collected. The data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics, t-tests, Pearson product-moment correlation analyses, and stepwise multiple regressions. There were five major findings in this study. First, significant differences of SWTC existed between high and low-proficiency students and between those in metropolitan and non-metropolitan schools. In contrast, gender and schools’ prestige could not predict the diversity of SWTC among students. Second, students in this study were found to have moderate SWTC, motivation, shyness, teacher immediacy, and climate, but they had low confidence. They had moderate reading proficiency, but low levels of L2 writing, speaking, and listening proficiency. In addition, their motivational intensity was low. Third, among the learner variables, shyness was negatively related to SWTC while the others (i.e., motivation and confidence) were positively related to SWTC. Fourth, among the situational variables, teacher immediacy and climate were positively related to SWTC. Fifth, based on the results of multiple regression analyses, climate was found to have the best prediction of SWTC, followed by motivation, shyness, and teacher immediacy. It suggested that there was a linear correlation between SWTC and the above mentioned predictors. At the end of the study, several pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies were given.