On the study of immersion program for the vocational school students in English learning

【Abstract】The purpose of this paper aims to reflect upon an experiment which was conducted by the author. A traditional English learning usually goes like a teacher standing lonely on the platform with many students staying calm in the classroom. In this case， We tried to encourage the students to act within the concept of active learning stead of passive learning. And we tried to prove the immersion program is very efficient in our teaching.

【Key words】Immersion; active learning; environment

【作者簡介】张阳，四川科技职工大学。

1. Language Immersion Program

The English concept “immersion” has been popular in the English teaching， which is to cultivate communication with other people and thinking in English for all the time. The theory has been put forward in Canada in 1960s [1]. Its innovative teaching ideas and scientific modes of teaching has brought enthusiastic teachers from all over the world， who take great time in researching innovation in the “immersion” teaching.

The teachers who adopt the “immersion” methodology are devoted to creating an authentic English language environment. In china， an all-English learning environment has just been carried out for a just few years. And a lot of training institutions just emphasize the importance of the foreign teachers instead of teaching target and learning purpose. Oral English and listening ability are the two weak links of English learning in China. Its very common for our students to reach zero success， even though they may spend a lot of time and money on the learning. We should aim to improve our students English through creating an all-English living environment， carrying out a scientific classification for English teaching and strengthening the influence on the Chinese students. The experiment has already demonstrated that using such an all-English “immersion” teaching method is the most efficient way to study English.

Since China has adopted the policy of reform and opening up， foreign language learning has become more and more vital in our daily life. Under this situation， the “immersion” teaching method has been introduced in our country in order to improve our students studying efficiency. Fang junming and Cai wei have been devoted to researching the psychologic change in students. Liu yaling and Wang qin have tried to demonstrating the “immersion” teaching method can improve students listening and reading abilities.

2. The Characteristics of the Immersion program

The principal advantage of language study with immersion program is chronologic repetition by practicing the language more frequently and immersing yourselves in another language and culture. In the intensive language learning， the shortened cycles between classes may equip you with the benefits of a truly holistic educational experience. In essence， we create an environment in which the students can develop fluency in a second language while heightening the students perception of a different culture and its people.

Immersed in a second language environment， students can be offered with a plethora of a new vocabulary and grammar and a chance to master the intricate grammatical compositions that distinguish a native-sounding speaker form an amateur. This learning experience may be a highly challenging way for the dedicated students to master a second language.

3. The Possibility of the Application of Immersion Program used in the Vocational School

In 2001， the ministry of Education in China called for the implementing bilingual education in Chinese universities in order to meet the need of fast economic development in China， especially for high-tech field， like biometric technology and information technology， the bilingual courses of which must occupied for 5%——10% of all the courses in next three years. By 2015， there are 1314 vocational schools in China， with the enrollment of 3480，000 students， which is 41.2% of the university students.

For most vocational school students， they have poor English knowledge structure and have little interest in learning English. In order to use the immersion program， 30 students have been chosen from all the classes I taught. Our studies have demonstrated that students who immersed themselves a foreign language in school tend to receive higher standard test scores than the students who have not studies a foreign language in school. Bilingual immersion programs are meant to cultivate the proficiency in foreign languages and help the vocational students gain appreciation of languages which are not their own.

4. The Requirement for the Immersion Program

4.1 The Requirement for Teachers

This program demands that teachers should have native background or have close native language competence and have mastered the culture in English-speaking countries. So English native speakers with fluent English are essential to the success of immersion program. If teachers have lacked the qualifications， that will make it difficult to implement. Teachers should have a good training， which is vital for teaching.

4.2 The Language Setting for the Classroom

According to the input hypothesis proposed by Krashen[6] ，Learners progress in their knowledge of the language when they comprehend language input that is slightly more advanced than their current level. Krashen called this level of input “i+1”， where “i” is the learners inter-language and “+1” is the next stage of language of language acquisition. This means the language setting of teaching material should be a little advanced than their current language level， which can be comprehended to some extent.

Only creating an immersion environment is not enough. Language input is derived mainly form class activities and authentic materials， which are also lacking. Thats why we preferred the use of authentic and diversified language input. Therefore， we should create a true communication situation， such as a real-life conversations， lectures and TV programs and even English drama， which are interesting and diversified. In a long time， the vocational students learning motivation can be improved.

5. Conclusion

This paper is intended to show that the application of immersion program for the vocational school students is very important. We should go beyond the rigid traditional mode of teaching and learning， and we can find a more flexible alternative one， which can largely enhance the students interest in English and reach their full potential abilities. The experiment we did in my classroom show there exists possibility and necessity for the vocational students master a second language in a better way， that is， through immersion methodology. As we observed， such a move requires we adopt a non-traditional teaching-learning process. And that balance must come both from the teachers and students.

References：

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