The purpose of this study is to understand the influence of English learning experience and metacognitive language learning strategy training on students¡¦ language learning beliefs and achievement. The sample of this study is 42 third grade students in primary school. The experimental group received metacognitive language learning strategy training while the control group didn¡¦t. The training program lasted for thirteen weeks. The study adopted a pretest-posttest non-equivalent-control-group design. The t-test, analysis of variance and analysis of covariance were adopted to examine the differences between participants¡¦ achievement. The percentage and mean were to describe participants¡¦ beliefs. This study revealed six general findings. First, participants in this study have more realistic expectation and high motivation about learning English. Second, students with English learning experience have better motivation beliefs, higher involvement and greater achievement. They also tend to believe that every individual has English learning abilities. However, students without English learning experience changed their attitude toward learning at the end of this study. Third, the strategy training can improve participants¡¦ beliefs and proved to be useful with other learning materials, but only in difficult test the trained participants get better scores. Fourth, to most beliefs, learning experience has better influence and strategy training affects greater on students with learning experience. Fifth, there is no significant interaction between English learning experience and strategy training on achievement. Finally, metacognitive language learning strategy training can improve participants¡¦ reading abilities, but speaking skill is influenced by learning experience. The conclusion provides suggestions for future development.

This study examines the lived experience of teacher candidates through a professional inquiry process and the influence of that experience on their eventual teaching practice. Literature in this area typically follows teacher candidates and teachers through curriculum and instruction pedagogy coursework and then into the classroom to observe the incorporation of inquiry strategies and changes in disposition towards inquiry. This work fails to address a teacher candidate’s experience through their own personal open inquiry process and whether or not that experience transfers into their teaching practice. A nested case study approach - including both quantitative and qualitative data - were used to provide insight and build understanding towards the following questions: 1) What is the effect on a teacher candidate’s likelihood to employ an inquiry approach to science in their classroom following their own participation in an open-inquiry process during their teacher education? 2) How does participation in an inquiry process influence a developing teacher’s understanding of teaching and learning? Teacher candidates and teachers at varying stages of practice, completed a survey and three recently certified teachers were interviewed to explore the use of inquiry in their teaching. The evidence suggests a key component to affecting the incorporation of inquiry approaches into the classroom was that personal experience with inquiry served to unsettle held beliefs and led to a change in disposition towards inquiry. This study also explores the implications for the inclusion and importance of inquiry experiences early within teacher education programs. / Graduate

Orientador:Maria Helena Vieira Abrahão / Banca: Sandra Regina Buttros Gattolin de Paula / Banca: Douglas Altamiro Consolo / Resumo: Esta dissertação é parte do projeto temático "TELETANDEM BRASIL - Línguas Estrangeiras para todos", desenvolvido pela UNESP (Campus de São José do Rio Preto) em parceria com várias instituições superiores internacionais e com o objetivo de colocar pares de alunos universitários estrangeiros em contato com alunos universitários brasileiros para aprenderem as línguas um do outro por meio dos recursos de leitura, escrita, áudio e vídeo do MSN Live Messenger, OOVO e Skype - um TELETANDEM. Assim, esta dissertação tem o objetivo de investigar as crenças sobre avaliação trazidas por uma interagente brasileira e uma mediadora ( aluna de doutorado) ao teletandem, e como essas interagem na construção do processo de ensino e aprendizagem no tandem a distância. Como fundamentação teórica, esta pesquisa apresenta estudos sobre: (a) crenças de ensino e aprendizagem e avaliação; (b) avaliação no processo de ensino e aprendizagem; (c) concepções e visões do erro no ensino de línguas; e (d) tecnologia aplicada ao ensino. Este trabalho é um estudo de caso de caráter qualitativo e de natureza etnográfica e para a coleta de dados, utilizaram-se os seguintes instrumentos: a) questionário, b) gravações em chats das interações, c) gravações em áudio das mediações, d) autobiografia dos participantes, e e) diários das interações e das mediações. Para a análise dos dados foi feita uma triangulação dos registros coletados. Por meio da análise dos dados foi possível inferir que a interagente, quando no papel de professora, predominantemente preocupava-se com a comunicação e não com a correção dos erros, apresentando assim, uma concepção de avaliação mais próxima dos princípios da avaliação mediadora. Porém, como aluna, apesar de a mediadora ter tentado demonstrar que cometer erros era algo natural no processo de ensino e aprendizagem... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This work is part of the project TELETANDEM BRASIL - Foreign Languages for all, developed by UNESP (Campus of São José do Rio Preto) in partnership with many international institutions and with the purpose of putting pairs of foreign university students in touch with Brazilian university students to learn the languages of each other through the resources of reading, writing, audio and video of the MSN Live Messenger, Skype and OOVO - a TELETANDEM. Therefore, this dissertation has the purpose of investigating the beliefs on evaluation brought by a mediator and one Brazilian Teletandem partner, and how they interact in the construction of the process of teaching and learning in the distance tandem. The theoretical underpinnings for this research are studies about: (a) beliefs of teaching and learning and assessment, (b) evaluation in the process of teaching and learning, (c) concepts and visions of error in language teaching, and (d) technology applied to education. For the data collection, the following instruments were used: a) questionnaires, b) chat recordings of the interactions, c) audio recordings of mediations, d) autobiography of the participants, e) diaries of the interactions and mediations. For the analysis of the data, a triangulation was made from the collected data, interactions were considered the primary data, and from them, all the other data were used for the confirmation or not of the points found. Through the data analysis, it was inferred that the Brazilian partner, when in the role of the teacher, was mainly concerned with communication and not with correction of errors, showing therefore, signs of an evaluation close to the principles of the mediator evaluation. However, as student, although the mediator tried to show her that there was no problem about making mistakes, she remained concerned about not making them. This behavior is a sign of traditional evaluation... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

The transition to at-home learning during the COVID-19 lockdowns across Canada was challenging for many students, particularly those with special education needs (SEN). Parents faced various challenges and adopted multiple roles in supporting their children with SEN. While research exploring the experiences of families of children with SEN during COVID has begun to emerge, much is unknown about the involvement of parents during school closures. The current study analyzes interviews with 14 Canadian parents of children with SEN, exploring their experiences with virtual learning. The study is framed by the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler model of Parent Involvement, which theorizes the 'why' of parent involvement beginning with motivational and life context variables and moving to higher levels such as student self-efficacy and, ultimately, to student achievement. Specifically, in this study, I explored a) how parents of children with special education needs viewed and enacted their role in at-home learning during the first COVID-19 lockdown, b) how parents' beliefs about learning were reflected in the ways in which they were involved in their children's at-home learning, and c) how, if at all, did parents' beliefs about their child's learning shift throughout the COVID-19 lockdown? Thematic analyses of the interview data identified three main themes: a) Common Involvement Actions: What Do We Need to Do to Make This Happen? b) Factors and Contexts That Influence Involvement and c) How Involvement Actions and Experience Influence Learning Beliefs. Many similarities are noted between the current findings and those emerging studies exploring parent experiences in various countries during the first COVID-19 school closures. Several unique aspects also emerge, particularly the learning-specific beliefs of parents concerning at-home learning. Results are considered in relation to the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler model, which was relevant in many respects but limiting in its linear, hierarchical progression. A more cyclical, ongoing and dynamic relationship between parent and contextual variables is suggested.

Learner beliefs about language learning influence the language learning process. Addressing learner beliefs is central to enhancing teaching effectiveness and learning outcomes. To date, most previous research has described beliefs of learners of related second/foreign languages. In this study, belief dimensions were examined using a standardized survey of beliefs, BALLI, which was completed by 218 post-secondary beginning learners of Chinese and a modified BALLI completed by 62 teachers of Chinese at North American universities. Dimensions were identified using Exploratory Factor Analysis and a model of the relationship between dimensions developed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), a statistical technique for testing and estimating causal relations using a combination of statistical data and qualitative causal assumptions. A theoretical framework was established that integrated cognitive and metacognitive domains. The learner beliefs were described and compared between three sub-samples of learners, non-Asian students, Chinese-origin students, and non-Chinese Asians. Chinese and Asian students tended to have more similar beliefs than non-Asian students. The research used a mixed-methods design: quantitative data from the Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) and qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with six Chinese language students and six Chinese language instructors. Quantitative data analyses identified four belief dimensions: Motivation for learning Chinese; Formal language learning strategy (FLLS); Communication-oriented learning strategy (CLLS); and Difficulty of language learning. Learners overall reported high motivation to learn Chinese while concurrently acknowledging a language difficulty hierarchy and seeing Chinese as a difficult language. Both Chinese-origin and non-Chinese origin Asians reported more agreement with beliefs in FLLS than non-Asians. In contrast, non-Asians reported stronger support for CLLS than their Chinese-origin counterparts. Overall, teachers exhibited comprehensive knowledge about language learning. Comparisons between teacher and learner beliefs overall found more mismatches than matches. Compared with learners, teachers reported less agreement with beliefs in FLLS, but more support for CLLS. A hypothetical learner belief model, derived from the BALLI and based on the theoretical framework, was constructed and tested using SEM, which illustrated the causal relationships among the belief dimensions. Within the model, learners who were highly motivated to learn Chinese tended to believe in FLLS whereas learners who believed in FLLS rejected CLLS. In addition, beliefs in difficulty of language learning in general and Chinese learning in particular also led to rejection of CLLS. The model was tested against the results from the student interviews and the model was confirmed. These results demonstrated the role of cultures in shaping learner beliefs, thereby providing insight into teaching practices. The mismatches between learner and teacher beliefs need to be addressed because continued differences could lead to classroom tension and a potential loss of motivation. / Graduate / 0727 / 0279 / 0290 / cypbd156@gmail.com

本研究旨在探究並比較小學學生及其英語教師對於有效外語教學之信念。在英語教室中，學生其及老師對於教學的看法有許多相同與相異之處，這些信念會直接或間接影響到教學的有效性。 本研究以問卷調查法進行，對象為台中市34名公立小學英語教師及其811位高年級學生，問卷內容改編自Brown(2009)自編問卷及教育部九年一貫課程綱要 (2007)。問卷回收後資料以統計軟體SPSS 18.0進行敘述性統計、獨立樣本t考驗、單因子變異數分析及薛費事後法分析，獲得結果簡述如下： 1.國小學生及其英語教師對於各項教學法抱持正向的態度。 2.在性別、課外學習經驗、學習英文時間早晚等因素影響下，會影響小學學生對於有效英語教學習的信念。 3.在文法教學上，學生及其教師均持正向態度，教師尤其偏愛歸納式教學。 4.在錯誤糾正上，學生認為教師須立即處理錯誤，但教師們允許適當的忽略。 5.在溝通式教學法上，學生及其教師均持正向態度，但學生對於小組互動的上課方式持較保留的態度。 6.在多元評量方面，學生及其教師均持正向態度，但學生們對於傳統紙筆測驗的看法高於教師們。 根據問卷調查結果，本研究最後提供教學上相關建議以供參考。 / The major purpose of the study is to identify elementary school students’ beliefs toward effective teaching and make a comparison to those of their teachers’. In language classrooms, the students and their English teachers may have very similar or disparate notions of effective teaching, and the intersection of the two sets of beliefs shows direct or indirect impacts on teaching effectiveness. A questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 34 English teachers and 811 students in public elementary schools in Taichung Area. The items in the questionnaire were mainly adapted from the model by Brown (2009) and the Instruction Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE, 2007). In this study, statistic computerization, including descriptive statistics, the independent sample t-test, and ANOVA with the post- hoc Scheffe test were used to analyze the collected data. The major findings are summarized as follows: 1.Elementary school students and teachers generally hold a positive attitude toward these teaching pedagogies. 2.The demographic variables of gender, extracurricular English learning experience and different length of prior English learning yield an effect on different students’ beliefs. 3.Elementary school students and teachers generally hold a positive attitude concerning Grammar Instruction; moreover, the teachers have more preference for inductive teaching. 4.Elementary school students and teachers generally hold a positive attitude concerning Error Correction; moreover, the students expect teachers to deal with their errors immediately, but their teachers tend to neglect error correction at times. 5.Elementary school students and teachers generally hold a positive attitude concerning Communicative Language Teaching; however, the students seem more hesitant to participate in group interactions in class. 6.Elementary school students and teachers generally hold a positive attitude concerning Multiple Assessments. Furthermore, the students appear to find more value in traditional paper- and- pencil tests than their teachers do. Finally, based on the findings in this study, several suggestions and implications were presented in the conclusion of the paper.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-06-20Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:19:03Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 mesquita_aaf_me_sjrp.pdf: 1232855 bytes, checksum: 7d408aa222772940ac977ca3fc94db83 (MD5) / Esta dissertação é parte do projeto temático “TELETANDEM BRASIL – Línguas Estrangeiras para todos”, desenvolvido pela UNESP (Campus de São José do Rio Preto) em parceria com várias instituições superiores internacionais e com o objetivo de colocar pares de alunos universitários estrangeiros em contato com alunos universitários brasileiros para aprenderem as línguas um do outro por meio dos recursos de leitura, escrita, áudio e vídeo do MSN Live Messenger, OOVO e Skype – um TELETANDEM. Assim, esta dissertação tem o objetivo de investigar as crenças sobre avaliação trazidas por uma interagente brasileira e uma mediadora ( aluna de doutorado) ao teletandem, e como essas interagem na construção do processo de ensino e aprendizagem no tandem a distância. Como fundamentação teórica, esta pesquisa apresenta estudos sobre: (a) crenças de ensino e aprendizagem e avaliação; (b) avaliação no processo de ensino e aprendizagem; (c) concepções e visões do erro no ensino de línguas; e (d) tecnologia aplicada ao ensino. Este trabalho é um estudo de caso de caráter qualitativo e de natureza etnográfica e para a coleta de dados, utilizaram-se os seguintes instrumentos: a) questionário, b) gravações em chats das interações, c) gravações em áudio das mediações, d) autobiografia dos participantes, e e) diários das interações e das mediações. Para a análise dos dados foi feita uma triangulação dos registros coletados. Por meio da análise dos dados foi possível inferir que a interagente, quando no papel de professora, predominantemente preocupava-se com a comunicação e não com a correção dos erros, apresentando assim, uma concepção de avaliação mais próxima dos princípios da avaliação mediadora. Porém, como aluna, apesar de a mediadora ter tentado demonstrar que cometer erros era algo natural no processo de ensino e aprendizagem... / This work is part of the project TELETANDEM BRASIL - Foreign Languages for all, developed by UNESP (Campus of São José do Rio Preto) in partnership with many international institutions and with the purpose of putting pairs of foreign university students in touch with Brazilian university students to learn the languages of each other through the resources of reading, writing, audio and video of the MSN Live Messenger, Skype and OOVO - a TELETANDEM. Therefore, this dissertation has the purpose of investigating the beliefs on evaluation brought by a mediator and one Brazilian Teletandem partner, and how they interact in the construction of the process of teaching and learning in the distance tandem. The theoretical underpinnings for this research are studies about: (a) beliefs of teaching and learning and assessment, (b) evaluation in the process of teaching and learning, (c) concepts and visions of error in language teaching, and (d) technology applied to education. For the data collection, the following instruments were used: a) questionnaires, b) chat recordings of the interactions, c) audio recordings of mediations, d) autobiography of the participants, e) diaries of the interactions and mediations. For the analysis of the data, a triangulation was made from the collected data, interactions were considered the primary data, and from them, all the other data were used for the confirmation or not of the points found. Through the data analysis, it was inferred that the Brazilian partner, when in the role of the teacher, was mainly concerned with communication and not with correction of errors, showing therefore, signs of an evaluation close to the principles of the mediator evaluation. However, as student, although the mediator tried to show her that there was no problem about making mistakes, she remained concerned about not making them. This behavior is a sign of traditional evaluation... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

The main objective of this investigation is to reflect upon how the teacher s and learners beliefs give meaning to teaching and learning process and how they interact with the choice of language learning strategies as well as attempts to find out how these beliefs affect their approach to language development. Having Bakhtin s language and ideologies concepts as a starting point, this investigation is grounded on studies developed in Discourse Analysis and Applied Linguistics. Data was collected at Casa de Cultura Britânica, the extension English school that belongs to Languages Faculty of Federal University of Alagoas. Datagathering procedures were conducted under the guise of ethnographical methodology and Discourse Theory. In order to pursue the beliefs that permeate EFL teaching and learning process, lesson observation is carried out once the classroom is the stage where discourses emerge. Discourses, in turn, give voice to the ideologies on which beliefs are founded. The corpus is constituted of audio recordings and respective transcription, questionnaires, interviews, field notes, articles from magazines and newspapers obtained via internet. / O principal objetivo deste estudo é refletir como as crenças do professor e alunos de língua inglesa dão sentidos ao processo de ensinar e aprender e como elas se relacionam com a escolha de estratégias bem como buscar entender como estas crenças afetam o seu fazer nesse processo. Tendo como ponto de partida conceitos de linguagem e ideologias de Bakhtin assim como bases teóricas nos estudos desenvolvidos pela Análise do Discurso e na Lingüística Aplicada, os dados foram coletados na Casa de Cultura Britânica, uma extensão da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade Federal de Alagoas. A coleta de dados foi conduzida sob a guia da metodologia etnográfica e da Teoria do Discurso. A fim de buscar as crenças que permeiam o ensino-aprendizagem de língua inglesa, observações de aula foram realizadas uma vez que a sala de aula é o palco onde os discursos que dão vozes às ideologias que as fundamentam emergem. O corpus se constitui de gravações de áudio e respectiva transcrições, questionários, entrevistas, notas de campo e artigos de revistas e jornais obtidos via internet.

本研究旨在了解職前華語文教師學習外語的歷程、語言學習信念與教學信念，屬質性個案研究。對象為華語文教學研究所四位台籍研究生，聚焦於外語學習歷程、外語學習信念、外語教學信念三大主軸，以深度訪談作為資料收集方法。訪談內容及範圍主要參考了Horwitz（1985）語言學習信念研究的BALLI 模式以及Johnson（1992）與張碧玲（2000）設計的語言教師教學信念問卷。研究發現包括：（一）不同時期的外語學習經歷對個案職前教師的學習及教學信念起了「學徒式的觀察」、信念的轉變及「濾鏡」等作用。（二）透過對個案的學習及教學信念探討，可以看到信念具有多層次的特質。而其中較整體面向的信念與較個別層次的信念，呈現了相互支持、矛盾等關係。（三）教學信念隨著背後所隱藏的動機不同，不能以因果關係作解釋。（四）個案教師基於不同的學習經歷、學習信念及教學信念，在教學上建構了與社會文化情境相關，同時也具有個人意義的教學理論。最後建議華語文師資教育應提供機會讓職前教師了解自我語言學習及教學信念，以及更多教學實務的機會，以讓他們在教學行動中反思，也在反思中進行教學。華語文教師本身亦可以利用自我的外語學習經驗作為反思的工具，時時保持成長的動機與內省的能力。此外，華語文教師也應對教學現場及環境文化等因素有所知覺，這樣才能促進有效的教學。 / This qualitative case study aims to understand the TCSL ( Teaching Chinese as a Second language ) pre-service teachers’ foreign language learning experience, language learning beliefs, and teaching beliefs. The participants are four Taiwanese postgraduate students from the department of TCSL in a university in northern Taiwan. The study focus on three aspects: foreign language learning experience, language learning beliefs, and teaching beliefs. In-depth interviews are conducted as the data collection method, informed by Horwitz’s (1985) BALLI model as well as Johnson (1992) and Zhang (2000). The findings include that (1) the four pre-service TCSL teachers’ foreign language learning experiences, serving as a filter, afford “apprenticeship of observation” which leads to changes in beliefs, and (2)beliefs are multilayered, involving both supportive and contradictory relationships. (3) Teaching beliefs are not necessarily consistent with each other because of different intentions lying behind. It is difficult to regard them as having a simple cause-and-effect relation. (4) Based on different learning experiences, learning and teaching beliefs, the four pre-service teachers construct their own personal theories toward teaching, which are not only socially relevant but also personally meaningful. Finally, the study suggests that language teacher education needs to provide sufficient opportunities for pre-service teachers to understand their own learning and teaching beliefs. It is also necessary to provide opportunities to engage them in authentic teaching contexts so that they could reflect on their teaching beliefs in real-world pratice. TCSL teachers need to be encouraged to use their own learning experiences as a reflective tool to sustain their passions for teaching.

本質性個案研究旨在從三位歐美外籍留學生的視角了解他們的華語文學習信念，探討他們在台灣留學期間所處的社會文化環境如何改變他們的語言學習信念，以及台灣作為華語文環境所能提供的機會與挑戰。本研究主要透過深入訪談（In-depth Interview），邀請三位來台留學半年至一年的歐美華語文學生敘述自身語言學習歷程，包括他們的個人華語文學習背景、來台緣由與期待、在台華語文學習歷程及信念。歷時半年四次的定期訪談均被錄音，經謄錄為逐字稿、重現（reconstruct）個別故事樣貌後，再依Lieblich等人（1998）提出的敘事分析方法，以整體——內容（Holistic-content）和類別——內容（Categorical-content）之邏輯整理成個別個案，並作為後續跨個案分析的資料依據。結果發現，研究參與者從華語為外語（Chinese as Foreign Language）學習環境，到台灣華語文為第二語言（Chinese as Second Language）學習環境的不同學習階段裡，他們的華語文目標、期待和能力不斷地與社會環境互動，而互動所產生的結果足以鞏固或動搖其舊信念。來台前，研究參與者過往的語言學習經驗和成長環境對於外語學習的觀點，無形中都型塑了他們的華語文學習信念。來台後，他們經歷固有的信念和實際與母語者交際情況之間的落差，衝擊了他們原有的信念，而且覺得自身的華語文使用者身份及所付出的努力難以受當地母語者社交圈之認同。此外，研究參與者的留學經歷也反映出台灣作為華語文學習場域的一些情況，既當他們的華語文能力變強後，才有能力善用台灣華語文環境所提供的學習機會，當他們的華語文能力仍偏弱時，他們一般較難在非正式場域與母語者互動，或從中獲得學習機會，反而需依賴課堂環境為主的學習機會。最後，由於信念會隨著學習歷程波動及變化，面向多元，具動態特質，因此本研究建議未來可選擇某一項議題做更深入的研究，若採取類似BALLI研究信念橫斷面的工具時，還可加入情景及情感面向，探討信念歷時的直斷面。在教學運用上，華語文中心能著手處理外籍華語文學生的行前準備資料，加強對留學生有關語言學習進程的輔導，在師資培訓上也應該注意如何處理初出國留學生在語言學習適應上的調整，以減少留學生因學習期待落差而受到的衝擊。另外也建議常與學習者接觸的當地母語者接受跨文化交際的教育，雙方才能創造合宜的華語文學習環境，促進外籍留學生赴台學習華語文之發展與成效。 / This qualitative case study aims to look into Chinese language learning beliefs from the perspective of three Chinese learners from Europe and America and to explore how the Taiwanese social-cultural environment changes their language learning beliefs, as well as the affordance and challenge Taiwan offers to these international Chinese learners. Three students from Europe and America who have been learning Chinese in Taiwan from six to twelve months respectively are invited to the study and receive four in-depth interviews within six month. Their personal Chinese language learning experiences over the time are narrated and recorded. The data is then analyzed using Holistic-Content and Categorical-Content method proposed by Lieblich et al., (1998). The results shows that, at different learning stages, the interaction of the participants’ Chinese language goals, expectation and proficiency levels with social environment either reaffirms or shakes their beliefs. Before studying in Taiwan, the past language learning experiences as well as the prevailing view of their native community towards foreign language basically constitutes the beliefs of the participants. At the early stage of studying in Taiwan, the gap between their expectations and the actual communication experiences with local native speakers also has critical impacts on their beliefs. The participants would also find that their efforts to make themselves live as Chinese speakers are constantly challenged by the local native community. In this case, Taiwan and its social community as the field for learning Chinese actually provide more opportunities to the learners with higher Chinese proficiency. When proficiency is low, such as at the beginning stages of Chinese proficiency or upon arrival, the participants have great difficulty getting benefits from the target language community; their learning mainly happens in the language learning classroom. It is clear that language learning beliefs is dynamic, multifaceted, and fluctuate from time to time. The study suggests that, specific topic under the multilayered nature of belief should be focused in the future research. Social environments and emotions of students should also be included in BALLI. Finally, to promote the development and effectiveness of foreign students studying in Taiwan, stronger pre-departure briefing, orientation and counseling services are needed to facilitate language development. Teachers also need training on how to reduce the impact of crashed expectations of new foreign students. In addition, local people (i.e., native speakers) who often come into contact with the learners are recommended to develop intercultural communication skills in order to provide the learners with the best possible informal communication experience.