Proposal For Action Research

3 Pages 839 Words

Proposal for Action Research

What is the problem?

The problem that I am planning to research regards the difficulty teachers of bilingual students experience in stimulating their pupils to speak English in the class, rather than their mother-tongue (Dutch). Bilingual education is aimed at better preparing able students for life in a global village, where English is the common language, by teaching them more English and allowing them to follow many other subjects in English. Pupils are taught in English on a daily basis, and perform well on examinations. Even so, they still revert to use of the Dutch language when they speak amongst themselves, but also when reacting to the teaching who questions them in English. Teachers are unable to keep pupils speaking English at all times during classes.

Why is this a problem?

This creates a problem because the objectives of bilingual education are compromised due to the fact that students do not practice the English language to their full capacity. If student are not better encouraged to practice their use of the English languange, they will not develop fluent speaking skills. This means that they are not that much better prepared for European citizenship than their non-bilingual counterparts.
A second aspect of this problem is the level of class participation. The unwillingness of pupils to speak English, results in less feedback from the class when the language of instruction is English. This means that one-way communication is the norm rather than interaction in the class. This is at odds with teaching methods aimed at activating students. The lack of particpation also makes it more difficult for teachers to accurately evaluate the level of understanding experienced by pupils.


How does this problem manifest itself?

This a class, where English is the language of instruction, the teacher has difficulty seeing to the use of English under the students. The teacher is confron...