本研究重點為二，首先在調查台灣大專院校英文系或應用外語系專任外籍教師的社會文化適應 (sociocultural adaptation) 情形和跨文化敏感度 (intercultural sensitivity) 程度；「社會文化適應」一詞是指ㄧ個人在異國時是否成功地融入當地文化與生活；「跨文化敏感度」一詞是指ㄧ個人對文化差異的反應與態度。再者，此研究調查這些外籍教師的七個自變數 (年齡，性別，國籍，居留台灣的時間長短，以前旅居海外的時間長短，學習中文時間長短，與台灣人互動的頻率 ) 是否與他們在台灣的社會文化適應情形和跨文化敏感度程度有關。該研究主要使用兩種量表來測量這些外籍教師的社會文化適應情形和跨文化敏感度程度；一為社會文化適應量表 (Sociocultural Adaptation Scale) 與跨文化敏感度量表 (Intercultural Development Inventory)。方法是以電子郵件邀請全台大專院校英文系或應用外語系 176位專任外籍教師在網上填寫此兩種量表，共計有 44 位完成社會文化適應量表； 35位完成跨文化敏感度量表。社會文化適應量表的研究結果顯示，這 44 位專任外籍教師在台灣社會文化適應上有「些許困難」；但統計分析結果顯示這些外籍教師的七個自變數與他們在社會文化適應上的情形無相關。從跨文化敏感度量表的研究結果顯示，這 35位專任外籍教師的跨文化敏感度程度落在「 Minimization」，意指這些外籍教師有察覺到文化差異但不覺得文化差異很重要；相同地，統計分析結果顯示，這 35位專任外籍教師的七個自變數與他們的跨文化敏感度程度無相關。但有趣的是，研究結果顯示女性專任外籍教師在跨文化敏感度程度上比男性專任外籍教師高。社會文化適應量表與跨文化敏感度量表的結果皆顯示，台灣相關單位應對外籍教師的社會適應有所協助或給予職前跨文化的訓練以利在台灣生活與工作。

The first objective of this study was to investigate the sociocultural adaptation and intercultural sensitivity of international Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) instructors in Taiwan’s colleges and universities. Sociocultural adaptation depicts how effectively sojourners fit into the host culture (Ward & Kennedy, 1999) while intercultural sensitivity (ICS) is an individual’s reactions to cultural differences (Bennett, 1993). The second objective of this study was to assess if seven predictor variables (age, gender, nationality, the length of residence in Taiwan, the length of previous living experience overseas, the length of studying Mandarin, and the frequency of interaction with Taiwanese) were related to these instructors’ sociocultural adaptation and their intercultural sensitivity. The first instrument used in the study was the Sociocultural Adaptation Scale (SCAS) by Ward and Kennedy (1999) to assess participants’ levels of sociocultural adaptation and intercultural challenges. The second instrument employed was the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) by Hammer and Bennett (2001a, b) to measure participants’ levels of intercultural sensitivity in accordance with the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) outlined by Bennett (1993). Of 176 international TEFL instructors in Taiwan higher education institutions, 44 completed the SCAS while 35 completed the IDI. The SCAS results showed that these 44 international TEFL instructors in Taiwan had a “slight difficulty” in adapting to life in Taiwan as termed in the SCAS, but no statistically significant relationship was found between the seven predictor variables and their sociocultural adaptation. The IDI results indicated that the average level of ICS for these 35 instructors was in “Minimization” while these same seven variables were also found to be uncorrelated with their intercultural sensitivity. However, the findings revealed that females were less ethnocentric than males and were more effective in switching their cognitive frames of reference and behavioral codes in intercultural settings.