The Investigation On Current Implementing Situation Of Minority Bilingual Education Model Ⅱin S Primary School On Urumqi Tianshan Area

Since Xinjiang introduced the policy of minority bilingual education, two different model have been applied in south and north of Xinjiang based on the different characteristics of these areas, and there ethnic and cultural make up. The area of Urumqi which is located in the north of Xinjiang implemented model II. The model requires that all the curriculum should be taught in the Han language with classes containing minority students, expect in their mother language curriculum. There have been different evaluations from schools, communities and familieson the effectiveness of this approach. Some people propose that modelⅡis not useful for minority students’ learning. In particular, it may influence minority students’ language acquisition. This research sought to identify how the model is implemented and to find out if and why modelⅡcan not be applied as per the policy.The research focuses on one primary school that implemented the modelⅡapproach by example. The research used a field investigation method within a mixed methodology though with a primary focus on qualitative data. Aspects of grounded theory approach were used in data analysis. The research used classroom observations, interviews and collected some basic person information via a questionnaire survey. The investigator undertook classroom observation on Han language and mathematics lessons of two classes at the school. These classes have different make-up of students but have the same teachers. The observation included the teaching language used, communication language, the teaching materials and students’ textbook. The investigation also undertook interviews of ten teachers and ten students. The ten teachers came from different grades and subjects. The ten students come from the two classes as previously indicated. The interviews included identifying the Han language acquisition, the commanding degree of Han language usage and the tendency and frequency of Han language usage of students and teachers.The thesis is divided into six parts. The first partoutlines the topic and research aims. It also includes the research strategy and methodology base on minoritybilingual education literature review. The literature review includes the minority bilingual education models and the key factors of successful impalement of a minority bilingual education model(Ⅱ).The second part of the thesis describes the social bilingual education environment of Urumqi and S primary school. In includes the macro social environment and the curriculum setting of S primary school.The third part of the thesis discusses the language environment. It includes a discussion of the acquisition of Han language, the commanding degree of Han language competency and the using tendency of Han language on students and teachers. The results show that the teachers and students use their mother tongue language except in Han language class. The students like communicating with native ethnic people in their mother tongue. But they do not object to learning lHan language.The fourth part of the thesis discusses the teaching environment. The investigator conducted classroom observations of Han language and mathematics classes in two classes. The results show that teachers use their mother language as the teaching language. The mathematics teacher though tthat using the mother tongue is good for primary students’ mathematics learning. The students are used to speaking mother language in the mathematics class. In summary, the school indicated that there is a lack of Han language usage in the school.The fifth section of the thesis analyses the causes of why teachers cannot follow the policy of minority bilingual education teaching. Three reasons for this were identified. The first is that the school does not have a comprehensive cognitive of minority bilingual education. The second reason is that the students lack a Han language learning environment. They are using mother language both in and out of school. The third is about the curriculum standards. The minority education system lacks a set of curriculum standards. There is only Han language teaching standards based on the Han students learning. Additionally, there is no curriculum standards about minority students for every subject.The final part makes suggestions, drawing upon this research and based on the problem and causes. The first is to better optimize the teaching group. It includes better supporting every subject teacher, school managers and leaders. The second suggestion is to develop better curriculum standards reflecting the learning characters of minority students. The last one is to add bilingual textbooks for students self-learning.The conclusion summarizes the research and identifies the research inadequacies and gaps. It also reiterates the importance of implementing minority bilingual education and the further development of education for minority groups will certainly to move towards the further development of a strengthened multicultural China.