1. Immersive English Education
Yuan Yuan
July 2014

2. SESSION OBJECTIVE FWBAT :
Understand the fundamentals of immersion in a language classroom
Understand the definition of immersive English education in the TFC context
Know how to create an immersive English language classroom
Total time: 5 min
Ben is going to use Japanese to teach Fellows a history class (2 min) –total immersion; to use target language to teach other subject 2

3. What is “immersion”?
Genesee gives the definition of immersion as one sort of bilingual education in which the target language is the medium to teach regular subjects in the curriculum. (Genesee, 1983)
5 min 3

4. Early immersion What is “immersion”? Delayed immersion Late immersion
Kindergarten
G123
Early immersion
G456
Delayed immersion
G7G8
Late immersion
5 min; use the alien language to explain “partial immersion”
Another way to classify immersion:
Total immersion: use only the target language as the instructional language Partial immersion: use half English and half target language
(Genesee, 1985) 4

5. What is immersive English education in the TFC context?
Facts:
You teach English as a language; you don’t teach other subjects through English.
You meet your students 1-2 times every week (possibly more if you teach formal EFL classes). Every class is minutes. Sometimes, you might have “morning/evening study time (早/晚自习)”classes as well.
It will be hard for you to create a totally
immersive English classroom.
So let’s focus on partial immersion!
2 min 5

6. Partial Immersive Classroom Recipe
Step 1: Create a safe English environment/learner community
As a teacher:
You are confident and patient
You set up rituals for your classroom (watch the video of Ms. Wei)
You use positive verbal reinforcement
You connect your content and delivery with students interest and learning style
You can learn from your students too
As students:
They feel safe to voice different opinions and make mistakes
They respect their peers
5 min 6

7. Partial Immersive Classroom Recipe
Remember: Your students don’t get to hear English outside of your classroom often. And because Mandarin is not their first language, your students will absorb your American accented Chinese in no time!
Step 2: Start speaking of classroom rules and commands in English
Classroom rules
Arrive on time
Sit in scholar position
Listen carefully
Raise your hand to speak
Keep your desk clean
Classroom commands and greetings (chanting)
Class begins.
Class is over.
Stand up.
Sit down.
Good morning.
Good afternoon.
Good evening.
Fear? Kids go out of control? – That is about your management plan and teacher personality!
Total time control: 5 min
Poster: write the rules in English (Chinese); use Japanese (English) to explain with TPR aid
Total Physical Response (TPR): A natural approach to teaching a foreign language (aka: comprehension approach) 7

8. What does it look like exactly in a classroom?
Group
Video
How much English did the teacher speak?
Was the teacher nervous?
Did students feel comfortable to speak English?
What did they do to create a comfortable English language classroom?
What were the common practices three teachers used?
Group 1
Thomas, G1, Kouyu, S2
Group 2
Christina, G3, EFL Regular, S3
Whole class
Baoshan local teacher, G1, Semester is unknown
25 min

9. Partial Immersive Classroom Recipe
Step 3: Spice up your classrooms with non-verbal cues!
Draw an English poster with the classroom rules, alphabet and numbers
Put the English names on the classroom objects and different colors
Create a “talent space” for their work in English
4. Post students’daily chanting on the wall
5 min 9

10. Partial Immersive Classroom Recipe
Step 3: Spice up your classrooms with non-verbal cues!
5 min 10

11. Partial Immersive Classroom Recipe
Step 3: Spice up your classrooms with non-verbal cues!
5 min 11

12. Partial Immersive Classroom Recipe
Step 3: Spice up your classrooms with non-verbal cues!
5 min 12

13. Wrap-up What are your two biggest takeaways in this session?
Do you have any questions?