Hsu, "The issues and problems of English education at the elementary level in Taiwan and the factor that affect Taiwanese elementary school students' English learning," 2004

Li-wei Hsu, Ed.D.

Abstract (Summary)
This study is to investigate the effects of two major factors (age and motivation) and three supporting factors (learning styles, the amount of input learners receive outside the school, and the instructor's teaching method) on the English learning results of sixth-grade elementary school students in Taiwan. A group of 302 sixth-grade English as foreign language (EFL) learners in Taiwan participated in this research. This research lasted for one school year (2002-2003) and four tasks were administered to assess the subjects' progress of learning English. At last, some conclusions and suggestions are proposed to refine English education at elementary level in Taiwan.

The results of this study have found: (1) The earlier the learner starts to learn English, the better performance he/she can achieve. (2) The stronger motivation the learner has, the better performances he/she can achieve. (3) The learner's type of motivation does matter in English learning. (4) The learner's learning styles also can affect his/her English attainment. (5) The amount of English input the subjects receive outside school has a positive correlation with the learning results. (6) The subject's attitude toward the instructor's teaching methods and the learning results have a strong positive correlation. (7) The subject's opinion on the contents of the teacher's instruction does not have significant influence on his/her performance.

Advisor: Shakhbagova, Julietta