運用平板電腦協助台灣高中生進行英語寫作之研究

Abstract

現今使用行動裝置學習已成為一項趨勢，科技產品的日新月異更增加了語言教學更多的可能性。運用行動裝置於語言學習有許多優點，而平板電腦是現今最流行的行動輔具之一，然而，在過去的研究中，較少研究者將把平板電腦運用於英語寫作教學，故本研究旨在檢驗平板電腦在台灣高中英語寫作教室裡的效用。本研究的目的有二:(一)檢驗台灣國中生透過平板電腦進行英文寫作成效。(二)調查參與的學生對於使用平板電腦當作英文寫作輔具的心得。 此研究中邀請了共三十八位來自高雄市偏遠地區十一年級的學生參與實驗。實驗組有十九人;控制組有十九人。在實驗進行前，兩組學生皆已接受由學校舉辦的全民英檢前測，前測內容為全民英檢中級模擬試題，結果為這兩組寫作能力相當。實驗時間為六節課，每堂課共四十五分鐘，實驗組於實驗開始前接受六次平板電腦訓練以熟悉介面，每次訓練共四十五分鐘;而控制組則使用傳統紙筆的方法來寫作。兩組各被要求於導師教導完課程內容後進行六次寫作，每次寫作時間為四十五分鐘。實驗結束後，實驗組需另填寫一份問卷，最後，研究者訪問實驗組中所有同學以及導師。 研究結果顯示實驗組在以下五個方面表現上皆有顯著差異:內容、組織、用字遣詞與拼字、文法與架構，以及標點符號，其中又以內容、組織，用字遣詞與拼字表現特別突出。此外，相較於未使用平板前的成績，學生的整體寫作表現也有改善。本研究共有以下結論:(一)平板電腦能引起學生學習英語寫作的興趣，且在協助學生英語寫作上獲得良好效益。(二)平板電腦除寫作教學以外，亦可運用於其他科目教學。(三)教師可使用其他行動輔具或科技產品於正式課堂中，但仍需事先精細規劃與擬定課程大綱與教學目標。(四)在使用各項行動輔具或科技產品進行課堂教學，教師必須熟悉工具操作方法，且給予學生教學及操作手冊。本研究提出三點未來研究建議：第一，進行更大規模的實驗，以供後續相關研究及實際教學應用之參考。第二，研究者可就學生使用反應與經驗進行分析，以利了解學生學習偏好與未來改進之處。第三，未來研究可就使用電腦與平板為不同操作工具進行比較，以便了解如何更為妥善運用科技產品教學。

Applying mobile devices to education and language learning has become a trend nowadays. Tablet-PC is one of the most popular portable gadgets currently; however, there are few studies regarding applying Tablet-PC to English writing. Consequently, the aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of utilizing Tablet-PCs to English writing classroom in a Taiwanese senior high school. Two purposes of the study are addressed as follows: (1) To examine the potential and effectiveness of implementing tablet-PCs in assisting EFL students to complete writing tasks. (2) To investigate student perceptions of using tablets as an assisted tool for English writing. The participants were thirty-eight, eleventh graders from a rural area in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. There were nineteen students in each group and were assigned randomly, and the duration of the whole experiment lasted six months. The two groups first received same instructor’s writing instruction, then a forty-five minutes writing session started. The experimental goup (group T) conducted writing with tablets while the Group P used paper-and-pencil writing solely. Then the Group T completed questionnaire and received interviews, and the instructor was interviewed as well. There are significant differences between the two groups in five aspects: content, organization, word choice and spelling, grammar and structure, and punctuation, especially the first three parts and the students’ overall performance. There are four conclusions of this study: (1) Utilizing Tablet-PC can motivate students to learn English writing, and it is a helpful tool for students to use while composing English writing. (2) Teachers can apply Tablet-PCs to their teaching. (3) The instructors should be aware of the pedagogical meaning when using portable gadgets. (4) The instructors have to be very proficient in using the assisted tool before applying it to a real classroom.