The participants comprised 236 non-English majors enrolled in five
freshman English classes at a vocational university in Taiwan. One class
was taken as the control group, and the other four classes were taken as
the experimental groups. One hundred and eighty-five students participated
in the study in the experimental groups, and 51 as the control group.
All participants were freshmen. Most students had studied English for
6 years. They were comparable in age and educational background. The
students in all five classes signed consent forms describing the purpose of
the study and experimental procedures within the study.