活動手冊 - 開南大學

the collective nature of the Taiwanese and the importance of relationships and face
saving in the Taiwanese culture.
In mediating peer pressure influence on reticence to speak English, the students
indicated that participating in discussions with friends or classmates with whom they
were comfortable permitted their active participation. The participants indicated that
classmates with whom they had a conflict, or a dislike for, jeopardized their willingness
to participate. Small class sizes and small group discussions were preferred by the
participants. Furthermore, the atmosphere established by and the expectations of the
instructor were identified as factors enhancing their willingness to participate, but to
some extent the ability of the instructor to promote discussion was viewed as limited.
The topic of discussion was also an important issue to the participants who indicated
that topics of interest, topics familiar to the students, topics of which they had prior
knowledge, and topics that were practical to them in using English encouraged their
participation.
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