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A Study On Chinese English Majors' Stereotypes About Native English Speaking Teachers

Posted on:2009-08-08Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:S Y ChenFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155360275972387Subject:Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Stereotypes are those overgeneralized and oversimplified beliefs people use to categorize a group of people. However, as a way of perception, stereotype is inevitable to everyone. People have a tendency to make a claim that often goes beyond the fact, with no valid basis. Conventionally, researchers generally have approached the issue from a social psychological viewpoint which views stereotype as a static factor in social perception. Since few empirical researches related to stereotype were found domestically, especially from the perspective of intercultural communication, the present thesis intends to examine the stereotypic beliefs about native English speaking teachers (hereafter referred to as NESTs) among Chinese English majors to further explore the influence of stereotypes on the communication between Chinese students and NESTs.This paper initiates with a review of the literatures concerned with two issues—stereotype and NESTs. In this section, various definitions of stereotype are introduced first, and the author puts forward an integrated definition of stereotype in neutral terms: stereotype represents cultural ideological statement; it is a belief about people in a social category. Then, the formation, dimensions, functions and assessment of stereotype are presented with the support of previous studies. Additionally, strengths and weaknesses of NESTs in EFL teaching are reviewed, and attribution theory is introduced as the theoretical base.To carry out the study, a quantitative methodology is employed. 100 English majors from different universities are selected as subjects of this research. Adapted from previous scales on stereotype, free-response measurement, valence rating and rating scales are adopted as the main instruments. Based on the data collected from questionnaires and further information obtained from a follow-up interview, the results of three research questions addressed are obtained and discussed.Findings show that the consensual stereotype of the NESTs is somewhat positive and the main positive contents lie in foreign teachers'personality characteristics, while negative ones almost can be categorized as their teaching deficiency. Moreover, the results also support that stereotypes are formed in three ways proposed by previous scholars, and people acquire stereotype by some channels. Finally, according to the study, stereotypes indeed can promote as well as impede intercultural communication in terms of their contents and contexts they are generated in.The current thesis is practically significant to guide NESTs teaching in the future and to foster the communication between students and their NESTs. Therefore, some important implications are proposed at the end of the paper.
Keywords/Search Tags:stereotype, NESTs, intercultural communication
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