Taiwan English teachers in secondary schools are facing a new challenge of having to teach listening comprehension skills to their students. Many instructors are not equipped to deliver adequate listening instruction although listening comprehension has become a benchmark for senior high students aspiring to enter a tertiary institution and earn a…

The problem: Poor listening skills may result in misinterpretation. Language teachers as well as researchers understand the need for improving listening skills, and the need to find the most effective way to accomplish this objective. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of feature films with subtitles can help improve Taiwan…

This study built on previous research in the area of peer-led literature discussion. Even though there are numerous studies investigating this type of literacy activity, little is known about Taiwanese elementary students' participation in peer-led literature discussion. This study explored a group of six Taiwanese fourth graders' participation in…

The Problem. In its meta-analysis on teaching children to read, U.S. National Reading Panel (NICHD & NIH, 2000) found repeated reading to be an effective technique for reading instruction. Specifically, the report determined that repeated reading procedures had a positive impact on word recognition, fluency, and comprehension across a range of…

As the amount of information available in online digital libraries increases exponentially, questions arise concerning the most productive way to use that information to advance learning. Applying the earlier information seeking theories advocated by Kelly (1963), Taylor (1968), and Belkin (1980) to the digital libraries experience, Carol Kuhlthau…

Declared the year of YouTube, 2007 was hailed as bringing a technological revolution in relation to pedagogy, one that may provide more convenient access to materials for language input, such as auditory, visual, and other types of authentic resources in order to promote advancement in all four language learning skills--listening, speaking,…

Reading comprehension plays a key role in academic success in today's classrooms. Literature Circles (LCs), a learner-centered collaborative reading activity, brings together the ideas of cooperative learning, independent reading, and reader response theory to enhance students' reading comprehension as well as their motivation toward learning…

The goal of this study is to understand ten Taiwanese graduate students' personal experiences with language anxiety and cultural adjustment while studying in an American university. This study focuses not only on language anxiety but also on cultural factors in participants' daily lives inside and outside of the classroom. The study utilized an…

This research study compared the effects of three instructional methods--collaborative synchronous online communication, asynchronous online communication, and independent study as traditional in grammar translation method--in English reading comprehension. A quasi-experimental research design included pre and post reading comprehension tests for…