An Action Research On Improving Primary School Students’ English Learning Effects With Immersion Teaching Approach

Immersion teaching is a method of teaching a second language in which the learners’ second language (L2) is the medium of classroom instruction. Through this method, learners study school subjects, such as language arts, math, and science, in their L2. Immersion teaching model originated in Canada with the French immersion teaching experiment in Quebec in1965and was introduced to China by the end of90s last century. Linda Siegel, Canadian psycholinguist and second language education expert, once made the comment that:"The First English Immersion project in China began in1997in eight Kindergartens in Xi’an. We believe that this is the first early English Immersion project in a country that does not have English as an official language."(Linda Siegel,2011). Teacher action research is a research method for teachers to solve real problems by doing research in real teaching situation (Song,2009). Since2001, most primary schools in China began to offer English courses from the third grade. However, due to various reasons, some important problems have no access to effective solutions over the years. For example, some researchers have found that, primary school students have great difficulties in English pronunciation and vocabulary memorization (Lv Qiuhui,2010; Chen Guanglian,2011). In March2011, the author made a survey on the status quo of primary school English teaching and learning in Nanning city and a remote county of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and found:the majority of students who took the questionnaires believed that pronunciation is the most difficult part in their English learning, followed by the memorizing of vocabulary. No significant difference was indicated between the two kinds of schools. One of the first stage teaching objectives of primary school English teaching syllabus is that the students should grasp the knowledge of English pronunciation. If these problems are not addressed, it is difficult for students to reach the expected standard.In order to improve their children’s English study, parents have to spend money on various English training institutions for extracurricular training. Nanning Center of RISE Immersion Subject English School is one of these training institutions. The researcher of this study took the students of the beginners’classes as subjects for her present study. In one school semester, the researcher carried out investigations and study on immersion teaching and the teaching effect of this teaching mode, and participated in the teaching process of the junior class (Grade3or Grade4primary school students). The teaching experiment was done with the method of action research. Guided with the theory and the philosophy of immersion teaching, the author created a favorable target language learning environment for students to strengthen the input of letter sounds and pronunciation knowledge. The author also provided students with more opportunities for English input and output through interactive teaching in order to improve the students’phonetic awareness and ability, thus to improve students’ phonetic coding ability and memory capacity.The study adopted both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Tests, questionnaires, interviews and classroom observation were employed to discuss the following three research questions:1) What are primary school students’difficulties in English learning?2) What changes have been found in experimental students’English learning effects with immersion teaching? What main problems have been solved?3) What are the enlightenments of the successful experience of immersion teaching by off-campus training institution for formal primary schools’improvement of English teaching and learning? In the process of the teaching experiment, the author strictly followed four general steps of action research proposed by Kemmis,S.:plan, action, observation, and reflection (Kemmis, S.,1994). At the same time, the author constantly reflected on and summarized the problems existing in the design and implementation of the teaching experiment through the method of action research in order to promote teachers’professional development.The research results showed that:1) The primary school syllabus does not include systematic phonetics teaching. Students are affected by traditional rote learning mode and memorize vocabularies by repeating and writing them mechanically, resulting in the difficulties in pronunciation and vocabulary learning, which has strongly affected their learning interest and confidence;2) the implementation of immersion teaching created subject English learning environment. RISE school adopted the phonics course of American primary school teaching material(Destination Reading) for Stage1students to conduct systematic phonetics teaching in order to improve students’sound coding ability and vocabulary memorizing;3) high-standard unified teacher training provided by the training institutions has guaranteed teachers’quality. And the method of teacher action research had been adopted in the teacher’s daily teaching, which has helped improve both the teacher’s professional level and her research ability. This result has certain benefits for improving formal primary school teachers’quality and research ability so as to improve the primary school English teaching and learning.