Immersion (Linguistics and Education)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In linguistics and pedagogy, immersion ( Latin immersio , `` immersion '' ; hence also German  language bath ) is understood as a situation in which people, especially children, are placed in a foreign-language environment in which they - casually or as desired - the foreign Acquire language. In contrast to the application of language learning methods , with immersion the acquisition of the foreign language follows exclusively the principles of mother tongue acquisition .

In many multilingual cultures such as B. in Canada or on the Dutch-speaking Antilles Islands , language acquisition through immersion is an everyday matter of course, which often largely replaces foreign language teaching. Immersion is considered the world's most successful language learning method.

Educational benefit

Preschool lessons

In immigration countries like Canada, where the majority of children attend pre-school programs, immigrant children have always learned the national languages ​​English and French through immersion. In addition, Canadian kindergartens are often bilingual and, in regions with strong linguistic minorities, also offer mother-tongue care. B. in standard Chinese , German or Inuktitut .

In Germany, the proportion of day-care centers in which children can acquire a foreign language (except German) through immersion is less than two percent. Nevertheless, it has more than tripled in the last ten years. These are mainly facilities in the vicinity of border regions. Playful lessons in the form of courses for only one to two hours per week in English in the form of singing, dancing etc. are expressly not considered immersive, and the research does not recognize the benefits for learning progress. The learning progress through immersion has been scientifically investigated and proven over the last few years by various studies in Canada, the USA , but also in Germany.

School lessons

In many multilingual cultures, in which the official language is not the language spoken by the population, pupils in schools do not learn their foreign languages ​​through language lessons, but through immersion. While this practice is often classified as an educational policy failure in poor countries, efforts are now being made in some rich countries to explore the possibilities of immersion, e.g. B. to create an alternative to traditional foreign language teaching in school lessons. This has already been tested at the Breton Divan schools , in the Sorbian- German language area ( Witaj project ) and at the Simonswolde elementary school in East Frisia , where students are also taught in Low German .

However, there are more and more schools in German-speaking countries that offer immersion classes from the first grade onwards. In Switzerland immersion classes are not uncommon, and in Germany, the demand for English-language immersion on the part of parents. The main advantage of immersion lessons from the first grade of elementary school onwards is that the students learn it on the side without constant reminders that they are studying a foreign language. While taking part in mathematics, physical education or home and science classes, they encounter foreign-language technical terms and learn these words through repetition and application alone. Since the primary school teacher demonstrates every step in the process, it is not difficult for the students to understand. In the course of time, a framework of basic terms develops, with the help of which the students understand their work instructions better and better. Immersion lessons require that the teacher speaks the language as his mother tongue or has a comparable level.

Adult education

In language lessons for adults, it was Maximilian Delphinius Berlitz in particular who tried to make the principles of immersion usable.

German lessons for refugees

Immersion is also proving its worth when refugees learn the language . The more often they are in direct and ideally active contact with people from the host country, for example in sports, games, household chores or handicrafts, and the language of the host country is spoken exclusively, the faster they learn the new language. At the same time, manners, culture, etc. are conveyed. Classical teaching through role-playing in everyday situations is also methodologically and didactically suitable. As little as possible should be explained or translated, but rather described in the language of the host country or explained in a scenic pantomime.

Problem

One of the languages ​​must take on the role of the mother tongue, which is flanked by the languages ​​spoken in parallel, otherwise there is a risk that none of the languages ​​is fully mastered.

literature

  • Claudine Brohy, Anne-Lore Bregy: Multilingual and pluricultural school models in Switzerland or: What's in a name? In: Laurent Gajo (Ed.): Vous avez dit immersion?… (= Bulletin suisse de linguistique appliquée. Volume 67). Neuchâtel April 1998, ISSN  1023-2044 , pp. 85-99 ( doc.rero.ch [PDF; 8.2 MB]).
  • Henning Wode: Multilingualism through immersive KiTas. In: Hildegard Rieder-Aigner (Hrsg.): Future manual child day care facilities. Volume 2: Quality management for sponsors, management and team. Special edition, 2nd, updated edition. Walhalla-Fachverlag, Regensburg 2000, ISBN 978-3-8029-8404-4 , 48AL.
  • Henning Wode: Multilingual education in Europe - What can preschools contribute? In: S. Björklund (Ed.): Language as a Tool - Immersion Research and Practices. University of Vaasa: Proceedings of the University of Vaasa, Reports, 2001, pp. 424-446.
  • Petra Burmeister, Angelika Daniel: How effective is late partial immersion? Some findings from a secondary school program in Germany. In: Petra Burmeister, Thorsten Piske, Andreas (Eds.): An Integrated View of Language Development. Papers in Honor of Henning Wode. Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2002, ISBN 3-88476-488-8 .
  • Marjorie Bingham Wesche: Early French Immersion: How has the original Canadian model stood the test of time? In: Petra Burmeister, Thorsten Piske, Andreas Rohde (Eds.): An Integrated View of Language Development. Papers in Honor of Henning Wode. Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2002, ISBN 3-88476-488-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ WeAreTeachers: Why immersion May Be the Key to Foreign Language Learning. In: weareteachers.com. Retrieved September 21, 2016 .
  2. ^ Debating the Best Way to Learn a Language. In: learningenglish.voanews.com. Retrieved September 21, 2016 .
  3. ↑ BilinGO Campus: Immersion. (No longer available online.) In: bilingo-campus.eu. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016 ; accessed on September 21, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Jana Gerber: Immersion. In: international-primary-school.de. Retrieved September 21, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Harry Carstensen: FMKS - Association for Early Multilingualism at Daycare Centers and Schools e. V. In: fmks-online.de. Retrieved September 21, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Petra Burmeister, Henning Wode, Thorsten Piske, Kristin Kersten: I can speak two languages . Learning languages ​​with immersion in bilingual day nurseries, daycare centers and schools. Ed .: FMKS Association for Early Multilingualism at Daycare Centers and Schools e. V. 3rd, revised edition. Kiel 2012, ISBN 978-3-9809946-6-8 , pp. 30 (56 p., Fmks-online.de ( Memento from May 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 4.8 MB ; accessed on January 11, 2020] brochure).
  7. ↑ Harry Carstensen: FMKS - Association for Early Multilingualism at Daycare Centers and Schools e. V. In: fmks-online.de. Retrieved September 21, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Learning in immersive lessons. (No longer available online.) In: survey.psychpaed.uni-kiel.de. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016 ; accessed on September 21, 2016 .
  9. ↑ East Frisian Courier . November 21, 2008, p. 26.
  10. ↑ Erwin Bachmann: Education. For refugees: learn language according to the “Heidenheim model”. In: swp.de . August 31, 2015, accessed January 11, 2020.
  11. ↑ Luisa Hommerich: Learning languages ​​with the immersion method. Oops, I speak English. In: Der Tagesspiegel . November 18, 2013, accessed January 11, 2020.