The Paradox of Immersion in a Second Language

This study investigated the relationship between academic achievement in five subjects, second language proficiency and language of instruction in a bilingual society where pupils were exposed to two languages, Chinese (mother tongue) and English, simultaneously. Seventy four grade 8 pupils in a secondary school of Hong Kong were randomly assigned to an experimental class and a control class. English was used as the medium of instruction for the experimental class while Chinese was used as the medium for the control class for five months. There was significant difference between the two classes in the subject Economic and Public Affairs, but there were no differences between the two classes in all the other four academic subjects and second language proficiency. Furthermore, there were no differences in pupils’ motivation and effort spent on studying during the period of study. In conclusion, when the above-average pupils were immersed in a second language school program, they were not hindered in academic achievement except for subjects closely related to their daily life, but neither did it help to improve the second language proficiency.