Academic Cultures in Distance between Penn State Taiwanese Graduate Students and American Teachers: a Case Study

Abstract

Academic cultures in distance between ESL/EFL students and native English-speaking teachers have been one of the research focuses in the TESL field for the past decade. Many researchers argued for the need of exploring the mismatching beliefs/expectations about learning and teaching between ESL/EFL students and their native English-speaking teachers. This study aimed to investigate the differences between EFL Taiwanese students and their American teachers concerning their beliefs/expectations toward what constitutes a good teaching and learning. It further explored how those differences might cause EFL Taiwanese students' cross-cultural adjustment problems, and push both students and teachers to modify their learning or teaching styles/strategies. Eight Taiwanese graduate students with different majors at Penn State University in the U.S. were the participants, interviewed concerning their perspectives about different cultures of learning between Taiwanese and American teachers/students in an academic setting. The results of this research yielded positive evidence that academic cultures in distance between Taiwanese students and their American teachers might exist in the classroom at Penn State University. In addition, five issues related to cultures were identified as the main factors that caused the different expectations/beliefs about learning and teaching between Taiwanese students and their American teachers: authority in power, learner autonomy, the power issue, the face issue, and group harmony. Based on the findings, this research provided not only a framework for understanding Taiwanese students' culture of learning, but also useful suggestions for education in the field of TESL as well as in cross-cultural studies. It could be innovative with respect to language pedagogy and language learning in the U.S. as well as in Taiwan.