This research investigated how the characteristics of two Computer Assisted Langauge Learning (CALL) programs assisted Taiwanese students learning English pronunciation, how the different types of feedback in the program helped them to learn English pronunciation effectively, and how teachers may effectively integrate such computer software into their teaching. The purpose of the study was to define directions for pedagogy and research in CALL in Taiwan, drawing on the perceptions of Taiwanese college students and their teacher in regard to the effectiveness of the selected programs and their feedback functions. This research sought to explore ways to develop and improve English pronunciation learning in Taiwan by using another tool in addition to teacher-directed learning. It is anticipated that the research will provide Taiwanese language teachers with information about how to supplement their teacher directed language teaching, and about what learning tools are effective for this. In all, one teacher/researcher and 153 college students across four classes took part in this research project, and the setting was in an Institute of Technology in Taiwan. The students all used the two computer software programs separately in a computer laboratory for several weeks, and their perspectives about the effectiveness of the programs and the feedback they gave were gathered. The research methodology was action research, and it used an open-ended questionnaire and participant observation for collecting data, as well as content analysis for the interpretation of the data. In addition, the students wrote learning sheets which aimed to focus their learning. The results showed that the students preferred the program with explicit correction feedback, and with repetition and other specific functions, as well as the facility for selfpaced and self-directed learning. The key finding of the study was that in Taiwan, when used alongside the traditional classroom teaching, CALL is a tool which has the potential to address some of the issues English pronunciation teachers face, such as low student motivation and low English pronunciation proficiency. A number of recommendations are made for the effective use of CALL. Students gave several detailed suggestions in regard to the computer software functions which could help them to learn more effectively, and the teacher also addressed some issues which need to be considered when using CALL computer software to assist students’ learning.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of two teaching strategies, memorization and improvisation, on ESL (English as a second language) students’ oral proficiency and how they perceived the strategies and the activities used in the classroom. Participants were 16-year-old nursing students in a Taiwan medical college. They had learned English for at least three and a half years before joining the study, but most of their previous learning was focused on reading and writing. They were divided into three groups, experiencing a memorization strategy, an improvisation strategy, and a strategy combining memorization and improvisation respectively. Data were collected from their oral pre-test and post-test, perception questionnaire, perception interview, college-wide satisfaction survey and in-class observation. Data were analysed in both quantitative and qualitative ways. The results showed that each of the strategies had significant positive effects on students’ oral acquisition, but the improvisation group performed significantly better than the memorization group, and the memorization group did better than the combination group. However, the satisfaction and perception surveys showed that participants preferred the combination strategy to the improvisation strategy, and the improvisation strategy was preferred to the memorization strategy. The finding also showed that participants’ initial oral language levels made no difference on the rate of oral improvement. The high-level and intermediate students demonstrated no difference in their preference for the two strategies, but the low-level students showed significant preference for the memorization strategy. In terms of the teaching activities, participants preferred task-based activities to discussion activities, and activities involving multiple people were preferred to monologues such as storytelling and news reports. Nevertheless, preference made no difference on participants’ oral improvement. Based upon the insight gained from this study, pedagogical implications and for teaching oral language were developed and suggestions for future research have been recommended.

The purpose of this research is to investigate whether the implementation of Cooperative Learning (CL) activities, incorporating the insights given by Howard Gardner’ (1993) theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) and the notion of Whole Language Approach (WLA) in college EFL classrooms will have a positive effect on students’ language proficiency and attitude. A quasi-experimental study was developed. The site of this study was in an EFL classroom in a Taiwanese College. The subjects were from the researcher’s three English classes at Chung Hwa Institute of Medical Technology during one semester. Many learning activities based on Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences were used while a Cooperative Learning approach was practiced. The data for this study was collected from three sources. One was from the subjects’ questionnaires on attitudes and on motivation, regarding Cooperative Learning and Multiple Intelligences. Another was from student interviews. The third was from the students’ test scores on their language proficiency tests. The results of the study showed that the experimental group that was taught using the ideas based on CL and MI outperformed the group based on CL, and the control group, on the Simulate English General Proficiency tests for the four language skills. Though there were no significant differences among them within this short-time study, the motivation in learning English was enhanced a great deal for the experimental group that was taught using the CL and MI ideas. Based upon the insight gained from this study, CL, MI, WLA and Language Learning Center were thus recommended to be integrated into the Junior College English curriculum. Pedagogical implications for the application of CL and MI in an EFL classroom were developed. Above all, suggestions for teacher development in CL and MI were proposed. Finally, suggestions for future research have been recommended.

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