校长说 双语教育的优势 Principal's Message Benefits of Bilingual Education

很开心与各位分享诺德安达奉化校区的复学情况。学校第二批学生（1-3年级）已于4月27日（星期一）顺利返校，第一批学生（4-10年级）于4月20日返校，学校目前已全面复学。从2月中旬开始，受到疫情影响，学校组织学生开展了线上学习课程。在此，我仅代表全体教职员工，感谢在此期间所有家长对学生线上学习工作的支持。学校复学后，教师团队对孩子们的表现赞不绝口，对孩子们如此迅速恢复正常学习生活感到惊喜，再次感谢各位家长！开学前，学校在防控疫情方面也做了不少预防工作，为学生创建了一个安全的生活学习环境。

We are so happy to report that NAS Ningbo has reopened for all students as of last Monday, April 27th, when we welcomed back to school our students in grades 1-3. The week prior, we welcomed back students in grades 4 and up. Since the middle of February, our students participated in a virtual school experience. On behalf of all the faculty, I would like to thank all of the parents for supporting their child’s studies at home during this time. Now that the students are back, so many teachers have commented how impressed they are with how quickly the students fell back into their routines, even though we have made some changes to lessen the chance of the virus being introduced to the school.

尽管受到疫情影响，学校经历了短暂的闭校。但这并不影响家长们对学校的关注和兴趣。对诺德安达双语教育感兴趣的家长人数一直在持续增长，毫无疑问，这得益于双语教育所体现的极多优势。在此之前，我想与您分享其中的一些优势，请允许我首先向您解释“双语教学”的含义。

“双语教学”通常是指在学校教育的过程中，进行有计划、系统地使用两种语言。在诺德安达教育集团(NAE)，这种教学方法的目的是让学生能够通过他们各自的学术研究掌握第二语言。因此，作为一个拥有世界各地66,000多名学生大家庭中的一员，我们为学生们提供了这样的一个机会。

Despite school closures, the number of parents who are interested in a Nord Anglia bilingual education continues to grow which is not surprising given the many benefits of a bilingual education. I would like to share with you just a few of these benefits, but before I do so, allow me to first define, “bilingual education.”

The phrase “bilingual education” generally refers to the planned and systematic use of two languages in the course of a student’s education at school. Here at Nord Anglia Education (NAE), the aim of this approach to teaching and learning is for students to master their second language through their academic studies and as a result of the opportunities offered by being part of our family of over 66,000 students around the world. 

宁波市奉化区诺德安达学校的双语教学不仅是语言上的学习，同时还将东西方的文化元素融入到课程中。这使得中方教师与外方教师在开拓学生思维方式和扩展解决问题方法的同时，还能够发挥各自的特色优势。

我们的双语教学是以中国国家课程为基础，九年义务教育为核心的教学方法。国家课程中所规定的知识和技能通过创新的教学方法融入至日常教学并传授给学生们，例如主题学习和跨学科学习等。

随着中国的不断发展壮大，中国与世界各国的联系也在不断加强。越来越多的家庭已经渐渐意识到，中英双语教育可以给他们的孩子带来出色的专业发展和个人优势。下面我将为您介绍其中的一些。

Bilingual education at NAS Ningbo Fenghua goes beyond language study by infusing elements of Eastern and Western culture into the curriculum. It enables Chinese national and foreign teachers to amplify their respective strengths while broadening students’ ways of thinking and approaches to problem-solving. 

Our approach to bilingual education is grounded in the Chinese national curriculum with a compulsory nine years of study at its core. The knowledge and skills stipulated in the national curriculum are delivered and integrated into daily teaching and learning using innovative approaches, such as thematic and interdisciplinary learning.

As China continues to flourish and develop stronger ties with the rest of the world, a growing number of families have come to realize that a bilingual education with Chinese and English can give their children fantastic professional and personal advantages, some of which I will now describe below.

1. 增强认知发展

了解第二语言的孩子在需要创新思维、模式识别和解决问题的任务中表现得更好。年轻的学习者能够发展更强的语言意识和对母语更深层次的理解。

2. 更好的学术成就

双语学生的大脑功能随着大脑识别能力的提高而增强，探索含义以及多语言交流。乔治梅森大学(George Mason University) 的托马斯和科利尔 (Thomas and Collier) 进行了一项为期32年的研究，结果显示，接受过双语教育、会说多种语言的学生比只会一种语言的同龄人取得了更大的成就，尤其是在数学、阅读和词汇方面。

3. 改善记忆

学习第二和第三语言的孩子比只学习一种语言的孩子有更好的记忆力和认知创造力。研究表明，会说两种语言的人通常比只会一种语言的人更善于记住名字、方向和物品。

4. 提高收入的机会

在一个相互连通和急速变化的世界，多语种劳动力的需求日益增长，用一种以上语言开展业务的能力目前变得越来越重要。在同行业中，相比于仅懂一种语言的人，双语者拥有更高的职位和收入。

5. 跨文化鉴赏

接触两种语言有助于学生发展对文化差异的鉴赏力。学生能够无需翻译的通过民间故事、歌曲、成语等主要信息来源接触语言，从而进行更有意义的文化交流。

6. 大脑执行力的提高

执行能力是一个指挥系统，用来引导我们在计划、解决问题和执行其他脑力需求任务中的注意力。双语者能更好地从无关信息中整理出相关信息，这意味着他们能更好地集中注意力，成为更有效的思考者和决策者。

1. Increased cognitive development

Children that know a second language perform better in tasks that call for creative thinking, pattern recognition and problem solving. Young learners develop greater linguistic awareness and a more complex understanding of their native language.

2. Better academic achievement

Bilingual students’ brain function is strengthened as the mind is challenged to recognize, find meaning and communicate in multiple languages. A thirty-two year study by Thomas and Collier from George Mason University indicated that students who had a bilingual education and that spoke multiple languages had greater achievements than their monolingual peers, especially in math, reading and vocabulary.

3. Improved memory

Children who learn a second and third language have better memories and are more cognitively creative than their single language speaking counterparts. Research indicates that bilingual people are usually better at remembering names, directions and items than those who speak one language.

4. Increased economic opportunities

In an interconnected and rapidly changing world there is an increased need for a multilingual workforce and the ability to conduct business in more than one language is becoming more critical. Bilingual people often hold higher positions and earn better incomes than their monolingual counterparts in the same industry.

5.Cross-cultural appreciation

The exposure to two languages assists students in developing an appreciation for the differences in cultures. Students are able to engage with languages through folk tales, songs, idioms and other primary sources of information without requiring translation leading to more meaningful cultural exchanges.

6. Improvements in the executive function of the brain

The executive function is a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing other mentally demanding tasks. Bilingual people are better able to sort out relevant information from irrelevant information, meaning they can focus better and be more effective thinkers and decision-makers.

Q