With the arrival of New Year and the warm spring, our new semester has begun. With the aim of improving our English curriculum in mind, we participated a research project led by researcher from Macquarie University, Australia.

仿佛在不知不觉间，春意已经盎然，阳光变得柔和起来，三月的春风吹拂，唤醒了园前树枝上的嫩芽。鸟儿们叽叽喳喳，像是知道了我们的喜讯一样，也来向我们高歌喝彩: 2020-2021***个学期中，冠萃教育参与的中澳英语课程研究取得了阶段性的成果！

The researcher has made the first contact with Chily, our Educational Director, last autumn to set up the research schedule. Members of our curriculum team met with the researcher online to settle down further details such as the timeline, participants, data-collection methods, etc. The research began after consent forms were collected from the participants. The research comprises four major components:

2020年秋季，澳洲麦考瑞大学（澳洲麦考瑞在《澳洲***大学指南》中获评“澳大利亚***别大学“）的研究人员在学期初就和冠萃教育的教学总监Chily取得了联系。通过研究说明会，向课程领导团队介绍研究概况，包括研究开展的时间表、确定参与研究人员、数据收集方式等。在取得相关研究参与人员的同意书后，研究项目正式启动。我们的研究主要分为四大部分：

1. Collection of curriculum documents 

学校及班级课程文件资料采集

2. Semi-structured interviews with participants 

不同角色的线上访谈

3. Teaching journals 

教师教学日志记录

4. Audio-recorded classroom teaching 

真实课堂教学录音

Without a doubt, mastering an additional language widens one's horizon and opens up new opportunities. As the most widely-spoken language in the world, English plays a crucial role in individual's overall development. In Crown Dream International Kindergarten, we strive to foster international-minded young children and provide them with the most favourable early language-learning experiences. Through this research project, let's see how the English curriculum is carried out in our kindergarten.

众所周知，语言是打开更广阔世界的一扇窗。作为现今世界范围内***为广泛使用的语言，英语在个人***发展中的重要性不言而喻。而作为一所胸怀国际视野、肩负培养未来世界公民的冠萃国际幼儿是如何为小朋友们提供早期英语学习经验的呢？透过这项为期一个学期的课程研究项目，请跟随我们来一探究竟吧！

Finding 1

In our kindergarten, English curriculum is integrated with all other curriculum domains (e.g., STEAM, ICT) of the EYFS framework, which originates from the United Kingdom. Teachers design and implement the curriculum following the OAP principle (Observation—Assessment—Planning). We also have a team of foreign teachers who speak English as their first language. They play such an important role that goes beyond the concept of 'language teachers', rather, they lead the classroom activities and are all actively involved in curriculum design, environment creation, learning evaluation, etc. Their teaching quality is guaranteed by the guidance of our management team and all teachers' continuous self-reflection.

研究人员发现，冠萃教育结合英国EYFS早期教育纲要和中国国情，在制定和实施EYFS落地的过程中，老师们严格按照OAP循环圈 (Observation—Assessment—Planning) 的原则不断将课程往前推进，与园本课程的其他领域 (如STEAM、ICT) 紧密结合。同时，聘请来自以英语为母语的***的外籍英语教师进入班级，他们都持有外籍教师工作签。在带班的过程中，外籍教师并非单单只是“英语”教师，他们与中文班主任老师一样，也承担着课程的计划与实施、环境创设、学习评价等***的工作内容。在螺旋式的培训和课程领导团队带领下，中外教老师都在不断地尝试与反思，不断的提升自身以及合作教学的能力。这些都得到了澳洲麦考瑞大学研究人员的肯定与认可。

Finding 2

Curriculum document is one of the most important material for understanding kindergarten curriculum. It conveys the educators' beliefs about the purposes of the curriculum and maps out the way it is implemented. With the help of our teachers, the researcher collected and examined all relevant curriculum materials such as English teaching plans for each semester, month, and week; other collected documents included photos of the classrooms, teachers' teaching journals, audio-taped classroom teaching sessions, etc. With all these documents, the researcher was able to form a comprehensive picture of how English curriculum is being carried out in our kindergarten. In addition, through conducting one-on-one interviews, the researcher gained deeper understanding of teachers' beliefs about the curriculum and was deeply moved by the professionalism, dedication and enthusiasm demonstrated by all teachers.

我们都知道课程文件是了解幼儿园课程的重要资料之一，其中承载和蕴含了课程制定和实施者们有关英语课程的理念和具体实施策略。例如学期、月度、每周英语课程计划、教学反思、儿童英语学习观察记录、班级英语环境创设、班级会议等。由于新冠疫情和国际旅行限制，研究人员无法亲临现场进行研究，而采用线上的数据收集方式。尽管如此，参与研究的老师们依旧满腔热血。无论是课程文件的收集、教师教学日志的撰写、还是班级每日的英语活动教学实况都以音频的方式被记录了下来，使得研究者能更为直观地感受英语课程的开展情况，以及与老师们进行了另一种形式的 “对话”。在研究过程中，研究人员与不同的课程实施成员交流，从多角度了解英语课程和相关参与者的所思所想。在细节之处，研究人员还发现处处有真情，还被我们的专业精神、认真负责的态度和对教育的热忱所打动！

Finding 3

It was also found that, with the 'immersed' language environment, children in our kindergarten receive abundant language input in all aspects of the half-day English curriculum; teachers create ample opportunities in various formal and informal activities to ensure children stay engaged and learn by playing, as this process of natural acquisition of second language has been proven effective by numerous educational research. In addition, as a kindergarten situated in Chinese context, we understand that our children learn English in a unique Chinese language environment. Thus, the Western imported curriculum needs to be modified to better meet the educational needs of Chinese children. We have done extensive work to make our curriculum culturally-, contextually-, and child-appropriate, which has deeply impressed the researcher and received high appraisal.

研究员还发现：在“浸入式”的半日英语活动中，老师们通过不同的教学活动和生活过渡环节 (如餐前餐后、如厕、睡前活动、户外活动等)，给幼儿提供了大量的语言输入。在开展蕴含不同发展目标的教学活动时，调动和激发孩子们的学习兴趣。以游戏为***基本教学方式，引导了幼儿体验使用英语的快乐，***终循序渐进的达到二语自然习得的目的。幼儿园课程没有一成不变的固定模式，照搬国外经验也鲜少成功。面对中国儿童二语习得的需求和独特的本土语言环境，冠萃国际幼儿园在英语课程的制定和实施中充分结合了幼儿的年龄和发展特点，不断探索新的教学方式，不断提升教学质量。我们的专业素养和自我反思觉察能力得到了研究人员的高度评价！

All participating teachers have demonstrated their love and pursuit for providing excellent learning experiences for the children, their dedication and commitment has nourished our kindergarten and transformed it from a seed to a grown tree. We will carry on our efforts to nurture all our children to be healthy, confident, curious and well-rounded students and help them fulfill their full potential in the future.

在此次的中澳英语课程研究项目中，我们冠萃人充分体现了对学前教育的重视和热忱。从所有的点点滴滴，不计付出的回报和踏踏实实的耕耘，冠萃国际幼儿园也逐渐从一粒种子到生根发芽，逐渐成长为一颗大树！为了树上的枝叶更加繁花茂盛，我们的团队会继续再接再厉，不断地耐心浇灌施肥，不忘初心，致力于将儿童培养成为德才兼备、健康自信、乐学好问、善于沟通合作的终身学习者和未来开拓者，致力为培养我们祖国的花朵贡献更多的力量，创造更美好的未来！

We would like to express our special thanks to all parents and teachers who took part in this research. Your kind understanding and cooperation has made this research project possible. We have gained precious experience from participating this research and we look forward to joining in future studies led by researchers from Harvard University and University of Miami.

***，非常感谢各位家长一直以来对我们的厚爱与支持。在此，特别鸣谢所有参与研究的老师、家长和孩子们，你们的无私帮助和大力配合使得本研究的顺利开展成为可能，也为接下来进一步完善幼儿园英语课程提供了宝贵的经验积累。让我们共同期待美国迈阿密以及哈佛大学的项目！在教育路上，一起加油！春暖花开，一起期待吧！