INFORMED CONSENT

    You are invited to participate in this survey designed and administered by Ming-Tso Chien, a graduate student at the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Maine. This is part of a study sponsored and advised by Dr. Susan Bennett-Armistead. The purpose of this survey is to learn about how you use your native language. A native language is a language you learn and use at home as a child. You must be at least 18 years of age to participate. Continuing to the next page implies your consent to participate.

What Will You Be Asked to Do?
If you decide to participate, you will answer the questions in each section of the survey. The survey should take approximately five minutes.

Risks
    Except for your time and inconvenience, there are no risks to you from taking part in this survey.

Benefits
    When answering these questions, you have an opportunity to reflect on how you use your native language and what it means to you. Your participation can also help inform research about native languages used by Taiwanese people in the United States.

Confidentiality
    The survey is anonymous. You only provide your contact information in the last section if you decide to participate in the second part of the study, which is an interview. Data from this survey will be stored on the researcher’s computer, which is protected with encryption. Data will be destroyed once data analysis is finished or on April 30, 2017, whichever comes first. This survey will be removed from the Internet no later than December 31, 2016.

Voluntary
Participation is voluntary. If you choose to fill out this survey, you may stop at any time.

Contact Information
If you have any questions about this study, please contact me at 207-423-4659 or ming.chien@maine.edu. You may also reach the faculty advisor of this study at 207-581-2418 or susan.bennett-armistead@maine.edu. If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact Gayle Jones, Assistant to the University of Maine’s Protection of Human Subjects Review Board, at 207-581-1498 or gayle.jones@umit.maine.edu.