Looking beyond the ELT approach in China's higher education from the perspective of bilingual education: immersion, content-based instruction or something else?

Abstract

This article starts with definitions of bilingualism with a focus on the analysis of bilingual competence. Then the aims and types of bilingual education in developing bilingual competence are introduced with focus on analyses of immersion and content-based instruction. Subsequently, the contextual settings of the study are briefly presented. Finally, the study suggests that modifications must be made to integrate some concepts and features of content-based instruction with those of immersion to meet the needs of English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching for non-English majors in China's higher education. The article concludes with the recommendation that a composite EFL teaching approach should be implemented in China's EFL teaching in higher education.