Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Yu ChenFollow

Publication Date

Fall 12-4-2017

Abstract

Many institutions of higher education (IHE) students in Taiwan now need to meet the English proficiency requirement to earn their higher education degrees. In this case study, I intended to a) provide the opportunity for IHE students with hearing loss in Taiwan to share their opinions, thoughts, and experiences of learning English as a foreign language in higher education institutes; and b) understand how English as a foreign language policies and educational practices contribute to create opportunities and barriers for IHE students with hearing loss. The research question I intended to examine was “what are the perceptions of the lived experiences of students with hearing loss in a Taiwanese IHE within the policy environment of English as a gatekeeper?” The focuses of the study were a) how do Taiwanese IHE students with hearing loss perceive their experiences learning English as a foreign language in IHEs; and b) how do the current policies and educational practices related to learning English as a foreign language serve to construct barriers and opportunities for IHE students with hearing loss?

I conducted two interviews with two primary participants who were current Taiwanese students with hearing loss at one IHE and one interview with each of secondary participants who were associated with the primary participants’ English learning. These secondary participants were the English teacher of the alternative English class, the English teacher of the general English class, one Chinese teacher, one tutor, two resource center staff members, and two study peers. I also performed three classroom observations at the alternative English class and collected documents that were related to these students’ English learning. I used thematic analysis to analyze the data and the major findings of this study were: (a) the hegemony of English, (b) audism, (c) inequity of educational policy, and (d) accommodations for students with hearing loss at this university.

Keywords

English as a foreign language (EFL), Hearing Loss, University, Taiwan

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies

First Committee Member (Chair)

Julia Scherba de Valenzuela

Second Committee Member

Holbrook Mahn

Third Committee Member

Elizabeth Keefe

Fourth Committee Member

Carlos Lopez Leiva

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