以活動理論探討兩位台灣大學英文寫作老師教學信念及實施

Abstract

過去幾十年中，學者在語言教學老師教學信念領域已經在諸多方面皆有所研究探詢。由於許多研究建議將教師所處情境納入考量，影響教師信念的情境因素顯得日益重要。然而在過去的研究中，情境因素仍然是個較為邊緣性的主題。本研究利用Engeström (1987) 活動理論試圖了解語言教學老師的信念、教學實施、信念與實施的關係以及情境對於此關係的影響。 本研究使用個案研究法檢視兩位台灣北部一所大學之寫作老師的教學信念與實施。資料經由訪談、課室觀察、以及文件蒐集彙整而成。所蒐集資料經由活動理論架構分析以便釐清教師教學信念與實施的關係，以及在活動系統中所存在的情境因素。在活動理論架構中，六個組成元素包含主體、客體、中介工具、規則、社群與分工。此六個組成元素於本研究中被用於詮釋寫作教師教學信念、教學實施以及其所在情境因素。在個案內分析中，本研究結果呈現兩位寫作老師教學信念與實施。此外，其教學信念與實施之關係以活動理論加以討論。在跨個案分析中，本研究分別回答兩個研究問題。研究問題一探討了四個主題，包含影響教師信念的原因、教學信念對教學實施的影響、教學信念與教學實施的不一致以及教學實施對教學信念的影響。在研究問題二中，本研究發現教師利用所使用中介工具來執行其信念於其教學實施中。此外，情境因素包含職員社群、社群所訂定規則、以及學生反應影響其教學信念與教學實施關係最為明顯。 本研究期望能找出教師信念、教學實施以及所存在環境因素中的互動關係。基於研究結果，本研究並提出研究結果在教學及研究上之意涵，包含寫作教師與單位主管清楚溝通、同社群中新手教師與有經驗教師雙向意見交流，以及更多教師發展活動提升寫作教師之教學。此外，本研究之限制包含較為有限的資料蒐集時間、沒有針對所有社群成員以及個案教授的所有課程做觀察與研究。因此，未來研究建議可針對這些問題加以改善，以便找出更多深入存在於教師信念及其教學實施之關係中的情境因素。

In the research on language teacher education, language teachers’ beliefs have been considerably investigated in the past few decades. Although many studies have recommended that situated contexts should be taken into consideration and contextual factors affecting teachers’ beliefs have become increasingly important, contextual factors still seem relatively peripheral. Therefore, by using Engeström’s (1987) activity theory, this study aims to examine language teachers’ beliefs, teaching practices, the relations between the two and the contextual influences on the relations. This study adopted the case study approach to investigate the beliefs of two Taiwanese college EFL writing teachers at a public university in northern Taiwan. Various data collection techniques, including semi-structured interviews, class observations, and documents were adopted. The collected data were analyzed by activity theoretical framework in order to clearly identify the relations between teachers’ beliefs and practices and the contextual factors existing in the activity systems. Within the activity theoretical framework, the six components, including subject, object, mediational means, rule, community, and division of labor, were applied as the interpretive elements of the writing teachers’ beliefs, practices, and the situated contextual factors. In the within-case analysis, the results of the study showed the beliefs and the teaching practices of the two writing teachers. Moreover, the relations between the beliefs and practices were further discussed within the activity theoretical framework. In the cross-case analysis, the two research questions were respectively answered. In Research Question 1, four themes, the factors to affecting the writing teachers’ beliefs, how their beliefs shaped their practices, the inconsistency between beliefs and practices, and how their teaching practices influenced their beliefs, were examined. In Research Question 2, it was revealed that mediational means contributed greatly to the belief-practice realization. Also, the faculty community, the rules established by the community, and the students’ responses were the most distinctive contextual factors influencing the relations between the writing teachers’ beliefs and practices. In conclusion, this study revealed the interactive relations among teachers’ beliefs, teaching practices, and the embedded contextual factors. Based on the findings of the study, several pedagogical and research implications are proposed, including clear communication between writing teachers and program directors, opinion exchange between experienced teachers and novice teachers in the same communities, and more teacher development activities to upgrade writing teachers’ teaching. Moreover, the limitations of the present study consist of limited data collection time, only investigation of a limited number of the community members, and inclusion of limited number of the teachers’ courses. It is suggested that future research should improve the above limitations in order to elicit more in-depth information resulted from the contextual factors existing in the relations between the teachers’ beliefs and teaching practices.