Journal of Educational Practice and Research

Teaching Practice Research of Narrative Pedagogy with the Forensic Innocence

Chun-Mei Tsai & Cheng-Pin Lai*

Piloted in September 2020, this semester-long study was conducted in order to help university students better understand social issues, such as wrongful convictions or miscarriages, and help them be able to analyze issues from different perspectives. Using a narrative pedagogy approach, 40 psychology students were asked to read original court judgments, analyze news reports, and speak with those wrongfully convicted. The researchers then analyzed how students perceived those wrongfully convicted, understood the judicial system, and developed communication skills. Ultimately, students showed improved critical thinking, evaluation of sources, and communication skills. As a result of the narrative pedagogical approach, some students were able to put themselves in the position of those wrongfully convicted and, in some cases, even connect to their own personal experiences. The narrative approach allowed interaction between each of the three parties (the class), the guests (those wrongfully convinced), and the audience (the teacher and students). This study evaluates the course, reviews student feedback, and provides future recommendations.

Redundant Words as an Index of Oral Communication Ability: An Application of Pragmatics to Language Teaching

Pen-Ying Wang*

The present study proposes that redundant words often found in college students’ presentations can serve as an index of oral communication ability. By analyzing the data collected from a Chinese Phonetics and Oral Communication course, the redundancies were found to not only carry pragmatic functions but also reflect the cognition of the speakers. ‟Jiushi” serves as a pragmatic function to emphasize and to conclude, and ‟ranhou” bears the pragmatic function of pause fillers. The results show a mild correlation between the frequency of redundant words used and students’ oral performance. The more ‟jiushi” were found in the students’ production, the lower their grades were given by their peers. Similarly, the more ‟ranhou” used in students’ presentations, the less confident the students were in presenting the content. As instructors are aware of the real cause of using redundant words, ‟cutting down redundancies” would be the last suggestion a teacher would offer the students.

What Kind of Wellbeing Does He/She Want? Educational Possibilities for Children of New Immigrants From the Perspective of Agency

Teng Huang*

According to economists, we should think beyond the objective well-being indicators and pay more attention to the subjective well-being, agency, and capability of immigrants as the basis of immigration policy. However, few studies on the children of new immigrants in Taiwan have been conducted from the perspective of subjective well-being and agency. Since the concept of agency is still controversial, this study further considers the current research findings based on Giddens’ theory of agency and explores possible directions for future study. It was found that current studies have focused on how children of new immigrants adapt to mainstream society rather than on developing their agency. This paper proposes two concrete directions for future studies through further investigation. First is to understand, at the micro level, the problems of the social position of the new immigrant children through their embodied experience and feelings to raise their conscious reflection and achieve their subjective well-being. Second is to understand, at the meso level, the interactions of new immigrant children with specific community members in communities of practice, so as to understand their constraints and the agentic strategies they utilize, which will serve as an important reference for future educational policies and practices.

Keyword：agency, children of new immigrants, community of practice, embodiment, subjective well-being