A Study On Students’ Acquisition Of Chinese In The Immersion Program Of Muir Elementary School In The US

In recent years,the rapid increase in the number of Chinese learners has lead to the inventions of different types of teaching methods and programs.The immersion method has developed rapidly since it was introduced to the United States in the 1960 s.The number of Chinese immersion programs has been increasing.The development of immersion program is the fastest among all Chinese programs in the US.Schools with such programs are sought after by American parents(Cocca,2013).In 2016,there are 208 K-12 s have Chinese immersion program,mostly in the elementary stage.Chinese immersion programs in Minnesota,California and Utah have been successful.However,there are few studies focusing on language acquisition in immersion program.This paper studies the students of Chinese immersion program at Muir Elementary School in Utah,focusing on English-speaking children’s acquisition of pronunciation vocabulary and grammar,as well as students’ development in listening,speaking,reading and writing ability.In addition,this paper also studies the impact of using Chinese as tool language to learn other subjects on students’ performances in other subjects.The results show that the performances of students in Utah’s Chinese immersion program are not inferior to students who are not in immersion Chinese classes.This dissertation contains five Chapters:The first chapter is the introduction,explaining the reason for choosing this topic,the content of the research and research significance.The second chapter reviews previous research.This chapter also discusses the theoretical basis of immersion programs and its current development.The third chapter is the main content of this article.It studies student’s pronunciation,vocabulary and grammar acquisition.It also analyses students’ errors.In additions,this chapter examines and describes students’ Chinese ability.The fourth chapter is another main content of this research.It investigates the development of the students’ ability in listening,speaking and reading by testing.This chapter also compares Chinese immersion students’ performances on English language,mathematics and science with the average performances of the school,school district and the state.Result shows that immersion students’ performances are not inferior to their peers,some even better.Chapter five presents the conclusion of this dissertation.In this chapter,the author systematically summarizes the research and reflects on its limitations.