Research And Experimentation On Children English Immersion Lnstruction

Since the first immersion program----French Immersion was instituted in the province of Quebec, Canada, in the mid 1 960s, immersion has grown steadily over the year and has been implemented in most school districts of Canada. Almost 4 decades spent in the French Immersion classroom leave no doubt that immersion education is not only a Canadian phenomenon which has generally been associated with Canadian linguistic choice arid cultural pluralism, but also has created considerable interests in other parts of the world and has been regarded as an innovative and successful second ? language methodology. A prototypical immersion program is one that uses L2 as medium of instruction although students have little or no L2 proficiency on entry to immersion. The learning context is one where exposure to the L2 is largely confined to the classroom. Teachers are bilingual in the students?Li and the target L2. The immersion is based on the premise that children should be exposed to massive doses of the second language if they are to learn to understand and speak it fluently. It is also based on the concept that learning L2 through the learning of other subjects normally taught in Li will provide the real experience in L2 that children need in order to function in that language. To children, the immersion method has the following advantages: 1 .Young children learn language easily and enjoy the experience. They do not experience the inhibitions and embarrassment of older children or adults; 2.Language could be learned in an interactive way. Communication is important; 3.Language learning could be about everyday life; 4.Children could enjoy the experience. This thesis is a periodical achievement based on an experimental research on children English immersion instruction in response to the immersion principles. We select 84 kindergarten children randomly in Northwest Normal University ranging in age from half past 4 to half past 6 as subjects. Then after 3 months?English immersion teaching, we compare this group with control group of 24 kindergarten children in NWNU ranging in age from half past 4 to half past 6 who learn English by the traditional English teaching method. The purpose of this research is to explore a more effective English teaching model for Chinese children. By using quantitative (T-test, correlation analysis and questionnaire) and qualitative (interview) research methods, we study English immersion teaching and results from the aspects of children, teachers and parents. The followings are the achievements we get: As far as the children are concerned, 1 .their attitudes of learning English become more active; 2.the rate of attendance has been increased by a great margin; 3.their motivations of learning English have been greatly stimulated; 4.they could speak English unconsciously in proper situations. As far as the teachers are concerned, 1 .their self-confidences have been strengthened greatly; 2.they realize that they need in-service English training urgently; 3.they understand children English immersion instruction more clearly and are willing to use English in any circumstances; 4.the relationships between teachers and between teachers and children become more kind and harmonious. As far as the parents are concerned,, they have positive attitudes towards children English immersion instruction and give it more enthusiasm and concerns. According to the experiment process and results, we give some suggestions on children English immersion instruction from the te...