英文摘要 |
In National Taiwan Sport University (NTSU), a bipolar phenomenon on students' English proficiency exits between athlete and non-athlete students, with athletes lagging far behind non-athletes in English learning. Athletes are mostly disadvantaged because of their poor English background, lack of self-confidence, and, most important of all, lack of motivation in learning English. According to the 2009 questionnaire survey, more than threefourths NTSU athlete students had no interest in learning English from standardized English textbooks. To enhance learning efficacy, the researcher tailored, revised, and replaced some of the units in ready-made textbooks with materials pertaining to sports, life of athletes, the fitness industry, and popular culture, and applied two sets of teaching/learning materials (one tailored and the other original) to two Freshman English classes for athletes. The results presented significant disparities in the outcomes of post-class examinations. The class using tailored English-forsports- purposes materials scoring 9.8 points (total 100 points) higher than the class using original textbooks. In the class using tailored materials, athlete students demonstrated higher motivation in learning the new terms, using them in conversation drills, and asking simple questions. The research manifests that the correlation between motivation and ESP materials for athlete students is high. The researcher strongly suggests ESP be applied in English classes for lower-achievement or slower learners. |