The effectiveness of a bilingual education program at a Chinese university: a case study of social science majors

ABSTRACT

This study examined the effectiveness of a bilingual education program in social science majors in Chinese education at tertiary level. Participants were 53 undergraduate students enrolled in their third year of an Early Childhood Education program at a university in northwestern China. Students’ English proficiency and their attitudes toward the bilingual education programs were investigated. A mixed-methodological approach was used to better understand the efficacy of bilingual education programs. Both quantitative and qualitative results suggested that the bilingual education model successfully enhanced students’ level of English proficiency. However, the mastery of subject knowledge in the bilingual education program was questioned. Students’ English language ability appeared to be the strongest predictor associated with learning outcomes in the bilingual course. Teaching quality was considered to be another important factor associated with the bilingual education program. Strengths and weaknesses of the bilingual education program model and its implications for educational practices in tertiary institutions in Chinese higher education were discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Bilingual education
• effectiveness
• social science majors
• Chinese university

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to all the students and the teacher who participated in the study, and school administrators who supported this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Miao Li is a Baning Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA.

Notes

1 Students were allowed to choose multiple choices on this item.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Youth Foundation of Ministry of Education in China [grant number 15YJC880036] and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship [grant number 756-2013-0874].