The Relationship between Attitudes toward Foreign Culture and English Proficiency Level in Taiwanese Students of English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the relationship between the English proficiency levels of students ofEnglish as a foreign language (EFL) IntroductionStudent attitudes toward the culture of a target language greatly affect their proficiency level, and in turn, students are greatly influenced by this success. Typically, the attitudes of students who demonstrate positive attitudes are reinforced, whereas students who demonstrate negative attitudes may feel stress because of their lack of success. Positive attitudes may be both the cause and the result of learning success. However, in certain cases, students who possess positive attitudes when they begin learning may experience inadequate learning opportunities or environments, fail to progress at the expected rate, or develop negativity toward their target language. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between the attitudes and proficiency levels of Taiwanese students of English as a foreign language (EFL) and examined this correlation based on personal, social, educational, family, and ethnic perspectives. 265Published by SCHOLINK CO., LTD

The role of the target language culture on Arabic learners' fondness for Arabic poetry

“…In contrast, there was a notable discrepancy in the influence of two kinds of pictures on low-level subjects, i.e., low-level subjects were less likely to enjoy Arabic poetry after viewing pictures related to Arab culture compared to viewing pictures unrelated to Arab culture. As outlined in the introduction, high-level learners may have more positive attitudes toward the target language culture, and the opposite is true for low-level learners (Falk, 1978 ; Tseng, 2013 ). However, our study showed that high-level Arabic learners' enjoyment of Arabic poetry did not increase significantly by viewing pictures related to Arabic culture, which is not in line with our hypothesis, while low-level Arabic learners' likeness of Arabic poetry decreased significantly in the same situation, which is consistent with our hypothesis.…”

“…The reading and learning of poetry are considered to be essential for foreign language learners to understand the target language culture (Ghazali, 2016 ; Novasyari, 2019 ), which has a significant role in students' language achievement (Alptekin, 1993 ; Kozhevnikova, 2014 ). It has been found that the positive attitude of students toward the target language culture may influence or be influenced by their learning success (Tseng, 2013 ). In addition, several studies have discovered that positive attitudes toward the culture of the target language are conducive to improving language learning, while negative attitudes toward the target language culture may lead to low language proficiency (Oller and Perkins, 1978 ; Rafieyan et al, 2013 ), which means that students with high language achievement tend to be those who enjoy the culture of the target language and admire the speakers of that language, while the opposite is true for students with low language achievement (Falk, 1978 ).…”

Mechanisms of intercultural competence formation in teaching foreign languages

“…In this context, it is extremely important to transfer the culture of the target language to students with different dimensions in foreign language teaching (Chan, Bhatt, Nagami, & Walker, 2015;Djafri & Wimbarti, 2018;Matsumoto & Okamoto, 2003). In the rapidly globalising world, foreign language teaching has gained more importance as a natural result of close interaction between countries (Alanazi & Thompson, 2019;Platsidou & Sipitanou, 2015;Tseng, 2013). It is true that every language is the gateway to a different culture.…”

On the Relationship between Iranian EFL Teachers' Cognitive Flexibility and Iranian EFL Learners' Attitudes towards English Language Learning

“…The results demand teachers' paying attention to learners' attitudes duo to the great impact they have on learners' language achievement. Tseng (2013) explored the relationship between EFL students' attitudes toward foreign culture and their English proficiency levels. Related to attitudes, family, ethnic, school and social aspects were considered.…”

“…(Gardner, 1985& Zainol Abidin, et al, 2012. Tseng (2013) believes teachers should notice that students' negative attitudes can be replaced by positive ones and this is partly the duty of the teachers. Accordingly, there is a need for all EFL teachers to consider their students' attitudes, needs and emotions before their cognitive abilities and try to promote their positive attitudes towards language learning.…”