Certainly this data points towards understanding the special needs of each group of students. This could mean adopting methods to have a better a “fit” with the target students, as Leng (1997) points out. While fashionable teaching methodologies come and go, the teaching situation in Asia is generally similar with large class sizes and limited resources. Rather than dismissing teaching methodologies, such as grammar translation, we should realize that such methodologies may have useful applications when combined with other factors such as students’ backgrounds, levels, preferences, future needs for English, teachers, schools, culture, etc. As Hsiu-Ju Lin (1996) put it:
The degree to which I would stress one or the other would depend on the level of the students and their needs...
The differences among majors found in this study sheds some light on the special groups and their specific needs that make up non-English majors studying English. While most studies of English learners in Taiwan have dealt with English majors, there are far more students studying English because it is a core requirement at all schools.