英文摘要 |
The internationalization of higher education in Taiwan has become a trend sinceTaiwan entered the World Trade Organization (WTO). One of the most popularinternationalizing mechanisms for Taiwan is to provide English-taught courses inpostsecondary education. Despite its proliferation, we rarely have empirical studieson its effectiveness, which is particularly important since Vinke et al. (1998) foundthat the effects of using English as the only medium of teaching to facilitate one’slanguage abilities and international understanding were not totally positive. Thispaper thus aims to report student voices regarding English-Only instruction in onedepartment in a comprehensive, private university in Taiwan. Ten studentinterviews were conducted. Data were analyzed by Carspecken’s (1996)reconstructive analysis. The results showed delicate complexity between positiveand negative learning effects. The students perceived English improvement in termsof listening, vocabulary and confidence, while they expressed worries about a lossin their acquisition of professional knowledge. In addition to teachers’ clarity andexpressiveness, students’ language ego, intrinsic motivation, proficiency levels andtime for adjustment also account for learning effectiveness. Although the results areinconclusive, the complicated factors emerging from student data, I believe,function as a preliminary step for an in-depth understanding of the effectiveness ofEnglish-only instruction and the anticipated future internationalization of highereducation in Taiwan. |