A Case Study (CIEE) On The Use Of English In Chinese Beginning Class For American Learners

The presented thesis reports a case study encompassing CIEE Chinese Program in regard of the role of students’first language (L1) used as the medium of instruction in Chinese class. By examining the reality, acceptability and legitimacy of the use of L1, it is suggested that the definition of the current principle of "to teach the target language with the language"("TL principle") need to be expanded.The author first brings up the challenge faced by the "TL principle" with the facts that the TL usually cannot be used exclusively in the real classes, and the influence of the principle among the novice/pre-service is declining, plus the new context of Study Abroad Program may cast more doubts on its feasibility. Therefore, the use of L1should be taken into account before refining the principle.Chapter1reviews the literature on the medium of instruction in Chinese class from the perspectives of the approaches and methods in language teaching, the debate on the effects of L1/TL as the medium of instruction and empirical evidence. It is the base and start of the presented research. Then Chapter2explains the research design that stresses the nature of a case study research and involves classroom observation, interview, questionnaire, etc as the methods for data collection.Chapter3to5report and analyze the data of the research. Chapter3describes the use of the L1by the teachers in the aspects of the amount, the differences among the teachers and the classes, the situations of use and the most frequently-used words and phrases on the basis of the transcription of the classroom audio recording. Chapter4surveys the students’attitude toward it and Chapter5investigates how the students use the L1to aid their Chinese learning. This part serves as the evidence to justify the reality, acceptability and legitimacy of the use of L1, as well as the base for the refinement of the "TL principle". Finally, employing Macaro’s "The Optimal Position"(2001) regarding code-switch in foreign language class, a framework of valuing the teacher’s language choice is proposed.Chapter6summarizes the research and also discusses its significance, generalization and prospect. In short, the research supplements much data for the research category, tentatively expands the definition of the "TL principle" and proposes more variables for the further study. However, out of the nature of the case study research, its generalization is limited and should be corroborated by the subsequent studies.