A Case Study Of English Immersion Teaching In A Primary School Of Shenzhen

Nowadays, with the rapid economic development all over the world, the international communication and cooperation is becoming more and more close, which makes Chinese people pay much more attention to the ability of communication and application with English. Because primary school period is generally viewed as the prime time for children to acquire a second or foreign language, many parents tend to make their children learn English in the very stage of primary school education, which has been showing an increasingly strong tendency in China’s large cities in the past decade. However, the Second Language Acquisition research in this field is still inadequate. Among the limited research, the English immersion teaching model jointly initiated by the researchers from Shaanxi Normal University and Canadian Britain Columbia University, has shown considerable vitality in the Chinese context. In order to further explore whether this model is practical and effective in China’s primary school education, an empirical study was conducted in a bilingual primary school in Shenzhen.Through10weeks’ data collection from observation, recording, interview and questionnaire survey, the researcher investigated the Retails of the English immersion program carried out in this primary school, including its general course design, teaching material, teaching strategies as well as the children’s performance. The results indicate that:(a) thematic curriculum design was a wise choice for integrating English with all aspects of education;(b) the text series Macmilan English proved to be an excellent material for use;(c) in addition to the English environment, the most effective immersion teaching strategies included English textbook drama, reading prior to speaking strategies, more English input strategies;(d) the students showed great interest in English and could develop their bilingual competence through English immersion. Based on these findings, the paper suggests some practical topics for further research and development in improving and spreading primary English immersion teaching in the Chinese context.