Analysis of EFL Teaching Methods for Taiwan University Students

Abstract

This study looks into three outstanding EFL teachers’ classrooms in a Taiwan university setting using teachers’ syllabi, questionnaire surveys, interviews with students and teachers, and evidence of students’ improvements in English proficiency. The teaching methods have proven to be effective in achieving results and are appreciated by the teachers’ students. Their teaching methods adopted in the classrooms were analyzed and identified. A paired t-test was used to examine the students’ improvement between a pre-MEPT proficiency test and a post-MEPT proficiency test. Questionnaires and interviews were used to gain insight into the students’ perceptions of learning experiences. The teachers were also observed and interviewed about what methods and how they utilized to help students learn. The study found that (1) classroom teaching is not attributed to a single superior method; (2) cooperative learning techniques of Communicative Language Teaching and Cooperative Learning methods combined with traditional Grammar-Translation teaching instruction worked effectively for university students; learning tends to take place when students are willing to actively participate in learning activities which might be something new or challenging to them; (3) the paired t-tests proved that the students of all three teachers made statistically significant improvement in overall performance over students in the Freshman English classes.