Keystone Academy Introduces Bilingual Immersion at its 5th Education Salon

BEIJING, March 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Bilingual immersion is one of three pillars of the Keystone academic model. This was the core of the topic – Between Two Worlds – of the fifth Keystone Educational Salon Series held here in Beijing. The salon was inaugurated by the Head of the School, Mr. Malcolm McKenzie with star speakers – Ms. Mary Jew, Head of Primary School from the Keystone faculty and Dr. Ji-Mei Chang of San Jose State University, USA.

What is Bilingual Immersion

Head of School, Mr. McKenzie opened the floor by emphasizing the importance of bilingualism in our world of education and as one of the keystones of the academy. Ms. Mary Jew, the first speaker, explored this concept of bilingual education and bilingualism in her talk. Quoting a Former US Secretary of Education, Ms. Jew underscored the significance of bilingual education today, "…we must expose our children to languages, cultures and challenges outside our borders. We must teach our students to understand world issues and their connections to them." To make this a reality, bilingual education is the way forward. Keystone Academy has taken this bold and cutting-edge step and made bilingualism its academic mission.

Ms. Jew further elaborated that bilingual education involves "the processes of teaching instruction and schooling to impart and help acquire general knowledge and develop the power of reasoning and judgment in two languages to a very proficient level." She stressed the distinction of social vs. academic language skills and Keystone's objective to ensure the latter, which is a deeper and more nuanced training and instruction.

Dr. Ji-Mei Chang explained the model of bilingual education that will be used. It is called 'contextualized education'. "The beauty of contextualized education is that you are learning many things in an integral manner, the content, the languages and the culture and vocabulary," said Dr. Chang. It is a mode of instruction that is not abstract but immersed in a student's daily life and existence. This model becomes progressively complex and dynamic. Students experience transformations as they progress from one grade to the next. Dr. Chang cited from her experience in the US, "For instance when students progress from third to the fourth grade, they are no longer satisfied with their vocabulary; they demand more and start critically assessing the world and understanding it. This is contextualized education. The students' environment demands more of the students, which motivates them to learn more and understand more."

Why Bilingual Immersion: Long-term Benefits

Bilingual education has life-long implications and the earlier the child is immersed, the better. It is the road to being world citizens. This is why Keystone lays the groundwork for bilingualism from the very foundation years. Ms. Jew myth-busted bilingualism by listing its key benefits, such as cognitive flexibility, understanding how language works, sensitivity in communication, and the ability to orient oneself quickly by detecting language patterns. Dr. Chang elaborated on these aspects and highlighted the need to achieve academic and cognitive balance. Bilingual education enables students to learn and absorb information in complex ways thus pushing their cognitive development further. This means that students in bilingual education are also superior in critical thinking. "Cognitive development and critical thinking are deeply intertwined. Without proper cognitive skills, students will drown in the mountains of information at their fingertips because of the kind of access we have today. Relevancy and reliability of information is taught from kindergarten these days – this is critical thinking," said Dr. Chang.

Dr. Chang closed by reminding parents present at the salon that they have a role in enabling their children to become world citizens. They have to sustain a caring home, cultivate perseverance and common sense and create the child's empathy. These habits or the mind together with the Keystone bilingual education model will put students at the vanguard of a highly competitive world.

About Keystone Academy

Keystone Academy is a non-profit, philanthropic venture governed by a board of trustees. The school, which will enroll its inaugural class in fall 2014, blends distinctive traditions in eastern, western, and international education, creating a "new world school" that is academically outstanding and a new model of education in China. At Keystone, we embrace a world that is dynamic and ever-changing. We learn from and we learn for this enterprising, global community.

For further Information, please contact:
Ms. Sabrina Liu, Director of Marketing and Communications
+86.010.5825.6008; [email protected] 
www.keystoneacademy.cn

SOURCE Keystone Academy Beijing