An Experimental Study On The Application Of IMMERSE Mode In English Teaching In Junior High School And Its Effect On Students’ Speaking Ability

It is common that a high school graduate or even college school graduate can not communicate in English, even though he/she has learned English for almost10years. Searching for the reasons, we may find that students seldom speak English among themselves. Teachers’ teaching methods are boring and students lack confidence in speaking English. But English has to be used all the time by both teachers and students if we use immersive teaching method, thus creating an English speaking environment. Also, teachers will try their best to attract students’ interest by all kinds of activities and offer more chances for students to speak English in class, which can make students more confident of speaking English. So, I believe it will be a good way to use immersive teaching method to improve students’speaking ability.The immersive teaching method in this thesis is based on the "critical period hypothesis" by E. Lenneberg,"input hypothesis" by Krashen,"output hypothesis" by Swain and "interaction hypothesis" by Long. The IMMERSE teaching mode is put forward, which respectively refers to instructing, manipulating, motivating, evaluating, reading and reciting, speaking and exploring. Then, by means of oral test, questionnaire, and interview with students, a comprehensive comparison is made between two classes, with one instructed in the immersive teaching method, and the other, the traditional teaching method. The results show that compared with traditional teaching method, the immersive teaching method is more effective in improving students’ speaking ability. In some way, it also stimulates students’ enthusiasm for learning English, improves their learning methods and change their learning attitude for the better.