過去二十年來，臺灣的英語教育已有不少改變，但很少有研究關注大學新生英語能力的實際變化情況。本研究採用變異數分析，比較1998年至2010年間臺灣某私立大學新生在文法、閱讀及聽カ成績上的歷年差異。研究結果顯示，十二年間，儘管學生的文法及閱讀分數最初有下降的趨勢，但下滑情況在近五年已所有減緩，而聽カ分數則呈現明顯的增長曲線。這或許表示，臺灣在改善學生英語聽カ上的努力，已經產生了實質成果。

Over the last two decades there have been numerous changes in Taiwan to make English education more communicative and meaningful. However, few studies have investigated possible changes in the English ability of university freshmen. This study identified changes in the English ability of freshmen at a Taiwanese university from 1998-2010. Each year, approximately 3,000 students were administered the same language exams. ANOVA was used for a year-by-year comparison of mean scores for grammar, reading, and listening. The results indicate that listening scores increased significantly across the 12 years, while students’ grammar and reading scores initially showed a tendency to decline. These declines in grammar and reading scores tapered off during the last five years. The year-to-year improvements in listening scores indicate that efforts to improve listening ability in Taiwan may be paying dividends.