Design Learning Routines in Bilingual Teaching Environment

Abstract:This report is written to describe at least three Learning Routines I have used and monitored which promote English as the language of instruction in bilingual teaching environment. It introduces routines for a large group (15+ students)， routines for a small group (5-10 students)， routine for a pair of learners， and the use of mother tongue.

Key Words:routine bilingual teaching plan key points vocabulary partner

1.Introduction

The class consists of twenty year three university students who are studying Higher National Diploma (HND) Information System in Business. Most learners are reflectors and have studied English in schools for five/six year. They can finish the assessments of HND which consists reports， examinations， and presentations and so on， but need to try very hard to pass， and feel it is difficult to learn through English.

Using routines in Bilingual teaching environment can help students feel confident on learning through English， because even though they can not understand what lecturer's requirements on activities in English， as routines are used on every lesson， they can guess out what they need to do. So， their self-esteem can increase as they can follow the teaching instructions to finish most tasks within the class. They will feel happy with their smooth communication between themselves and teachers (SQA， 2007).

The routines are designed to motivate and help them learning through English. After one month time working on these routines on each lecture， I did an evaluation survey among the twenty students， the feedback on the effectiveness of these routines were positive.

2. Discussions

(1)Routine for a large group (15+ students)

At the beginning of each lesson， topics of teaching will be introduced to the class. This routine shows that the teaching plan is in place and under control (SQA， 2007). It also helps learners get to know the new words which will be used in each lesson， and have idea about what is going to teach.

At the end of each class， the summary of key points will be given， which gives learners another chance to get used to the vocabulary of the topic (SQA， 2007). And it also gives lecturer another chance to check the students' understanding of the topics.

The feedback from student evaluation survey shows that all students think this routine is very helpful. It gives them clear line in mind about the teaching plan.

(2)Routine for a small group (5-10 students)

After the introduction of topics， there will be a vocabulary activity. This routine is not aimed to test learners' vocabulary， but to help learners know the meaning of the new words which will be used in each lesson. The routine is designed as group work: five students will be in a group， and they need to draw pictures of each word which is listed by the lecturer. After the discussion， each group need to show their drawings to other groups， students need to explain their groups' ideas in English.

During the discussion， some groups cannot continue to discuss in English， it is not because students have limitation on their language ability， but because they are not used to discuss in English. So， lecturer will monitor the group discussions. If some students are found speaking in Chinese， lecturer will ask them speak in English. If some groups are too quiet， lecturer will join their discussions to help them start to discuss in English and give them suggestions on how to finish this activity. The assist from Lecturer is keen on the success of this routine， because if lecturer just let student do what they want， the situation would be out of control. But if the atmosphere was too serious， student would not feel interest. Lecturer needs to encourage but not control students (SQA， 2007).

The feedback from student evaluation survey shows that most students enjoy this routine very much. They like it because it is interesting， and they do feel this routine is helping them learning through English.

(3)Routine for a pair of learners

After the vocabulary routine， students are required to walk to anyone they want speak to. Once they find their partners， they need to talk to each other loudly in English， and try to use the new words they just learned from vocabulary activity. This routine aims to encourage students to speak out and be used to speak in English.

The learners feel very free to talk as they can choose any topic and partner they like. And this routine give them the feeling that the learning environment is relax and comfortable. So， after this activity， students are more relax and willing to contribute their ideas compare to that at the start of each lesson.

(4)The use of mother tongue

In some situations， using mother tongue can not be avoided. One reason is that when Chinese linguists translated most western names into Chinese， (like company's name， people's name， component's name， country's name， and so on)， they designed their Chinese pronunciations which were very different from that of English.

For example， for the first lesson I gave to my students after I back from Scotland， I introduced Scotland to my students， as some of them might go there to study after graduate. I showed my students some pictures I took from Highland. When we were looking at a picture I took in Loch Ness， from the students' faces， I knew they did not realize this is a very famous lack. So I introduced Loch Ness in English， and told them the story of the monster. From their eyes， I could see that students still could not understand why this lack was so important. So I changed to pronounce Loch Ness in Chinese. Then， immediately， all the students realized that I was talking about a lack which was famous in the world. They were so happy to see that I had visited Loch Ness， and started to ask me questions about the monster. I repeated the story of the monster， and it was told in English as well， but this time， students understood the story. If I did not pronounce loch ness's Chinese name， the explanation of Loch Ness might be would last for much longer time.

So， in some situations， in order to save time and help students understand my teaching better， I have to pronounce some words in Chinese.

3.Conclusions

There are many learning routines used to help students learn through English. At the beginning of each lesson， topics will be introduced to the class. After that， there will be vocabulary activity which is used to improve learners' vocabulary. Then， students are required to practice speaking in pairs. And at the end of the class， the summary of key points will be given， which gives learners another chance to get used to the vocabulary of the topic.

But some times， the use of Chinese is essential or desirable.

References:

［1］Scottish Authorities Qualifications.Teaching through English: Basic language methodology for the bilingual teacher (IBTQ)-Unit Student Guide. Glasgow，2007.

［2］Scottish Authorities Qualifications.Teaching through English: planning (IBTQ)-Unit Student Guide. Glasgow，2007.

［3］Scottish Authorities Qualifications.Teaching through English: Delivery and Assessment (IBTQ)-Unit Student Guide. Glasgow，2007.