Correlates of English Immersion Program: A Study of Academic Performance and Gender Differences among ESL Chinese Students

Abstract

Wenzhou-Kean University (WKU), a Sino-US Cooperative University in China, adopts the English Immersion Program across curricular programs. Perceived positive influences on students' learning of this instructional model remain scarce. Hence, this paper aimed to determine the correlation between the English Immersion Program, Academic Performance, and Gender among Chinese-ESL students at WKU. Convenience, random, and snowball sampling of 283 students, a response rate of 10.5%, were applied to represent the WKU student population. Descriptive-correlational design for data analysis was used in this cross-sectional research project. Conclusively, findings revealed a significant strong positive relationship between course type, immersion location, instructional design, and academic performance. Course length and academic performance showed a significant moderate positive relationship. Gender and English Language Learning significantly differ. Male students hold higher perceptions of their writing skills and knowledge mastery in learning efficiency. Other indicators do not. Interestingly, findings showed no significant difference in students' subjective assessment in their listening, reading, and writing skills in comparison to the objective assessments provided by external institutions.