3.1 Introduction
This single case study was conducted in a special type of Chinese education program in the US: Chinese-English DLI program. It was carried out in Southside Elementary School in a southeast state of the US.
As Thomas (2011) mentions, case studies are holistic analyses of persons, events, projects, policies, institutions, or other systems holistically. Yin (2014, p.16) argues that a case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon in depth and within its real-world context. The case studies can cover multiple cases and then draw a single set of “cross-case” conclusions (Yin, p.18). The case study allows the researcher to explore individuals and organizations through focusing on complex interventions, relationships, communities, or programs and supports the deconstruction and subsequently reconstruction of various phenomena (Baxer and Jack, 2008). Yin (2003) mentions that case-study design is applicable when
(1) The focus of the study is to answer “how” and “why” questions,
(2) The researcher cannot manipulate the behavior of those involved in the study,
(3) The researcher wants to address contextual conditions but the boundaries of phenomenon and context are not clear.
This study explored the curriculum and community context of a Chinese-English DLI program in detail and in depth in order to know how the school develops students’ understanding of the diverse cultures of their community (including the culture of the Chinese community), the Chinese language culture, and cultures in China and the world. An important purpose of this study was to know how the curriculum of the DLI program guides its curricular and extracurricular activities that promote cultural understanding. Thus the case-study design was appropriate for this study.
3.2 Research Settings
Southside Elementary School is located in a small southeast town of the US. In 2012-2013, Southside had 510 students from kindergarten to grade 5 and each grade had one Chinese-English DLI class. In 2015-2016, the numbers of Chinese-English DLI classes have been expanded to two for each grade but the number of students was reduced to 455 (NC School Report Card, 2016). As the principal mentioned, in 2017, from kindergarten to grade 4 there were two DLI classes in each grade (each DLI class has approximately 24 students), in grade 5 there was only one DLI class (18 students in total). So, from kindergarten to grade 5, the total number of students in the DLI classes was approximately 275.
The Southside Elementary School follows the 50%-50% model of the DLI program, which means that 50% of students in the DLI program are Chinese heritage language learners and another 50% are native English speakers who want to learn Chinese. In reality, for each DLI class, the total number of students ranged from 18 to 24, so the numbers of CHL students in each DLI class were 9-12, and it is estimated that there were more than 108 CHL students in the DLI program from kindergarten through grade 5 in 2017.
Section 3.2.1 Community-context of Southside Elementary School. Southside Elementary School is located in a famous university town just to east of the university campus. The town has a large Asian population. The population of the county where the school and the town are located increased from 133,702 in 2010 to 141,354 in 2015. The percentage of the Asian population in the county was significantly higher than the overall rate in the state. In 2010, 6.7% of the population in the county was Asian, while for the whole state, the percentage was only 2.2%. In 2015, the percentage of the Asian population in the town had been increased to 7.9% while the statewide percentage of Asian population was only 2.8%.
As mentioned by Rong et.al. (2017), the state in which this study took place was one of the new gateway states for the foreign-born immigrants. It had the fastest growth rate of the foreign-born population among the 50 states from 1990 to 2010.
With the increasing numbers of new Chinese settling in the school district of Southside Elementary School, the expansion the Chinese-English DLI program seemed inevitable since Chinese parents want their children to learn their heritage language.
3.3 Research Procedures
This research explored how the Chinese-English DLI program of the Southside Elementary School develops CHL and CFL students’ understandings of the diverse cultures at school, in their community and the world through teaching Chinese language arts and social studies subjects and involving students in extracurricular cultural activities. The other purpose of this study was to understand how Chinese language, literacy and culture is taught in the context of the instruction of the subject content. The third purpose was to learn about the community-context of the DLI program i.e. how families and community support the program as well as students’ language and cultural learning and how students participate in the community activities.
The research had four major components: (1) document review, (2) observations (3) interviews, and (4) artifact study. These components provided me with different sources of data needed to answer all of my research questions.
Document review
I studied teachers’ lesson plans to know how they are going to improve students’ Chinese language and literacy skills and develop students’ awareness toward the diverse cultures of at school, in community and the world while teaching school subjects such as social studies and math. I also studied instructional materials (both paper-based and digital edition) as well as students’ homework to know how these instructional materials help students develop language, literacy and cultural skills.
Observations
The observations were carried out to see how the school mobilizes students to attend cultural
activities both on and off-campus. Those cultural activities also include those which happened in the local community such as the community service and festival celebrations. The purposes of the observations are not only to know how these cultural activities developed students’ understanding toward the diverse cultures of their community and improve students’ cross-cultural communication skills, but also to see what types of school-community partnerships have been established and how the community and school work together to develop students’ cultural awareness. The observations were also carried out at PTA and MAC meetings. A secondary purpose of the observations of PTA and MAC meetings was to learn how
parents and community supported students’ study at school and home including students’ language and cultural learning.
Interview
I interviewed parents and the principal. I asked the principal of the school asking her the questions regarding how the school supported for the development of students’ understanding of the diverse cultures of the school, community and the world. I also asked the principal about how the school has developed partnerships with students’ families and community to support the DLI program as well as students’ language and cultural learning in the DLI program.
I also interviewed parents to get their opinions about Chinese language, literacy and cultural studies in the program includes its benefits and their suggestions to improve the program. Parents interviews also addressed
Artifacts study
I walked through the school buildings and classrooms to see how the decorations support learning about the diverse cultures at school, in students’ community and the world as well as concepts and knowledge students learned in their social studies subjects regarding culture and society.
Section 3.3.1 Document review. The researcher collected teachers’ lesson plans, instructional materials, and questions of students’ homework of the Chinese-English DLI program. The following list covers all materials reviewed.
Teachers’ lesson plans
Topic 1: Lesson plans regarding teaching Chinese language and literacy such as those for the Chinese language arts classes and social studies classes.
Topic 2: Lesson plans of social studies subject regarding improving students’ awareness toward the diverse cultures at school, in community and the world.
Topic 3: Lesson plans regarding teaching Chinese culture such as Chinese festival celebration, history, geography and ethnicity.
Instructional materials
Topic 1: Instructional materials used in and out of the classroom to help students develop Chinese listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.
Topic 2: Instructional materials for all school subjects (such as social studies and math) that used Chinese language and cultural content as the context.
Topic 3: Instructional materials for the school subjects (such as social studies and math) that use diverse culture in students’ community and the world as the context.
Topic 4: Instructional materials that improve students’ awareness of diverse cultures at school, in their community, in the US and the world.
Topic 5: Instructional materials that introduce history, geography, famous persons, cultures, ethnicities, arts, science and technology of China, Chinese American, Chinatown, etc.
Categories of the instructional materials may include PowerPoint slides used in the classroom teaching, textbooks, reading materials, students’ classroom exercises sheets, computer-based exercises program, APP or software, and students’ classroom assignments or projects.
Students’ homework/assignments
Topic 1: Homework that cultivate students’ Chinese listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.
Topic 2: Homework of the social studies classes that improve students’ awareness of cultural diversity at school, in the community, in the US and the world.
Topic 3: Homework of all school subjects that use cultural diversity as the context.
Topic 4: Homework that encourages students to explore Chinese culture such as China, Chinese scenery spots, festivals, literature, philosophy, history, arts, famous persons in China, Chinatown, and Chinese American etc.
Categories of students’ homework may include both conventional paper-based and digital software or apps.
related to culture and Chinese language skills, the researcher also explored how their homework and classroom assignments related to culture and Chinese language and literacy learning.
However, after contacting the principal of the Southside Elementary School, the principal did not allow viewing homework produced by students. As a result, I was able expects to see only the questions of the homework without viewing students’ answers.
Section 3.3.2 observation protocol. Cultural activities that students in the DLI program attended both on and off the campus were observed. I also observed the PTA and MAC meetings.
I documented each cultural activity entirely including the processes, objectives, organization, what participants were doing and what students learned from the cultural activity. Through observations, I learned to what extend the students enjoyed the activity and how they interacted with each other during the activity. At the same time, when the cultural activity was related to the local community, I learned how participants interacted with the community members and how community members supported the cultural activity.
Another set of observations was conducted in the PTA or MAC meetings. The PTA meeting happened between teachers and parents individually. It is like a workshop that provided guidance for parents to help their children’s studies. The purpose of the observation included how teachers and parents interacted with each other, how teachers explained to parents what to do to help their children’s Chinese language and cultural learning at home as well as how to assist their children do homework in different school subjects. The PTA meetings was a good opportunity to learn about the communications between school and parents. Parents informed teachers about problems they encountered when they helped their children’s study at home and what they expected the school to do to help their children. By attending PTA meetings and listening to the conversations between parents and teachers, the researcher learned what parents expected for their children’s Chinese language and cultural learning as well as how teachers answered to parents’ questions regarding their children’s studies at school and home. The conversations between parents and teachers during the PTA and MAC meetings were recorded for further analysis. Through observing PTA and MAC meetings, I learned how parents supported the DLI program, what kinds of resources the community had been providing for the DLI program, and how the DLI program
had involved the parents in the decision making and advisory committee of the program.
I also had a chance to talk to some parents after the PTA and MAC meetings, so that the researcher learned about some parents’ expectations and reflections of their children’s study at the DLI program of the school and how they helped their children’s study at home.
Section 3.3.3: interview. I interviewed the principal of the DLI program of the Southside Elementary School. The focus on the interview was on how the school supported the development of students’ understanding toward the diverse cultures of the school, community and the world as well as how the school encourages students to participate in different community activities. The other purpose of the interview was to know how the school has formed partnerships with parents and community in supporting students’ language and cultural learning in the DLI program. The following questions were asked of the principal of the school.
(1) What is the history of this Chinese-English DLI program? What are reasons for the establishment of the DLI program? Whom does this Chinese-English DLI program serve? What is the local
community’s response/feedback to the program as far as you know? How many students has the program served since the establishment of the program in the past years? How many students are currently enrolled in the DLI program?
(2) What do you think are the benefits of the DLI program for Chinese heritage language students as well as native English-speaking students? What do you think about the benefits of developing students’ understandings toward diverse cultures in their community and the world through this program? (3) What are the major achievements of the DLI program? What major challenges has the program
encountered? How the community and parents helped with the problem solving?
(4) What were the major curricular and extracurricular activities the school and the DLI program have conducted to help students understand diverse cultures in their school and community? What were the major objectives of those activities? What did students do in the activities? What students can learn from the activities? What were the benefits of those activities?
(5) What are the relationships between parents and school? How much influence do parents have over what the school will teach their children? How are parents and the community involved in the
decision making of the DLI program regarding teaching and learning of language and culture in the program?
(6) What are the major communication mechanism the school has with parents in order to help parents know about their children’s study at school and in the DLI program? Please list all of the mechanisms being used?
(7) What are the roles of the PTA and MAC meetings in helping the school connect with parents? What do parents and teachers do in the PTA and MAC meetings?
(8) What resources and support have parents and community provided for the DLI program? (9) What activities (such as field trips, arts performance and community service) have the school
organized to bring students closer to the community? Can you discuss some community activities that students have participated in before?
I also interviewed five parents of the DLI (Dual Language Immersion) program to know about how they support their children’s language and culture learning at home and their reflections on the DLI program in teaching Chinese language and culture as well as enhancing their children’s understanding of diverse cultures in the community and world. I recruited parents to participate in the interview during the PTA/MAC meetings.
Section 3.3.3.1: the recruiting process of parental interviews. In order to recruit parents for the
interviews, I attended the PTA/MAC meeting. Before the PTA/MAC meeting began, I orally announced the intention of my research. Parents on the meeting were very supportive of my study. During the meeting, Chinese parent A approached me directly asking me the purpose of my research. I replied to her that the purposes of my research include investigating how the DLI program developed students’ cultural understandings as well as how students learn Chinese literacy skills in the program. The Chinese parent A was very helpful to me. She even suggested that I distribute a form to parents who were attending the meeting. The instruction on the form required the parents to write down their names and contact information if they wanted to participate in the interview study. By following her direction and with her help, I managed to find four other parents to participate in the interview. The Chinese parent A was from Taiwan and she came to the US almost 20 years earlier. After getting two Master degrees in marketing in
the universities of the US, she moved to the Southside town and worked in a local market consulting company. The Chinese parent A was married to a professor in a nearby university. She had a son who were currently enrolled in DLI program of the Southside Elementary School. The Chinese parent B was an immigrant from mainland China and she was a researcher who worked in School of Medicine in the field of biometrics at a nearby university. Her daughter was enrolled in the DLI program of the Southside Elementary school. The American parent A worked in a local Christian church and was married to a wife from Taiwan. American parent A’s wife had grown up in the US and could speak but not write in Chinese. American parent A has a daughter who was enrolled in the DLI program. American parent B worked in a hospital as a researcher in the field of medicine and her daughter was enrolled in the DLI program. The Pilipina parent worked in a hospital as a nurse. As a second-generation immigrant from the Philippine, she was born and educated in the US. Her daughter (third-generation Philippine immigrant) was enrolled in the DLI program.
I was very glad to find five parents whose children were currently enrolled in the DLI program to participate in the interview research. I was also very happy that those parents in this interview research were from different cultural backgrounds. So, they made the samples of my research more variable.
Section 3.3.3.2: questions been asked to parents in the interview. During the interview, the following
questions were asked:
(1) Why did you send your children to the DLI program? What do you think about the benefits of the program for your children?
(2) What successes in your children’s Chinese learning have you witnessed? What are the major problems that your children have had in learning Chinese? How do you help your children learn Chinese at home?
(3) Do you have any comments about teacher’s instruction and the curriculum (such as textbooks, teaching and learning materials, and class plans) of the Chinese-English DLI program?
(4) What do you think about the teacher’s instruction and curriculum of the DLI program in improving