Attitudes towards English Diversity of Students in the International College and the Non-IC Programmes at a University in Taiwan

Abstract

As English is a lingua franca that has developed along many different pathways with the result that numerous varieties continue to evolve, effective communication requires mutual adjustment and understanding. A considerable body of research on English diversity is focussed on attitudes towards the sociolinguistic reality of English and interactional features in lingua franca contexts. However, very little research has been conducted on the attitudes towards English diversity of students in international education (IE) settings in which adjustment and acceptance are important to communication at all levels. Indeed no research has been done on comparing attitudes of IE settings’ local students and those of non-IE students. The purpose of this study is to address this gap in the literature. In this study the participants comprised international students and local Taiwanese students at a university where an international environment has been created via an international college offering degree programmes with English used as the instructional medium and the intercultural means of communication. The study results shed light on how international education of this nature may impact the views of and attitudes towards the sociolinguistic reality of English today.

An attempt to raise Thai students’ awareness of World Englishes in a General English Program

“…One possible explanation for the neutrality is that the students were still unable to decide whether to strongly agree or disagree with various competing ideological standpoint about "Standard" English, "legitimate" accents of English, and ownership of English underlying the questionnaires after studying in a relatively short and intensive course on WE and Intercultural Communication. This similarly echoes findings from previous studies (Chang, 2014;Ali, 2015;Wang, 2017). However, a closer analysis of the questionnaire and reflective diary reveals that there are certain views that have, to some extent, changed; and there are others that, naturally, the students still struggled to change.…”

“…Specifically, we wished to investigate, as curiously anticipated by WE advocates, the extent to which the topics and activities have influenced students" attitudes towards English language variation. Though there have been similar studies (see Suzuki, 2011;Chang, 2014;Galloway & Rose, 2014;Wang, 2017) evaluating the efficacy of EIL-oriented course in influencing students" attitudes towards WE, they are mostly from East Asian contexts, such as Japan for both Suzuki (2011) and Galloway & Rose, (2014); and Taiwan for Chang (2014) and Wang (2017). Since there has not been much research in Thai context, the present study aims to make a modest contribution to the ongoing conversations in the field.…”

Intercultural Interaction in English: Taiwanese University Students’ Investment and Resistance in Culturally Mixed Groups

“…In accordance with the findings of previous studies conducted in non-Anglophone countries (Kuteeva, 2019), NNS-NNS interaction between local and international students was here found to be strongly beneficial to some English language learners' confidence about speaking English. As such, the present study's findings complement those of the existing literature on the potential of NNS-NNS interaction to boost local EFL students' use of ELF (Ke, 2016;Wang, 2019). This is rather remarkable, given that the 10 participants who benefited the most from such interaction had both relatively low English proficiency and persistent anxieties about their production of English.…”

“…For example, typical EMI university classrooms in Taiwan comprise a majority of local students and a minority of NNS international students, with the former being noted as passive and quiet in class and shy about speaking English when interacting with peers from other cultures, and the latter regarded as more active in classroom interactions (e.g., Lin, 2018;Tsou & Chen, 2014). Among Wang's (2019) participants, this reflected that the NNS international students accepted ELF for intercultural communication, and thus experienced little or no anxiety about whether the English they produced was native-like or not, whereas their Taiwanese counterparts conceptualized classroom English as a foreign language (i.e., EFL) and insisted that if their interaction was to count as intercultural, it must be conducted in standard, native-like English. Given the acknowledged potential of NNS-NNS interaction in EMI university classrooms to transform students from EFL learners to ELF speakers in non-Anglophone countries (Ke, 2016;Lin, 2018;Tsou & Chen, 2014;Wang, 2019), it is important to ascertain the reasons for Taiwanese students' ideological insistence upon the production of standard English.…”

“…Among Wang's (2019) participants, this reflected that the NNS international students accepted ELF for intercultural communication, and thus experienced little or no anxiety about whether the English they produced was native-like or not, whereas their Taiwanese counterparts conceptualized classroom English as a foreign language (i.e., EFL) and insisted that if their interaction was to count as intercultural, it must be conducted in standard, native-like English. Given the acknowledged potential of NNS-NNS interaction in EMI university classrooms to transform students from EFL learners to ELF speakers in non-Anglophone countries (Ke, 2016;Lin, 2018;Tsou & Chen, 2014;Wang, 2019), it is important to ascertain the reasons for Taiwanese students' ideological insistence upon the production of standard English. Some research on local Taiwanese students' EMI classroom experiences has suggested a need for new tasks, such as intercultural group work, that can foster their intercultural awareness (e.g., Huang, 2018;Lin, 2019).…”