Teaching English in English Immersion Classes

1. Teaching English in English Immersion Classes Taking a closer look at issues of English teachers in English immersion programs

2. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 2 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes Overview 1. Immersion in Switzerland 2. Immersion in the canton of Z�rich 3. The experience of immersion teachers in Z�rich 4. HSGYM: Recommendations for English teachers 5. Help for English teachers in immersion programs 6. Examples 7. Time for questions

3. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 3 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 1. Immersion in Switzerland early 90s: first immersion programs today: 70 of 177 public high schools in 18 cantons about 10% of all students, ca. 6�900 students 41 of 81 programs offer English as immersion language (source: Elmiger, Daniel und Anton N�f. Die zweisprachige Maturit�t in der Schweiz. 2007, www.nfp56.ch) since 1999: EDK offers Netzwerktagung Immersion for immersion and English teachers

4. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 4 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 2. Immersion in the canton of Z�rich 1989: Liceo Artistico offers Italian/German immersion program 2001: pilot project: 3 high schools with English/German immersion today: 13 high schools with English/German immersion August 2010: 2 high schools with French/German immersion since 2001: annual immersion didactics course for immersion teachers with one module (half a day) open for English teachers

5. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 5 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 3. The experience of immersion teachers in Z�rich questionnaire sent to English teachers in immersion programs in October 2009 All immersion teachers from 13 schools were contacted, 12 returned the questionnaire 14 questions were asked

6. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 6 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes Questions from the questionnaire: 1. Do you like teaching immersion classes? 2. What opportunities/challenges do you see in teaching such classes? 3. What are the main differences to regular English classes? 4. Do you work differently with immersion classes regarding the 4 skills reading, listening, speaking, writing? 5. Do you work differently with immersion classes regarding grammar?

7. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 7 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 6. Do you work differently with immersion classes regarding vocabulary? 7. Do you work differently with immersion classes regarding texts? 8. Language problems: Do immersion students in your opinion manage well in immersion lessons? 9. In what year do immersion students reach the expected matura level of B2 in productive skills and C1 in receptive skills? 10. What level do immersion students reach by the matura exams?

8. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 8 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 11. Do you cooperate with immersion teachers of your class? 12. Do you consider this cooperation satisfactory? Why (not)? 13. Do your immersion students bring immersion materials to your classes? 14. Do you think immersion teachers need continuing education courses to learn how to teach immersion classes?

9. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 9 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 1. Do you like teaching immersion classes? Answers: 9 yes, 2 no, 1 no difference yes, because immersion classes advance more quickly, can cover difficult topics, because teacher feels challenged no, because there are more mixed ability classes due to native speakers in immersion classes

10. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 10 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 2. What opportunities/challenges do you see in teaching such classes? Answers: + Students have better language competence, learn more quickly, are more critical, more difficult cultural topics and literary texts can be covered, projects are possible - students overestimate themselves, are happy with global understanding, not interested in details, it�s more difficult to get all students to the same level of competence

11. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 11 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 3. What are the main differences to regular English classes? Answers: + immersion students want to be challenged, are more motivated, ambitious, willing to work hard, learn more quickly, show greater interest in language and literature, communicate in English naturally, can deal with difficult literary texts, can see their potential more realistically, it�s possible to do poetry with them and to act out short scenes, their parents have higher expectations for them - immersion students have fewer social skills, classes are more heterogenous

12. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 12 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 4. Do you work differently with immersion classes regarding the 4 skills reading, listening, speaking, writing? Answers: 8x yes: use higher level textbook, use more difficult texts, have more debates and discussions, do more difficult listening exercises, progress more quickly, use more authentic materials, involve class more in choice of materials, do more writing since they do a lot of listening in immersion classes, work more in projects 3x no; 1x no answer

13. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 13 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 5. Do you work differently with immersion classes regarding grammar? Answers: 6x yes: introduce grammar when the topics fits, have students work out grammar themselves, use less time for grammar, rarely exclusive grammar lessons, progress more quickly 5x no; 1x no answer

14. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 14 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 6. Do you work differently with immersion classes regarding vocabulary? Answers: 6x yes: work through specific vocabulary before maths and physics immersion starts, use more types of materials (listening texts, films), focus on different registers more, focus on idiomatic expressions, do more vocabulary training in connection with texts/projects, work much more often with dicitionary (collocations) 4x no; 2x no answer

15. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 15 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 7. Do you work differently with immersion classes regarding texts? Answers: 8 x yes: more extensive reading, more difficult texts, use authentic texts earlier, use more non-literary texts (also pre-20th century), more student presentations, many literary projects, introduce skimming and scanning earlier on 3x no; 1x no answer

16. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 16 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 8. Language problems: Do immersion students in your opinion manage well in immersion lessons? Answers: 9 x yes 1 x no: class says there are no problems but the maths teacher complains that they�re overestimating themselves 2: no answer

17. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 17 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 9. In what year do immersion students reach the expected matura level of B2 in productive skills and C1 in receptive skills? Answers: 4x by middle of 11th year (some as early as end of 10th, all by middle of 12th year = matura year) 1x by matura; 7x no answer

18. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 18 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 10. What level do immersion students reach by the time they do their matura exams? Answers: listening: 1x A2, 2x C1, 1x C1.2, 2x C2 reading: 1x B1, 1x B2.2, 4x C1 speaking: 1x A2, 1x C1, 2x C1.2, 2x C2 writing: 1x B2, 1x B2.2, 4x C1

19. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 19 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 11. Do you cooperate with immersion teachers of your class? Answers: 3x yes: cooperation in vocabulary work, teamteaching, work with the same non-literary text with different focus, interdisciplinary topics, project on Australia, in project weeks 4x no, 5x no answer

20. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 20 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 12. Do you consider this cooperation satisfactory? Why (not)? Answers: 6x yes: feedback from immersion teachers that students were well prepared, you can react immediately when something linguistic comes up in immersion class, students were very motivated, was an enriching experience, creates opportunities for new projects 6x no answer

21. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 21 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 13. Do your immersion students bring immersion materials to your classes? Answers: 2x yes: to deal with linguistic aspects, teacher invites students to suggest topics 9x no; 1x no answer

22. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 22 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 14. Do you think immersion teachers need continuing education courses to learn how to teach immersion classes? Answers: 4x yes: how to address the specific needs of immersion classes, vocabulary acquisition, academic English, how to address the problems of mediocre or weak students, how to deal with heterogenous classes 6x no; 2x no answer

23. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 23 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes Additional question: Do you use the European Language Portfolio with your immersion classes? How? Dissertation of Heidi B�rgi, KS Rychenberg Winterthur: �Im Sprachbad. Besseres Englisch durch Immersion�, hep, 2007: > unfair grading could be counteracted by using the ELP

24. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 24 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes Summary Immersion classes: tend to be more heterogenous progress more quickly are motivated and able to do advanced work earlier on tend to overestimate their skills reach a higher level in the four skills Immersion teachers: tend to work differently with immersion classes use advanced, authentic materials

25. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 25 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes Immersion teachers: involve classes in choice of materials use different approach for grammar work favour some skills (listening, writing) prepare students with specific vocabulary (academic vocabulary) and dictionary work for immersion focus on registers, skimming and scanning use more non-literary texts do more projects consider cooperation with immersion teachers valuable

26. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 26 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 4. HSGYM: Recommendations for English teachers Project of University of Z�rich, ETH and 21 high schools of Z�rich Goal: to formulate for every subject measures to be taken in order to ensure �Hochschulreife und Studierf�higkeit� of matura students started 2006, over 200 recommendations published in January 2009 http://www.educ.ethz.ch/hsgym/index

27. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 27 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 4. HSGYM: Recommendations for English teachers English teachers and professors developed 21 suggestions for all English classes. Many seem to be particulary valuable for immersion English classes: 1. Pupils should be instructed and trained in the structuring of argumentative, expository and critical essays. � 4. Pupils should learn how to identify, in addition to the gist and broad themes, key details in difficult texts. �

28. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 28 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 4. HSGYM: Recommendations for English teachers 6. Pupils should be given several opportunities to listen to real and natural speech with academic content. � 7. Pupils should be given several opportunities to practice note taking during listening experiences. � 8. Pupils should learn to express themselves on complex or abstract topics in a spontaneous fashion. Exchanging and debating ideas must be regularly and systematically practised.

29. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 29 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 4. HSGYM: Recommendations for English teachers 9. Pupils must learn to distinguish informal, formal and academic registers in both speech and writing. 11. � All future teachers of English should learn how to teach advanced reading and writing skills. 12. Pupils should learn to speak freely in front of a class. 13. Pupils should learn to work and do research independently. �

30. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 30 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 5. Help for English teachers in immersion programs WBZ: Netzwerktagung Immersion in Basel, 1 day every other year Universit�t Z�rich/Fachstelle Fremdsprachen: Erfahrungsaustausch-Treffen Immersion, � day every year Immersion assistant hired by some schools Immersion Newsletter from Fachstelle Fremdsprachen (previous editions see www.fs-fremdsprachen.zh.ch, to subscribe contact martina.wider@mba.zh.ch)

31. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 31 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 6. Examples Selected materials from John Clegg�s presentation �Working together within Immersion/CLIL Projects: How Collaboration between Teachers Can Work and what it Can Achieve� at the last Immersion Erfa (October 2009): Worksheets on language for thinking, on verb phrases for science A university word list of the most frequently and widely used 150 words List of steps to take when collaborating with a subject teacher (all mentioned materials see www.fs-fremdsprachen.zh.ch)

32. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 32 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes 6. Examples Selected materials from Colin Browne, immersion assistant: Worksheets: for example �Saying Numbers� Suggestions for internet links (for academic word lists, for podcasts, for technology websites, for organisations that help with projects weeks etc.) (All mentioned materials see www.fs-fremdsprachen.zh.ch)

33. 10. Juli 2012, Seite 33 Teaching English in English Immersion Classes Conclusion Immersion teachers feel that in their English lessons they need to take into consideration the special needs of immersion classes. While there is as yet no specific syllabus for English of immersion classes, many changes in the curriculum seem to be made gradually. At the same time it is felt, it is time the syllabus for English of regular classes were adapted. Suggestions as to how this syllabus could look have been made. The next step will be to train student and experienced teachers to put them into practice.