A Study On Tolerance Of Ambiguity Of Non-english Major Postgraduates In A University

Since the early1970s, research on second language acquisition has shiftedfrom methods of teaching to learner characteristics and their influence on the processof acquiring an L2. Tolerance of ambiguity, as a learning style and personality factor,is a hotspot of study in English learning research in the recent40years.This thesis is a study of tolerance of ambiguity (TOA) of Non-English major’spostgraduates in the process of English learning. The subjects in this study consist of120first-year non-English major postgraduates. They are from three arts departments(Chinese, politics, history), and three science departments (mathematics, chemistry,and physics) in Jiangxi Normal University. The research instruments are:(1) researchinstruments are “the Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale (SLTAS)(Ely,1995)”;(2) National Entrance Test of English for MA/MS Candidates (NETEM). Thisstudy explored the subjects’ general tendency of TOA in English learning. It alsoexamined the effect of genders and majors on students’ TOA. Finally, it explored thecorrelation between TOA and English proficiency. All the data were analyzed byusing SPSS (version17.0).The study generated several findings as follows: first, the postgraduates’tendency of TOA was at the middle level in their English learning. Namely, thestudents show neither high intolerance nor high tolerance in their English learningprocess. They can’t tolerate the fact that they can’t communicate their ideas clearlyand express their ideas exactly when speaking English, but they are willing to toleratethe fact that teachers use English words and expression they don’t know. Secondly,the study indicated that males differ significantly from females in overall TOA (sig.(2-taied)=.001<.05). Respectively, females are more tolerant than females inpronunciation, speaking, reading and writing. Thirdly, significant difference (sig.(2-tailed)=.000<.05) was found in overall TOA between arts and science majors. Artmajors are more tolerant than science majors in reading, speaking, and writing. Finally,there was significant difference in overall TOA (sig.(2-tailed)=.001<.05) betweenhigh proficiency and low proficiency. High proficient postgraduates differ significantfrom low proficient postgraduates in the tolerance while they are reading, writing, and speaking.Several implications for postgraduates’ English learning can be drawn fromthis study. We can obtain pedagogical implications for English teaching and learning:English teachers should lecture on TOA and apply some instruments to arousepostgraduates’ awareness of TOA; then, teachers may aid postgraduates in cultivatingoptimal TOA by gender, majors and proficiencies. Last, teachers should alsoconstantly modulate their teaching styles to match the students’ learning styles.