Students’ Perceptions of the Infrastructural Design and TA-Student Interaction Modes of a College Freshman English Tutorial Program

Abstract

In recent years, higher education institutes in Taiwan are implementing tutorial programs and are recruiting student tutors/teaching assistants (TAs) in an effort to facilitate instructional effectiveness of core subjects. Undoubtedly, infrastructural design and TA quality are two vital aspects for achieving success of the tutorial programs. This study employed research methods of surveys and interviews to examine, from students’ perspectives, effectiveness of a college freshman English tutorial program in terms of its implementation and its TA-student interaction. Results of the study show that, in terms of the tutorial implementation, students were generally satisfied with one-on-one tutoring and convenience of time and location. As for preferred TA-student interaction modes, the students favored collaboration with the TAs for diagnosing and verbalizing their English learning problems. In particular, the students appreciated that the TAs listened attentively to their feelings and problems. Based on the findings, implications for program design and TA training are addressed.