Promoting English Communication Ability by Talking: A Case Study of ILCAU’s “Easy Talk” Program

[[abstract]]The promotion of English communication ability among the graduates of higher education has been a hot issue for every college in Taiwan. In addition, the increased interactions among international elites have also become a key medium for advancing English popularization and diversification. Under this circumstance, Asia University in Taiwan has enthusiastically engaged in recruiting international students to attend its English master and bachelor programs. Since the academic year 2006, the International Language Corner of Asia University (ILCAU) has made concerted efforts by inviting the international students to be stationed in the ILCAU and be teaching assistants taking charge of the activity called EZ Talk. In this EZ Talk program, English is used as the main communication tool; and the native students are urged to have talks in English with the international students in order that they may strengthen their language skills in the process. Of all the activities, EZ talk has been the most frequented and popular one in the ILCAU. The purpose of the study sought to realize the students’ learning needs and effectiveness derived from having talks with the international students through using survey. Amounting to 488 questionnaires were distributed to the participants and of 429 were useable. After conducting SPSS statistical analysis, the researchers found that the gender (male/female) ratio of the participants was roughly 1:2. Above 50% of the population were from the College of Science and Arts and most of them were freshmen and sophomores. Most participants agreed that having conversations with international students was more relaxing and had better learning effects than with native peers. In addition, they gained more knowledge about different cultures. Overall, a majority of participants understood the conversations with international students, but were still afraid of speaking out English. The participants tended to choose the international students who were female, those who appeared to be friendlier, and those who could provide various conversation topics. The conversation topics that the participants were most interested in were concerning personal hobbies and daily life activities. Most participants gave positive remarks about the “EZ Talk” program. The study will hopefully serve as an important reference resource for future implementation of related activities to increase students’ learning motivations and interests; and meanwhile, for developing applicable teaching strategies or methods. These in turn will allow all related learning activities to better fit students’ learning styles in the teaching process, and finally to achieve the goal of teaching students in accordance with their personal aptitude and characters