Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

Date of Award

January 2014

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Education Evaluation and Research

First Advisor

Karen L. Tonso

Abstract

The English language increasingly influences Taiwanese life because Taiwan entered the global village and English language changed into a more important skill in order to communicate with foreigners. Many Taiwanese parents desire their children become proficient English speakers so that they send them to "buxiban" (cram schools) in Taiwan or study abroad in the Unites States. Therefore, this qualitative phenomenological research was to investigate individual experience of Taiwanese students studying abroad in Michigan in the United States. Sakurai et al. (2010) study is divided into three models of studying abroad learners' social network: "co-national, multinational and local" (p. 177). According to the in-depth individual interview and the focused group interview, this study also found most participants spent much time with the same national group and they do not improve their oral skill in English during studying abroad in the United States.

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