Title: A preliminary case study of school-based additive bilingual curricula
in Taiwan.
Topic area: Secondary Education, Bilingual Program
Keywords : School-based curricula, Additive bilingual instruction
Authors: Dr. Wenrong Timothy Tsay, Huansheng Weng, Wenchun Wendy Ko
Addresses : Center of Educational Program
National Chong-Hsin University
250 Gokuang Road
Taichong, Taiwan 402, R.O.C.
E-mail: wtsay@mail.nchu.edu.tw (Dr. Tsay)
hangseng86@yahoo.com.tw (Mr. Weng)
wendyocean@yahoo.com.tw (Ms. Ko)
Phone: 011 -886-4-22840668 ext. 48 (Dr. Tsay)
011 -886-4-7369678 (Mr. Weng)
011 -886-4-7624765 (Ms. Ko)
Fax: 011 -886-4-22853362 (National Chong-Hsin University)
011 -886-4-7369677 (Chang-Tai Junior High School)
Abstract
In response to the trend of bilingual literacy, Chang-Tai Junior High School
created its own school-based immersion curricula in the past academic year. An
instructional expert from a local university, the school principal, and four English
teachers composed the research team in this study. In its first-year of implementation,
there were routine and non-routine activities throughout the year. “English Day”,
“Chinese Proverb Translation”, and “Teach-Your-Parent” were implemented on a
weekly basis, whereas a dictionary-checking contest, a stage play contest, a singing
contest, an essay declamation, a multi-step game, guest speaker’s talks, and a
portfolio exhibition were held on a chronological basis.
After the first year, the research team conducted a student survey and also
interviewed several English teachers. Several weaknesses were discovered, among
them were an insufficient budget, work overload for English teachers, the dysfunction
of English teachers committee, and an overoptimistic prediction of learner analysis.
In addition, positive responses from 456 students were found, such as having a
positive response toward all kinds of immersion programs, a nd expecting various
English-speaking activities in the future. With as high as a 78% approval rating
regarding parents’ appreciation toward bilingual education, about 70% of the class
mentors and 83% of the English teachers attentively participate in design and
implementation of bilingual activities. Finally, several suggestions for further
improvements of this experiment are provided.