ABSTRACT
The current chapter builds on an original study in which the Community of Inquiry (COI) was applied in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. An instructor in a Taiwanese vocational high school carried out an experiment in which the COI was integrated into teaching English through the medium of picture storybooks. At the end of the study, the experimental group retained a higher level of motivation; unexpectedly, however, the approach resulted in no significant improvement in comprehension and reported even higher levels of learning anxiety. The author argues that due to some culture-specific factors, the positive impact of P4C might not be readily transferrable into certain Asian contexts. Drawing on empirical studies, the author looks closely into factors, mainly traditional Confucian norms, that might account for the lack of overwhelmingly positive results, such as the perceived goal of learning and beliefs in how learning should take place, to illustrate how these culture-related factors might play out in the implementation process, or even compromise the outcome, when instructional models originating in Western cultures are applied in Asian contexts. The author concludes that in order to benefit more fully from P4C, the significant differences in cultural values call for more careful deliberation, preparation, or even modification, on the part of the instructor.
