The Limitations of English Immersion Programs in China

Lai Yi

Ⅰ.INTRODUCTION

Due to the opening of international trade since the early 1990s and the increasing tourism， Chinese people increasingly realize the importance and necessity of learning English. With the increasing importance of English in China， English education with no doubt receives more and more attention. At the beginning of this century， the Central Ministry of Education initiated a “School Curriculum Reform”. One of the education policies that corresponded to this reform was the “English Curriculum Standards for the Public School System” in 2001. This policy required that all elementary schools in China must offer English lesson as a core subject beginning in the third grade. In other words， the age at which the compulsory English instruction begins changed from 11 to 9， which means that children will learn English at a younger age. With the English education becomes a national priority in China， Chinese people also become more aware of the importance and huge advantage of learning English. Therefore， parents in China tend to send their children to private English instruction schools even before they started the compulsory English instruction at public schools at 3rd grade. （Qiang & Siegel， 2012） Though there was a trend in education reforming in the late 20th century， the situation of Chinese students English skill was still out of balance at that time. Chinese students English learning style was considered to be “mute” and “deaf” English. They were good at taking English exams while really bad at the comprehensive skills such as speaking and listening.

Ⅱ.ENGLISH IMMERSION PROGRAMS IN CHINA

In 1996， a workshop conducted in Xian， China introduced the Canadian French immersion programs in search of better reform in English education. Then， early English immersion programs began to be implemented in elementary schools in several major cities in China. This newly introduced language program was designed to immerse students in the English language and improve their English communicative skills.

Since 1996， English immersion programs have increased in popularity in China. This language immersion system provides students an opportunity to master an L2 in a similar way as they mastered their L1， that is， by being immersed in a language environment that provides them a large amount of L2 input and promotes natural communication in the target language. The immersion programs establish a solid base in the development of oral language skills prior to the introduction of reading and writing. Rather than focusing instruction exclusively on the direct mastery of L2 grammar and language rules， the immersion programs are carried out by adopting a content-based language approach that provides the means to increase the amount of comprehensible L2 input by delivering subject content in the target language （Genesee， 1995）.

Ⅲ.LIMITATIONS OF ENGLISH IMMERSION PROGRAMS IN CHINA

Generally， a number of studies have proven the effectiveness of early English immersion programs， but it still puts challenges to educators to apply those programs in Chinese education settings and there are some limitations of the immersion program itself.

Firstly， according to Marshal， et al. s （2000） study， there seems to be a conflict between English language teaching and content subject teaching. When the students are still struggling with English language， they cannot pay full attention to the content knowledge. They have to deal with both the complex language and the difficult content at the same time. So， its not really surprising if students in the English immersion programs cannot learn subjects like history as well as the students from Chinese medium schools， especially in higher grades when the requirements for curriculum become demanding.

Secondly， it is mentioned by Baker that “Canadian immersion students do not always become grammatically accurate in their French…….Immersion students tend to lack the social and stylistic sense of appropriate language use which the native speaker possesses” （p. 268）. This could also happen among Chinese immersion students. Even though the students are involved in an all-English environment at school， they are limited to communicate only with their classmates and teachers in English. They do not use English after school and they dont get the chance to talk with native English speakers in other social occasions. So， they cannot develop full competence in English language use.

Thirdly， the research about the effectiveness of immersion programs has concentrated on the outcome of immersion education. However， we know little about learners perspectives of immersion. Little research has focused on immersion learners learning process， their thoughts on the program， and their preferences. Plus， test scores cannot be considered as the only indicator of students capacity. There is a danger of immersion education that it can lead students to have a really good understanding of the target language while cannot produce it well.

Last but not least， Baker （2011） suggests that there is a danger in generalizing from the successful French immersion programs in Canada to elsewhere in the world. Different countries have different policies and different education contexts， which can lead to a very different result. Baker （2011） brings about five points that people should keep in mind when doing the immersion programs in their countries： 1. Immersion bilingual education should be optional not enforced. 2. There should be a homogeneous grouping of children in immersion classrooms， which can make it more efficient. 3. There should be respect for childrens home language and culture （which wont be a problem in China）. 4. Immersion teachers should be committed to immersion education. 5. Its important to view immersion education in not only educational terms， but also in political， social， and cultural ideology. In order to make the immersion programs successful in China， educators and school administers should carefully consider those five factors that have already lead to the success in the French immersion programs in Canada.

Ⅳ.CONCLUSION

During the past decades， English language teaching has undergone great changing. As one of the reforming program， the immersion education seems to bring about success in students English language proficiency. With the many studies showing students in the English immersion programs generally have a better performance in English tests and develop more proficient oral language skills than their peers in the traditional English classrooms， we have a good reason to believe in this newly introduced language immersion programs. However， There are certain limitations of the programs that can probably prevent them from being effective. In order to conduct the English immersion programs successfully in China， educators must overcome many obstacles and break up all the limitations. Hopefully， the development of English immersion programs in China will be smoother and smoother， and Chinese students English levels will be improved greatly.

As for future researches， I think more emphasis should be put on the investigation of students perspectives on the immersion programs. More studies should focus on the learning process of students rather than the test scores solely. And there should also be some long-term studies focusing on the effectiveness of the English immersion programs because we dont know if those programs can have long-term effects.

References：

[1]Baker， C. （2011）. Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 5th edition. Bristol， UK： Multilingual Matters.

[2]Baker （Eds.）， Policy and practice in bilingual education： Extending the foundations （pp. 118–133）. Clevedon， UK： Multilingual Matters.

[3]Genesee， F. （1995）. The Canadian second language immersion program. In O. Garcia & C.

[4]Marsh， H.， Hau， K. T.， & Kong， C. K. （2000）. Later immersion and language of instruction in Hong Kong high schools： Achievement growth in language and non-language subjects. Harvard Educational Review， 70， 302–350.

[5]Qiang， H. & Siegel， L. S. （2012）. Introduction of English immersion in China： A transplant with modifications. International Education， 4， 6-18.

【作者簡介】Lai Yi（1992.8-），female， Han Nationality， Guangdong Province，Masters Degree， assistant lecturer， English education， School of Foreign Language。