Critical Thinking on the Application of Immersion Teaching Method in Chinese English Class

Jingting GAO

Baoji University of Arts and Sciences,Baoji,721013,China

[Abstract] The success of immersion teaching in second language teaching not only adds new vitality to world language teaching,but also provides new ideas for English teaching in China.This teaching method is worth learning from in English class teaching in China.It helps to improve English teacher's teaching ability and create better teaching effect.Thereby,improving student's ability to comprehensively use English language.This paper mainly analyzes and discusses the immersion language teaching mode in Canada,and draws effective teaching experience to guide English class in China,providing different guidance and reference for it.

[Keywords] Second language learning;Immersion teaching;English language teaching in China;English teaching method

Introduction

With the development of globalization of the world economy and culture,the teaching of language is becoming more and more extensive.It is especially important to choose a good teaching method and create a good learning environment.In the longterm,in the immersive learning environment,L2 learners begin to learn and continue to input information early in life and learn in a few years or decades,there is no doubt that their performance will exceed later learner (Vanhove,2013).In the 1960s,the immersion teaching model originated in Canada.The teaching of French to English－speaking children in Quebec,Canada,has attracted worldwide attention.Since then,the United States,Australia,Japan,Singapore,and other countries have followed suit and have achieved satisfactory results.

In present－day China,English has become a compulsory course from the basic education stage to the higher education stage.China has undergone tremendous reforms in the field of English teaching since the reform and opening－up policy,and also carried out curriculum reforms for English teaching (Curriculum,2007b),the effect of English teaching is not very satisfactory.The main problem is the ability of students to seriously lack the practical use of languages,such as oral English,communicative competence and listening ability.In addition,my personal experience as an English teacher found that because of the lack of language input and the ability to use language in a high－quality language,these factors have hindered the success of English teaching.However,Canadian immersion teaching has achieved success in second language teaching,which not only adds new vitality to language teaching in the world but also provides new ideas for English teaching in China.This teaching method is worthy of reference in our English classroom teaching to help improve the teaching ability of English teachers and create better teaching effects,thus promoting students' ability to use English language comprehensively.

This paper is mainly about the analysis and discussion of the Canadian immersion teaching model,from which to draw effective teaching experience to guide Chinese English classroom teaching.This article is divided into four parts.First,it mainly summarizes the concept,characteristics,goals,and significance of immersion teaching.Second,it discusses the main theoretical sources of immersion teaching.Then,it analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of this teaching method.Finally,through the comparison between the advantages of the immersion teaching method and the current situation of Chinese English teaching,it provides new guidance and reference for English teaching in China.

The definition of immersion teaching

In the context of foreign language learning,there are few opportunities for foreign language exposure outside the classroom.Therefore,the amount of foreign language input is particularly important because it provides the necessary conditions for language acquisition (Duff &Polio,1990).Immersion is well understood,as the name implies,soaking makes it penetrate.Immersion teaching refers to the teaching and curriculum teaching mode in which a foreign language is used as the teaching language,which is to soak students in the learning environment of foreign languages.Unlike the traditional classroom－based second foreign language teaching model,the immersive teaching method is characterized by comprehensive contact with the language being studied in terms of learning time and course content accompanying language learning (Genesee,1987).In other words,English is not only the content of learning but also a tool for learning.The idea of immersion teaching is to let students enter the atmosphere of the language environment,applying what they have learned,and combine the content of the book with the reality to allow students to use the language flexibly.Its main goal is to develop learners' language skills,as well as to "be a concern with supporting learners in developing positive attitudes towards target language users and their culture and the language learning process itself” (Swain &Lapkin,1989: 333).Immersion learning mainly adopts two principles.The first is the principle of teaching in L2.Immersion method provides students with a complete L2 learning environment and a rich opportunity to speak the target language.If students can express their emotions and ideas well,the transformation of this process is the process of students acquiring a second language.Second,this is the principle of interaction.In the teaching process,if the teacher participates in the practical activities,it plays a great role in mobilizing the enthusiasm and participation of the students.In addition,teachers' encouragement to students can help students overcome their shame and nervousness.At the same time,teachers appropriately change the teaching mode and create a learner－centered autonomous learning environment.Thus,the second language immersion teaching is an active and voluntary choice.It is based on the modern pedagogy,linguistics,and related disciplines,and has its own unique teaching principles and methods.

The theoretical basis of immersion teaching

According to behaviorist theory,language should be treated as a habitual system that can be taught and learned on the basis of stimulation,reaction,and reinforcement(Griffiths &Parr,2001).Behaviorists believe that knowledge is not dependent on introspection and is concerned with the legal relationship between external observations and subsequent responses (Boghossian,2006).Immersion teaching is designed to create a language environment for students to acquire the first language ability,continuously input a large number of target languages,and strengthen and help students learn a second language in a natural state.However,there are some special situations.For example,for immigrants,they can also practice and improve their L2 by immersing themselves in a language－soaked environment.In addition,according to the input hypothesis principle of Krashen (1987),using input contexts outside of language and knowledge of the world can help people understand languages that are slightly beyond current comprehension.Moreover,language skills can be developed through listening and understanding(Krashen,1982).Therefore,in the process of immersion teaching,teachers help students to enhance their understanding of learning content by means of rich body language,pictures,audio and video materials,simple vocabularies and language structure application,and repeated examples.Finally,Vygotsky's theory of the role of language in the development of intelligence,the cognitive processes he described is determined by the interaction of their social environment (Santiago－Delafosse &Delafosse,2002).Immersion teaching advocates organizing a variety of classroom activities to fully utilize the initiative and cooperation of students' learning and mobilizes students' enthusiasm to transform teaching mode from teacher－centered to student－centered,which students construct their own knowledge structure in environmental interaction.In summary,these theoretical sources provide the basis for the development of immersion teaching.

Evaluate immersion teaching in the contemporary class model

Immersion teaching opens up a new idea for L2 learning and also provides a good language learning model.In the practice of English teaching,because of the advantages of the immersive teaching mode,teachers and language learners are encouraged to establish confidence in English learning,but to some extent,it also has certain limitations.The immersion teaching model has a positive impact on the improvement of language ability and the physical and mental development of learners.First,immersion teaching creates an immersive foreign language environment,which is conducive to improving students' sensitivity to language,helping them master the language and improving the teaching level and effect of foreign languages.For example,McGinnis (1997) borrowed immersive teaching in North America to promote the application of the Monolingual Principle in China,and found that the use of a fully immersive teaching strategy was promoted by Middlebury College and Princeton in Beijing,which was considered one of the most effective strategies for promoting learning progress and critical success.In addition,Spada and Lightbown (1989) observed the development of L2 in French－speaking children in an intensive ESL program and found that children's English fluency and application skills have improved significantly in five months of English communication.It seems that a good language environment can not only improve the language ability of English learners but also achieve the purpose of teaching.

Second,the immersion teaching class emphasizes that teaching should be meaningful communication,the acquisition of students' L2 ability is naturally generated along with the mastery of subject knowledge,so it is conducive to promoting the healthy development of students' mind and reducing the anxiety about L2 learning.For instance,Kearney (2010) suggested that creating a culturally narrative classroom environment requires a variety of expressions and texts,including written and audible text,pictures,videos,movies,gestures,and any other symbolic resources for communication.By introducing a variety of cultural texts,learners will communicate in the form of a meaning network.On the other hand,Swain and Lapkin (1989) investigated English－speaking and French－speaking classrooms,and through the discovery of immersion teaching,students felt more confident about their language skills while the degree of anxiety in using grammar was also low.Therefore,a common view was that teachers should spend the much time on the L2 input.(Ellis,1984) As Macaro (2001) thought that students were fully exposed to L2 through TL teaching,allowing learners to experience unpredictability and develop their own built－in language system.More importantly,it can not only help teachers achieve their teaching goals but also enable students to successfully master language skills in a relaxed atmosphere by taking advantages of immersion teaching.

The disadvantages of immersion teaching in the contemporary class model

Immersion teaching,however,has encountered some obstacles in the process of L2 practice,and there are certain limitations.On the one hand,immersion teaching has requirements for the L2 level of teachers and students.For example,Harbord (1992)suggested that many teachers may attempt to turn to a full English class and found that they did not have enough L2 strategies to express their meaning.At the same time,in the face of students' incomprehension and dissatisfaction with the new classroom games,they had to resume their mother tongue.He also stated that in most cases,teachers turned to L1 to explain grammar because they felt that L2's explanation was too complicated and even thought that they could not use English to explain the structure in question clearly (Harbord,1992).Thus,these all emphasize that high－quality faculty has some influence on the results of immersion teaching.In addition,Hobbs and Matsuo and Payne (2010) observed through the Japanese classroom teaching practice that if L1 is not used in the classroom,students may have a cognitive and processing language information burden.While the experimenter firmly believed that L1 exists to allow students to relax and avoid L2 student activities failing due to lack of understanding (Macaro,2001).Furthermore,in order to improve the teaching effectiveness of the immersive classroom,teachers,and students with language skills are required to cooperate together.

On the other hand,the immersion teaching mode focuses on language input and ignores the language output problem,which has a negative impact on the development of language expression ability.For instance,Swain and Lapkin (1989) found that in the immersion teaching,teachers were listening to most of the time in the classroom because of the limitations of regular teaching content and students answered the teacher's question was not based on their own interests.Swain (1993) pointed out that in the teaching of the second language,students were exposed to a large amount of comprehensible input,but she described the output of learners of immersion learning as the minimum requirements that must be met in the classroom.She also claimed that providing only comprehensible input was not enough to capture,because the output forces the learner to deal with the language more deeply while consider both meaning and language.Thus,the input and output of the language is a circular system of knowledge,while the immersive classroom ignores the importance of language output.In summary,although immersion teaching has been successful in the education of some countries,it still has some problems that require L2 practitioners to avoid these shortcomings during the learning process.

The comparison between the immersion teaching method and the current situation of Chinese English teaching

In the contemporary Chinese classroom teaching mode,due to the constraints of the education examination system,teachers have limited space to play teaching ability in the English classroom.Similarly,due to the long－term influence of the traditional teaching mode,although China has carried out a lot of reforms on the content and requirements of English teaching,it is difficult for teachers and students to adjust to the new situation in a short period of time.To some extent,the results of English teaching are not very obvious,especially when students lack the ability to express spoken English and use English as a tool to communicate with others.The classroom plays a key role as a way for students to input a large amount of English language.The application of immersion classes in China,therefore,is very meaningful and necessary.

First,by adopting immersion teaching,as a teaching language,English has always run through various academic activities,and the opportunities for students to encounter English have greatly increased,which greatly promotes students' acquisition of language.For example,in the contemporary Chinese English class,although the teacher tries his best to teach in the L2,the content of the study is generally out of the living situation.At the same time,due to the limited time of the English course,it is difficult for students to access a large amount of language input in a short period of time,thus affecting the enthusiasm and progress of the students in learning the language.In contrast,immersion teaching focuses on creating a rich language environment,and the content of learning combines with daily life.It makes the content of learning from simple to difficult.It is beneficial for students to learn the language step by step,and gradually reduce the dependence on the mother tongue,so that the process of English learning and application is closely linked,and the formation of students' English thinking ability is promoted.

Another aspect,immersion teaching requires teachers to adopt a variety of auxiliary teaching forms and methods in the class,which is beneficial to motivate students to actively participate in classroom activities and acquire knowledge,hence helping to transform classroom mode from teacher－centered into student－centered.For instance,in China,because of many tasks of the course and the tight time,the teachers have to complete the teaching goals and content in a limited time.An English class is only 45 minutes (Curriculum,2007b).Most teachers,therefore,tend to input a large amount of course content to students,and students passively accept knowledge in the classroom.It is clear that the classroom atmosphere is boring and dull,which makes students gradually get accustomed to accepting knowledge,and are not willing to actively participate in classroom activities and thinking.In the long run,students will slowly lose interest in learning English,thereby reducing the motivation for learning English.However,immersion teaching provides students with a rich form of teaching such as slides,videos,and interesting methods such as situational teaching and activity teaching.These can arouse students' attention to the English class and stimulate the enthusiasm for learning in order to enhance their motivation and initiative of learning.

Finally,the immersion teaching model can reduce students' fear and anxiety about English learning.Although most students begin to take English courses from elementary school in China,because of the lack of language environment,they also face the pressure of exams.Thus,the learning of English is somewhat fearful,and the more afraid it is,the less willing it is to learn,which leads to a vicious circle of learning habits.After many years of English study,most students are still in the initial stage of listening,speaking,reading and writing.They cannot communicate smoothly with others in English.Nevertheless,immersive English teaching provides a way of thinking and methods to establish a model that follows the needs of students' language development,helping students to successfully master language skills while also reducing students' language learning pressure.

Conclusion

The immersion teaching model is an innovative and scientific second language learning method that has been adopted and succeeded in many countries.Due to the innovation of immersion teaching and the importance of English,China began to gradually introduce and develop immersion English teaching in the late twentieth century.With the informationization of society and the globalization of the economy,the demand for foreign language talents in society is also changing.The goal of foreign language teaching in the basic education stage is no longer just the transfer of language knowledge and the cultivation of language ability,but the development of students' comprehensive ability.Immersion classroom method is a place where students receive high－quality language input and is a place for language speaking and practice.Teachers make full use of the immersion classroom method to motivate students to learn.For example,in China's economically developed cities,such as Shanghai and Beijing,some international schools have begun to adopt immersion teaching methods to help students learn L2,and achieved good results.In this way,students learn L2 and establish a certain English thinking to help them successfully obtain admission notices from foreign universities.On the one hand,teachers help students discover and learn to use language rules.On the other hand,they guide students to develop language skills through teacher－student interaction and a large number of reading and listening exercises,so as to cultivate students' ability to use language comprehensively.

In this essay,it objectively expounds the background,concept,theoretical source and significance of the immersive teaching method.At the same time,it evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of this method in modern language teaching.Moreover,it is more important to compare the advantages of this model with the Chinese English teaching model in order to help them find new language teaching ideas.In conclusion,even though the immersion mode still has some limitations in the language teaching process,the Chinese foreign language teaching classroom model can use immersion model's advantages and characteristics and combine its own actual situation to develop a suitable method to promote the progress of English teaching.