The Effectiveness of Bilingual Environmental Print in An Elementary School: A Case Study

Abstract

In Taiwan, different kinds of Chinese-English bilingual environmental print (BEP), such as signs for different places and English learning related posters, can be seen in nearly every elementary school. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the design of the elementary school bilingual environmental print and its effect in language learning and teaching. Participants in the study were nine members of staff and 622 students sampled from the third grade to the sixth grade in an elementary school in northern Taiwan. Two sets of interviews and questionnaires were employed to collect data. Both qualitative analysis of interviews and quantitative statistical analysis of the questionnaire were employed for data analysis. The findings indicate that (1) the design of the BEP was primarily a top-down process, i.e., the educational authority and the school`s administrative staff directed the design of the BEP; (2) the teachers` degree of the involvement in the design of the BEP influenced their willingness to conduct the BEP instruction; (3) although more than 80% of the students noticed the existence of the BEP and showed a high interest in learning the content of the BEP, the effectiveness of the BEP in students` language learning was not obvious without instruction from the English teachers; and (4) most students appreciated the existence of the BEP, and both students and teachers suggest that more English teachers and students be involved in the design of the BEP.

在台灣，幾乎在每一所小學裡都可以看到不同種類的中-英雙語環境之印刷佈置物，譬如用在不同地方的標語，以及與英語學習相關的海報。本研究旨在了解這些校園英語環境印刷佈置物的設計與成效，以及如何有效運用這些英語教學資源。本研究對象來自於北台灣一所國小九位教職員以及622位三到六年級的學童。資料蒐集主要來源為訪談及問卷。訪談資料是採用質化加以分析；問卷調查的資料則是採以量化的統計分析。本研究主要的發現為：（1）校園英語環境印刷佈置物之設計規劃，主要由教育主管機關以及學校行政人員決定和負責。（2）英語教師參與校園英語環境印刷佈置物之設計規劃的程度，會影響她/他們是否使用這些英文印刷品進行教學的意願。（3）80%以上的受訪學生都注意到校園中的英語環境印刷佈置物，也顯示高度的學習意願。但是由於多數英語教師未使用這些佈置物於教學上，所以這些佈置物對於學生的英語學習幫助並不明顯。4. 大部分的受訪者贊同校園中英語環境印刷佈置物存在的必要性；而且師生們都建議應該要有更多的人參與雙語情境內容的設計。