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.